In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of ‘The Little House on the Prairie,’ the release of a new memoir gives fans a chance to get a unique glimpse into the series.
“Prairie Man: My Little House Life & Beyond” by Dean Butler, who played Almanzo James Wilder in the television series, was released on Tuesday, June 25. The 261-page memoir explores Butler’s upbringing in the San Francisco Bay Area, his involvement in theater at his high school, the casting for “Little House” in his early 20s and the projects since.
For those interested in purchasing a copy of the book and meeting Butler, the actor and author will be signing and selling books at two events in the Ozarks this fall. He will be at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home & Museum’s Wilder Days in Mansfield from September 27 to 29 and at the Branson Convention Center from November 16 to 17. “Prairie Man” is also available for purchase online and in select bookstores. An audiobook read by Butler is also available.
Butler is best known for his role as Almanzo, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s love interest in “Little House,” which follows the adventures of the Ingalls family in the 1870s. Butler was cast in his role at the age of 22. Reflecting on his casting today, at age 68, Butler said he was “way too green” to understand how the role would shape his career.
“When Michael (Landon) said, ‘People will continue to watch this show long after we’re all gone,’ it felt like an exaggeration at the time,” Butler said. “Now it’s very clear to me that ‘Little House’ will be watched for many, many years to come.”
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the television series “Little House.” The nine-season series first aired in 1974, starring Michael Landon as father Charles Ingalls, Melissa Gilbert as lead daughter and narrator Laura Ingalls, Karen Grassle as mother Caroline Ingalls, and Melissa Sue Anderson and Sidney Greenbush as the other two daughters, Mary and Carrie Ingalls.
The 50th anniversary of the series is one of the reasons Butler decided to write his memoirs. He was also inspired by the work of his colleagues. Gilbert released her first book about the “Little House” experience in 2009 titled “Prairie Tale” A Memoir.” Anderson released “Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House” in 2010 and Grassle released her memoir, “Bright Lights, Prairie Dust: Reflections on Life, Loss, and Love From Little House’s Ma” in 2021.
“The reality that the 50th anniversary of ‘Little House’ was in the distance began to dawn on me,” Butler recalled. He started thinking about writing a book in 2021. “I’d been asked for years, ‘When was I going to write my book?’ I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. I thought, ‘What do I have to say about this that could be fresh and different?’ And then it occurred to me that I am the only man in our cast who has written a book about this experience.”
So at 5 a.m. on January 10, 2023, Butler sat down at his kitchen table with a cup of coffee and started writing. He continued this practice every day until he finished his first rough draft on July 31, 2023.
“It was really an amazing adventure to peel the onion out of my memories,” he said.
An ‘incredible gift’
After graduating from high school, where he discovered a love for acting, Butler attended the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. He soon set up an agent in San Francisco and during his freshman year of college was cast as Michael Wagner in CBS’ television movie “Forever.” The film is based on the novel of the same name by Judy Blume and co-stars Stephanie Zimbalist as Katherine Danziger, Wagner’s love interest.
Not long after, Butler signed with the late Ina Bernstein Sharr, who was vice president of talent and television packaging at IFA and ICM in the 1970s, according to Variety. Sharr also worked with celebrities such as Paul Newman, Loretta Swit, Maureen Stapleton and Nancy Sinatra. It was Sharr who encouraged Butler to audition for “Little House.”
“At the time, I had never seen ‘Little House’ because as a young guy I wasn’t the target audience,” Butler said. “‘Little House’ was on Monday nights. I watched the ABC football games on Monday nights. I didn’t break from the second half of a good game, or any game, to watch ‘Little House on the Prairie.’ ‘ I definitely knew what it was, I had seen the promos for it, everyone on the planet knew who Michael Landon was, I knew it was there But I had no real idea of what this would mean for me in the long run of my life .”
Cast as Almanzo, he first appeared in the series’ fourth season. He remained on-screen throughout the series’ final, ninth season. He also starred in a spin-off series, “Little House: A New Beginning” and three television films, “Little House: Look Back to Yesterday”, “Little House: The Last Farewell” and “Little House: Bless All the Dear Children .”
In addition to working with his colleagues, Butler said he enjoyed being part of “Little House” because of its message.
“I think it touches on something that is so fundamentally good about people,” Butler said. “It offers people very simple, straightforward object lessons about good ways to live and not about good ways to live. It offers the benefits or rewards of good behavior and it offers consequences for bad behavior.”
As for playing Almanzo, the series’ heartthrob love interest, Butler described the role as a “wonderful opportunity to represent something that people loved.”
Since completing his memoir and launching the cast’s national tour, Butler has channeled a renewed sense of gratitude for the impact of “Little House” on not only his career, but his life.
“Years later, watching it and being part of something that is so loved by people who watched it, loved it, it was such an incredible gift,” Butler said.
Greta Cross is the Trending Topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. She has more than five years of journalism experience, covering everything from Ozark history to Springfield’s LGBTQIA+ community. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretacrossphoto. Story idea? Email her at [email protected].
