Little House on the Prairie: Check out Beautiful Photos of Melissa Sue Anderson

Melissa Sue Anderson portrayed the character of Mary Ingalls on the beloved television series 'Little House on the Prairie'. 

Anderson was chosen for the role of Mary Ingalls at the young age of 11. Prior to that, she had experience in the field of acting. She had appeared in several commercials and had landed roles in popular shows such as Bewitched and The Brady Bunch. She portrayed the character of Mary, Laura's older sister in Little House on the Prairie. Mary's presence in the books was quite limited. The TV show enhanced the character of Mary, which Anderson greatly appreciates.   

"I feel fortunate that there was a character to portray because, in the book, the character is not very developed," she shared with Pop Entertainment. Laura Ingalls was an older woman when she wrote the books. She fondly recalled the highlights of her life. 

 The characters of Ma and Mary didn't play a significant role. There were many instances of Laura and Pa, as well as Laura and Jack the dog, and Laura and Mr. Edwards, but Mary was not as prominently featured. I am grateful that they recognized my talent for acting. Mary was quite a challenging role, too.

 In the fourth season, Mary's vision starts to deteriorate as a result of scarlet fever in the episodes titled "I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away". Anderson skillfully portrayed the character as blind. Mary later becomes a teacher and eventually marries another blind teacher portrayed by Linwood Boomer. 

 Anderson received an Emmy Award nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Drama Series for her role. Melissa Sue Anderson decided to take a hiatus from her acting career Andersons took a break from acting for several years as an adult.  

She mentioned to E-Talk that she had taken a long break from acting. "I had a period of retirement for several years, and since then I have only taken on small projects, mainly for the sake of the children, so that they could develop their own identities separate from mine." 

In order to shift the attention away from her acting career, Anderson and her husband, TV producer Michael Sloan, made the decision to relocate to Canada along with their children, Piper and Griffin.  

"The entire family has become Canadian citizens now, and my husband and I had to go through the process of taking the test. We dedicated a lot of time and effort to studying for it." She politely said. 

Source: Collider.com