Karen Grassle
 |
This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. It includes attribution to IMDb, which may not be a reliable source for biographical information. Please help by adding additional, reliable sources for verification. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2012) |
| Karen Grassle | |
|---|---|
| Born | Karen Trust Grassle February 25, 1942 Berkeley, California, U.S. |
Karen Trust Grassle (born February 25, 1942 in Berkeley, California) is an American actress, best known for her role as Caroline Ingalls, the wife of Michael Landon's character and the mother of Melissa Gilbert's character, on the Little House on the Prairie TV series.
Contents |
[edit] Early career
She graduated from Ventura High School in 1959 (after skipping two grades), serving as the student body's vice-president, and afterward enrolled in Sophie Newcomb College (Tulane University, 1959-1960) and then the University of California, Berkeley. She graduated with two BA degrees in 1965, one in English, the other in Dramatic Art. She received a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and eventually became head of its Voice Department. Her first acting job in New York City was in the short-lived 1968 play The Gingham Tree, and she began calling herself "Gabriel Tree."
Prior to portraying Caroline Ingalls, Grassle appeared in two TV series: one episode of the soap opera Love of Life as Bonnie Draper, and one episode of Gunsmoke entitled "The Wiving" as Fran, one of several saloon girls kidnapped a'la Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
[edit] Little House on the Prairie
Grassle (as Gabriel Tree) auditioned for the role of the mother, Caroline Ingalls, in the Little House on the Prairie TV series and won the part against 47 other candidates. Michael Landon convinced her to revert to her birth name.
The series ran for nine seasons, from 1974 to 1983. In an interview, Grassle said that she loved playing the role of Caroline Ingalls. During this time she played Kathy, the wife of Edward Herrmann's title character in Harry's War, a 1981 American film.
[edit] Later works
After the series ended, she moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and became co-founder of Santa Fe’s Resource Theater Company. Later she moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where she remained active in theater. Eventually, she moved back to California, where she still currently lives.
In 1994, she also appeared in the movie Wyatt Earp, starring Kevin Costner.
In 2006, she performed in Driving Miss Daisy in the starring role of Miss Daisy at the Manitoba Theater Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In August 2008, Grassle agreed to sign up as the promotional face for Premier Bathrooms, a supplier of bathing products for the elderly and infirm due to her association with the character of Caroline Ingalls' extolling care and family values.
[edit] Personal life
Grassle has been married three times: her first husband was actor Leon Russom; In 1982, she married J. Allen Radford, a real-estate developer, with whom she adopted a daughter, Lily. In 1991 she married Scott T. Sutherland, an osteopath; they divorced in 2000. Single, she now lives in the San Francisco Bay area with Lily.
