Melissa Gilbert recently found out a wild fact about her biological father—and it’s a callback to her days on “Little House on the Prairie” in the 1970s. It was also enough to convince the Hallmark star to reactivate her Instagram comments after a months-long shutdown.
In a post shared to Instagram on May 26, Gilbert, who’s been part of “When Calls the Heart” for the last two seasons, revealed that her distant cousin let her know that her birth father’s name was the same as the nickname her character, Laura Ingalls, gave to her “Little House” love nearly 50 years ago.
“I was today years old when I found out my birth father, David Darlington’s middle name was MANLY!” Gilbert, 62, wrote.
“Little House” fans know that when Gilbert’s teen character first met Almanzo “Manny” Wilder (Dean Butler) in the 1979 episode “Back to School,” she nervously called him “Manly” instead of “Manny.” The nickname stuck, and he gave her a faux nickname too, calling her “Beth.”
Melissa Gilbert Found Out Other Facts About Her Biological Parents
GettyGilbert was born in May 1964 and was adopted as a baby by actor-comedian Paul Gilbert and his wife, Barbara, the daughter of legendary TV writer Harry Crane.
In her new post, Gilbert revealed that she found out that her mom and birth mother shared the same birthday.
“I also learned that my birth mother, Frances Catherineanne Wood (Cathy), was born on April 26, 1935. My mother, Barbara Gilbert-Cowan was born on April 26, 1936!!!!!” Gilbert wrote.
The actress, who has had her Instagram comments turned off since recently returning to Instagram amid her husband Timothy Busfield’s legal troubles, revealed that she wanted to open up the comments so that fans could share their own stories about birth relatives.
“I’m going to turn comments back on for this one,” Gilbert wrote. “It’s just too coincidental and there might be other birth relatives out there who see it. If things get weird, or nasty, I’ll turn them off again, but I know there are so many people out there with similar stories and experiences. I’m compelled to share mine and want, very much, to hear yours.”
One fan replied to ask Gilbert if her biological parents are still living. “They are not,” she wrote.
Melissa Gilbert Met Her Biological Father
Last year, Gilbert opened up about her biological parents during an appearance on “The Patrick Labyorsheaux” podcast. She explained she began the search for them after giving birth to her son, Dakota, in 1989, and found out that her birth mother was a dancer and her father was a musician.
“So it was pretty clear that it was in me,” she said of her future in the entertainment industry.
Gilbert never met her birth mother, but she was able to meet Darlington before he died.
“I didn’t tell him who I was, and then he asked me, ‘Well, who are you? What do you do?’” she recalled. “And I said, ‘Well, here’s the thing.’ And I said, ‘Did you ever watch ‘Little House on the Prairie?’ And he said, ‘You’re Laura, aren’t you? I knew it.’ He knew it.”
“He could see,” she added. “And when I met my half-siblings, we all look alike. So, you could definitely see it. So, it’s pretty clear.”
