Many actresses are not like the characters they play, but Melissa Sue Anderson wasn't one of them. Melissa was born September 26, 1962 in Berkeley, California. In real life, she was very much the same as Mary Ingalls--a quiet, slightly shy girl who would rather read a book than climb a tree. Her show business career got under way when a dance teacher urged her parents to find an agent for her. She began doing TV commercials, and the blond, blue-eyed beauty was in great demand for many roles, and starred in television movies and such shows as The Brady Bunch and Shaft. Melissa Sue Anderson played Mary Ingalls throughout the entire series of Little House on the Prairie. She continues to pursue an active acting career.



Inducted (as a cast member of "Little House on the Prairie" (1974)) into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1998. 1984 NATO Female Star of the Year for her starring role in the feature film Chattanooga Choo Choo (1984). Turn down the role of Emmelyn in The Blue Lagoon (1980). Auditioned for the role of Sarah Tobias in The Accused (1988).