GILBERT, MELISSA ELLEN

GILBERT, MELISSA ELLEN (1964– ), U.S. actress. Born in Los Angeles, Calif., Gilbert was adopted the day after her birth by comedian Paul Gilbert and his actress wife Barbara (née Crane). Melissa Gilbert's grandfather, Harry Crane, was creator and writer of The Honeymooners. She first appeared in a commercial for baby clothes at the age of two, but her parents decided to keep her out of show business until she turned seven. She then started filming more than 30 commercials, including sports for McDonald's and Crest. At nine, in the summer of 1973, she was cast in the role of Laura Ingalls for the nbc tv series Little House on the Prairie, which ran until 1983. In 1979, she starred as Helen Keller opposite Patty Duke as Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker, which won an Emmy Award, and in 1980 Gilbert played Anne Frank in the nbc adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank. She became involved with Rob Lowe in 1981 and moved to Manhattan after Little House. In 1985, Gilbert became the youngest person to ever receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 1987 she earned an Outer Critic's Circle Award for best debuting actress in the off-Broadway show A Shayna Maidel. Gilbert and Lowe ended their relationship in 1987, and soon after in 1988 she married actor Bo Brinkman. The two had a son, Dakota Paul, but the couple divorced in 1992. Gilbert returned to Hollywood, where she continued to act, mostly in television. She married actor Bruce Boxleitner in 1995 and the two had a son together, Michael Garrett. In November 2000, Gilbert was elected to the Screen Actors Guild board and then became its third female president. On November 2, 2001, she was elected a vice president of the afl-cio, and in 2002 was re-elected as sag president. Gilbert also has two stepsons, Sam Boxleitner and Lee Davis Boxleitner, and her siblings include actress-director Sara Gilbert and actor Jonathan Gilbert.

bibliography:

"Gilbert, Melissa," in: Almanac of Famous People (2003⁸). "Gilbert, Melissa," in: Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Vol. 38 (2002).

[Adam Wills (2^nd ed.)]