True Love: 'Little House On The Prairie''s Melissa Gilbert & Husband Timothy Busfield

Aug 10, 2021

"Little House on the Prairie" is an iconic show that ran from 1974 until 1982. Perhaps most famous from the cast is Michael Landon, who first shot to fame on the western series "Bonanza." Adapted from Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of books, the show revolves around the Ingalls family, who live on a rural farm in Minnesota in the late 1800s. Landon played the patriarch of the Ingalls family, while one of the other best-known actors from the show, Melissa Gilbert, played his daughter, who was based on Laura Ingalls Wilder herself.

For fans of the show, Gilbert was but a young girl of 10 when "Little House on the Prairie" first started, and since it went on for nearly a decade, the public really got to see her grow up before their eyes. After the show ended, Gilbert continued to act, mostly appearing in television films. 

Outside of her professional life, the child star was unlucky in love, finding herself married and divorced two times. But that was until she met her current husband Timothy Busfield. A fellow actor, Busfield has appeared in the TV series "thirtysomething," for which he's won an Emmy Award, as well as "The West Wing" and the film "Field of Dreams," among other things. 

What adds to the couple's sweet love story is the completely normal way in which they met — in a random bar! Although their paths had crossed before — in fact, they'd known each other for around 20 years — something clicked on that day in 2012. They went on a brunch date the following morning and have been inseparable ever since. Let's take a look at their story.

Melissa Gilbert and Timothy Busfield recounted their sweet love story to M Live back in 2019. Busfield explains that one day he was heading to his local bar to get a slice of pizza and a beer and watch sports on the TV, knowing the venue would be empty. He recalls what happened next:

"So I walked in the front door, and there was one person, sitting in my chair, at the bar. I looked, and then I stepped back outside. It was like when Indiana Jones sees snakes in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and says, ‘Why does it have to be snakes?’ Because my first thought was, ‘I haven’t been on a date in 6 months, I’m just working and not dating, I really don’t want to date anyone right now.’"

Like Gilbert, Busfield had also been married twice before, so the prospect of dating again wasn't at the top of his mind. But having known Gilbert for about two decades, Busfield clearly had an inkling that this moment meant something. He continues: 

"So I sort of talked to myself for a moment, and then I went in, sat at the bar, and ordered a drink. Then I saw her smile and I was gone." 

Meanwhile, Gilbert explained her side of the story in the same interview. Clarifying that she doesn't usually "just sit in bars alone," she had actually been out with her best friend when the bar they were originally going to go to was closed, leading them to sit in the other bar until the one they wanted to go to opened. 

It was then that one more aspect of the night felt like a sign from above — Gilbert's friend had left his cell phone at her place, so while he went back to retrieve it, she stayed alone "talking to Joe the bartender." Sounds like the perfect romantic comedy set-up to us, to be honest. Busfield added:

"The next morning, we got together for brunch, and we’ve been inseparable since."

The rest, as they say, is history. Gilbert and Busfield married in April 2013 in Santa Barbara, before moving to a restored Victorian house from 1890 in downtown Howell, Michigan just a few months later. Busfield had grown in nearby East Lansing, while the couple chose Howell as their home partly due to its proximity to airports and train stations, and partly because the Howell Opera House might be the location of a professional theater company the couple plans to launch. Built in 1881, the building is currently undergoing extensive restoration. Gilbert said in the same interview how they want to work on film projects in their beloved new hometown:

“We are with this community now, so we don’t want to leave it for 4 or 5 months at a time. We want to shoot projects here. I got involved with this year’s gubernatorial election, so I saw a lot more of Michigan leading up to election. … And the more people I met, the more I fell in love with the state and wanted to stay here more and work here. … We’d love to build our own theater and TV industry here in the state. Anything can be filmed here.”

All the best for the happy couple and their plans to bring their passion for acting to Michigan! 

Do you remember Melissa Gilbert from "Little House on the Prairie"? What do you think of her love story with her husband Timothy Busfield? If you enjoyed this then pass it on so others can read it too!