She went on to act in several more TV roles as a child and teen and has continued to act into adulthood. In , Gilbert was voted in as president of the Screen Actors Guild and won a second two-year term in The sensitive, delicately pretty actor came to fame as a girl, playing Laura Ingalls on the NBC period drama series Little House on the Prairie , which ran from to Gilbert was reportedly one of nearly girls to audition for the part.
It was for her earnest, memorable portrayal of Laura that the actress became the youngest person to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in , at Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. After Gilbert's father, Paul Gilbert, passed away in February , Michael Landon became an important mentor and friend to the actress.
She and Landon soon had a falling out, however, and the reportedly stars didn't speak to each other from the time that Little House on the Prairie ended until While Melissa Gilbert has made several feature film appearances, the majority of her work over the years has been in television. She most often opted for roles as suffering, historically significant teenagers, such as in The Miracle Worker in , The Diary of Anne Frank in and Splendor in the Grass in She remained prolific and eventually graduated to adult roles, including Choices in and A Family of Strangers in In , Gilbert was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild.
She won a second two-year term in Gilbert later returned to the project that made her famous: She starred in the role originally played by Karen Grassle on television, as "Ma" in the touring production of Little House on the Prairie: The Musical.
She also shared her details of her life in A Prairie Tale , a memoir published in Returning to television, Gilbert had a role in the movie The Christmas Pageant. She then branched out in a new direction, signing on to compete on Dancing with the Stars in Partnered with Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Gilbert went up against television personality Sherri Shepherd, singer Gladys Knight and tennis great Martina Navratilova for the top prize.
