Michael Landon

Michael Landon married his first wife, Dodie Levy-Fraser, in 1956. He adopted Dodie’s son from a previous relationship, Mark (1948-2009), soon after their wedding, and together, they adopted another boy named Josh (1960).

After their divorce in 1962, he wed actress Marjorie Lynn Noe in 1963. Besides Cheryl Lynn Landon, who was Lynn’s daughter from the previous marriage, they had two other daughters, Leslie Ann (1962) and Shawna Leigh (1971), and two sons, Michael Landon Jr. (1964) and Christopher Beau (1975) together. They divorced in 1982.

From 1983 until his death, he was married to make-up artist Cindy Clerico. She gave birth to a daughter named Jennifer Rachel (1983) and a son named Sean Matthew (1986).

Originally named Eugene Maurice Orowitz, Landon was born on October 31, 1936, in New York City, New York to parents Peggy (née O'Neill) and Eli Maurice Orowitz. He had a sister named Evelyn who was three years older than him. In 1941, the family relocated to Philadelphia, New Jersey where his Bar Mitzvah was held at Temple Beth Shalom. Eli worked as a studio publicist and theatre manager while Peggy was a comedian and dancer.

He had a troublesome childhood with an emotionally unstable mother at home and social pressures at school. Once, during a beach vacation, his mother attempted suicide by drowning herself. Landon managed to save her but it deeply affected him. The incident, which he later dubbed as the worst experience in his life, left him in stress, which in turn caused his childhood problem of nocturnal enuresis to persist. His mother would hang the wet sheets outside his window to display them to the neighbours, further traumatising him.

Landon studied at Collingwood High School where he displayed prodigious skills as a javelin thrower. It even garnered him a sports scholarship to the University of Southern California but a torn ligament during his freshman year put a stop to his sports career.

As he did not think his original name was a good fit for an acting career, Orowitz picked the name “Michael Landon” from a phone book. After making his debut in the episode ‘The Boston Kid’ of the TV series ‘Luke and the Tenderfoot’, he appeared in a series of small roles before playing the titular character in the episode ‘The Mystery of Casper Hauser’ (1956) of CBS’ anthology series ‘Telephone Time’.

He also had recurring roles as Armand De Nivernais/Jerome Juventin in ‘The Adventures of Jim Bowie’ (1956) and as Race Stevens/Johnny Rico/Danny in ‘Crossroads’ (1956-57).

In 1957, he starred in the horror film ‘I Was a Teenage Werewolf’. Initially panned by the critics, the movie has come to be seen as one of the better examples of the 1950s drive-in horror genre. He subsequently made appearances in ‘Maracaibo’ (1958), ‘High School Confidential’ (1958), and ‘The Legend of Tom Dooley’ (1959). His performance as Dave Dawson in the controversial Anthony Mann film ‘God’s Little Acre’ earned him critical praise.

He was hired to play Little Joe Cartwright in ‘Bonanza’ at 22 years of age. Despite the NBC show being his first major TV production, Landon held his own against industry veterans Lorne Greene and Dan Blocker. He was by far the most popular member of the cast, a fact that later helped him renegotiate his contract with the producers to write and direct several episodes.

He played angel Jonathan Smith, who was stripped of his wings and sent to earth, in the NBC’s fantasy-drama ‘Highway to Heaven’ (1984-89). The show also starred Victor French and Dan Gordon. Landon served as a writer and director on multiple episodes on this project as well.

Michael Landon played Charles Ingalls, the lead protagonist and narrator of the show ‘Little House on the Prairie’ that revolved around the five members of the Ingalls family who lived on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. Premiering on September 11, 1974, the show aired for nine seasons before changing its name to ‘Little House: A New Beginning’ following Landon’s departure.