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Melissa Ellen Gilbert (born May 8, 1964) is an American actress, writer and producer, primarily in movies and television. The naturally red-headed Gilbert is best known as a child actor who co-starred as Charles Ingalls's (played by Michael Landon) second daughter, Laura Ingalls Wilder, on the 1970s dramatic television series Little House on the Prairie (1974-1983). Not long after that she played Gerda in the Faerie Tale Theatre adaptation of The Snow Queen. She also provided the voicework for the roles of Clara in the Sanrio film, Nutcracker Fantasy and later Barbara Gordon in Batman: The Animated Series. More recently, she served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild.

Gilbert was born in Los Angeles, California, to a Jewish family. She was adopted by actor Paul Gilbert (born Paul MacMahon) and his wife, Barbara Crane. She also has 2 siblings, Sara Gilbert who played Darlene Conner on the popular television series Roseanne, and Jonathan Gilbert, who is also a former actor. She won the role of Laura Ingalls Wilder on Little House over 500 other young actresses in part because she bore a remarkable resemblance to both Karen Grassle and Michael Landon. This role made her a household name. Gilbert attended the same school as Leslie Landon, Michael Landon's real-life daughter. Melissa and brother Jonathan Gilbert worked together when he portrayed Willie Oleson in Little House on the Prairie and in the movie The Miracle Worker. When Melissa was eight, her parents divorced, and when she was 11, her adoptive father died. While away from the Little House set, she often spent weekends with Michael Sr.'s family and at 17, Michael Jr. even took her to the prom. She was also reunited with Landon in late 1983 to reprise her role in a Little House TV movie. She even continued to stay in contact with Landon until his own death on July 1, 1991.

Gilbert has continued to work regularly, mainly in television. She starred as Jean Donovan in the biopic Choices of the Heart (1983), and as Anna Sheridan in two episodes of Babylon 5 with husband Bruce Boxleitner in 1996. In 1998, she was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Melissa won the Screen Actors Guild presidency in 2001 after a contentious election in which she ultimately beat her opponent, Valerie Harper, 21,351 votes to 12,613 votes after a second vote was taken. In 2003, she was re-elected, defeating Kent McCord with 50% of the vote to his 42%. In July 2005, she announced that she would not seek a third term and she was succeeded by Alan Rosenberg, who assumed the Guild presidency on September 25.

In 2006, Gilbert appeared as Shari Noble, a patient looking to reconstruct her nipples after committing zoophilia with her dog in a season 4 episode of Nip/Tuck. In 2008, Gilbert will appear in a musical version of Little House on the Prairie, portraying the character Ma.

For her contribution to the television industry, Gilbert has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6429 Hollywood Blvd.

Gilbert regularly keeps in contact with her friend Alison Arngrim, who played her nemesis and sometimes best friend "Nellie Oleson" on Little House on the Prairie.