NEED TO KNOW
- Little House on the Prairie star Charlotte Stewart reflected on her time as school teacher Miss Beadle on the iconic series in a new interview
- Stewart said that Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls Wilder, was ‘so good’ and ‘so believable’ as an actress, even though she was just 9 at the time
- Stewart said Gilbert was a ‘method actor’ at her young age, who helped make the show magic for audiences
Charlotte Stewart was wowed by one of her youngest Little House on the Prairie costars — Melissa Gilbert.
Stewart, 84, appeared on the June 17 episode of The Patrick LabyorSheaux with Patrick Labyorteaux and talked about her long career, including her time on Little House. Stewart played Walnut Grove school teacher Eva Beadle on the hit series. Labyorteaux, 59, played Andy Garvey on the show, while his older brother, Matthew, played Albert Quinn Ingalls.
Because Miss Beadle was the school teacher, almost all of Stewart’s scenes were with the show’s many child actors, including Gilbert, 61, who played Laura Ingalls Wilder.
“I was totally amazed at how professional they were,” Stewart said of the kids generally. “They knew their lines, they came on time, they didn’t act out. I was amazed at how good they were. They weren’t just kind of reading their lines and standing there like, you know, some kids do.”
But Gilbert stood apart from the pack, she said, noting how special the scenes were that showed “Laura looking at Miss Beadle.” Labyorteaux noted that watching those moments, “You fall in love with both of you.” Stewart said Gilbert was already a “method actor” in season 1, when she was 9 years old.
“There were several times when Laura and Miss Beadle would interact, and she was so good,” Stewart said of Gilbert. “She would look at me with eyes [like] she believed that Miss Beadle was the best teacher ever. So the audience believed that Miss Beadle was the best teacher ever.”
Later in the podcast, Labyorteaux asked who Stewart’s favorite person to work with was on the Little House set, and she immediately answered, “Melissa Gilbert.” She explained, “She was so good. She was so believable. She was so I don’t even have the words for it. I was so impressed with her.”
Elsewhere in the episode, Stewart remembered that when she auditioned for Little House, she didn’t even know what the part or show was. “I arrived at Paramount and there’s all these women in old west dresses, bonnets and long skirts, and I’m in my tie-dye t-shirt and jeans,” she remembered.
When she walked into the audition room, she was “shocked” to see Michael Landon, who had starred on Bonanza and then starred in, directed and produced Little House. “He was a star. He was so handsome, and he was very outgoing,” Stewart said.
As for the audition, the scene was just a school teacher with two girls, and she impressed producers by taking over one of their desks and telling all the producers, “Quiet.” Right after she arrived home, her producer called with the news that she’d landed the part. It was then she learned it was for four years. “To have a regular income was huge,” she said.
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Stewart appeared in the first four seasons of Little House, from 1974 to 1978. The actress, who also worked extensively with director David Lynch, said that she is still “extremely proud” of her role as Miss Beadle and that people “still recognize her” 50 years later.
“When we first did Little House on the Prairie, there were no reruns,” she said, but now fans can watch it any time they want. “I’m really grateful that people who weren’t even born when I was doing the show have come up [to] say, ‘You were Miss Beadle!’ ”
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