'Little House on the Prairie' actors return to Simi Valley movie ranch for festival

Nellie Oleson returned Thursday to the prairie where she caused all that trouble.

Alison Arngrim, the actor who played the villainous kid in "Little House on the Prairie," stood on a sunny afternoon in front of new facades representing the long-demolished buildings for the set at Big Sky Movie Ranch in Simi Valley.

Arngrim and other cast members rode in a bus, along with reporters, to the old filming location for a preview of the "Little House on the Prairie" 50th Anniversary Cast Reunion and Festival. The Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce event takes place 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday at Rancho Santa Susana Community Park, 5005 E. Los Angeles Ave.

Bus tours of the ranch are sold out, but tickets remain for activities at the park. They include panel discussions with the actors, live music and episode screenings. Thousands of fans, many of them in costume as their favorite characters, are expected.

Arngrim talked Thursday about the practical jokes played by the late Michael Landon, who starred as Charles Ingalls and served as executive producer, director and writer.

"This is a man who would take a live frog and put it in his mouth," Arngrim said as she stood among re-creations of the show's interior sets in the park's gym. "There was always someone on the set who was madly in love with him. He would say 'hi' to her and let the frog leap out of his mouth."

Melissa Gilbert, who grew up on the 1974-1983 NBC series as Laura Ingalls, wasn't at the media preview, but is among the festival's headliners.

The actress who played her schoolteacher remembers her well.

"The first time I worked with Melissa is when she comes to school for the first time," said Charlotte Stewart, who portrayed Eva Beadle Simms, known as Miss Beadle. "She was so small. She was so young. She would look at me with such sincerity."

Stewart said she was surprised someone so young could be such a great actress.

Looking out a bus window at Big Sky Movie Ranch, Stewart said the prairie hadn't changed. She noted she never got tired of walking from the costume and makeup trailers, over a hill and across the bridge into the town of Walnut Grove.

"My grandmother — Nana — came to California as a baby in a covered wagon," she said. "I felt like I was Nana, coming to the Olesons' store and going up to the school."

Tickets remain for general admission at $45 and children, ages 5-12, for $15. Children age 4 and younger get in free.

For more information, go to littlehousefestival.com.

Dave Mason covers East County for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at dave.mason@vcstar.com or 805-437-0232.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: 'Little House on the Prairie' stars return to Simi Valley for reunion