Free Republic

Melissa Gilbert witnessed her TV dad, Michael Landon, fight a debilitating disease that ultimately took his life. At age 54, the actor who played patriarch Charles Ingalls in "Little House on the Prairie" was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He died three months after publicly announcing his diagnosis in 1991. "It is really a brutal and pernicious disease," Gilbert told People magazine. "To me, it felt like a tornado. You have no warning. It’s just there and the survival rate is virtually nil."

WEST HOLLYWOOD, California – Mark Landon, an actor and eldest son of "Little House on the Prairie" star Michael Landon, was found dead Monday at his home. He was 60. The cause of death was not immediately clear but there was no evidence of foul play, said Sgt. David Infante of the Los Angeles County sheriff's office.

I am glad that Hallmark has started playing these old (values filled shows again): I used to watch this show as a Child. It has given me a new appreciation of Michael Landon Sr. and as a man of God, as many episodes are openly filled with faith in Christ! On another note, I looked up Melissa Gilbert (and remember reading an interview with her and her husband on ET in the 90's): in it she said that though she was liberal, her husband leaned conservative! Well to my surprise she is married to Bruce Boxleitner (I loved this guy...