- Melissa Sue Anderson was a star on Little House on the Prairie
- As a child actress, she played the daughter "Mary Ingalls"
- This is why Anderson feared losing her job on her first day
At the age of 11, Melissa Sue Anderson stood before the cameras for the first time as "Mary Ingalls" in Little House on the Prairie.
But even before filming began, Melissa feared for her job. The reason was this: for the actors, press photos were first on the agenda. The morning before the appointment, Melissa faced a terrible shock.
Why Melissa Sue Anderson almost got fired as "Mary Ingalls"
In her book The Way I See It, Melissa Sue Anderson recalled the morning of the photoshoot: "I ran into the bathroom, took one look in the mirror, and stopped dead. I couldn’t believe my eyes. My face was covered in hives. I was horrified."
The young actress was very worried that she would lose her job and went to the photoshoot feeling defeated. But then came her saviour. The famous make-up artist Allan Snyder was able to save the day for the child star.
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"By the time he'd finished, my face looked fine," Melissa Sue Anderson writes. "He'd done a great job of covering up the offensive hives."
Shortly after, Michael Landon entered the make-up trailer to say hello. Melissa was most afraid of how he'd react. "He smiled at me, welcoming me to my first day," she writes. "I half expected him to catch Allan's eye like he knew some wizardry had been going on in that trailer. But that didn't happen."
So, Melissa Sue Anderson's first day at Little House on the Prairie had a happy ending after all. She became a popular star on the series and...
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