Michael Landon

His co-star on Little House, Melissa Gilbert, named her son, Michael Garrett Boxleitner (1995), after Landon. On September 28, 1964, Harpo died after open heart surgery. They married in 1983 and had Jennifer (born in 1983) and Sean (born in 1986). In one story, he had a fairly distinguished voice like a professional announcer, though he did say "goils" for "girls.". This marriage was believed to be very happy and different from typical "Hollywood marriages", so the tabloids jumped at the affair Landon started with a make-up artist and stand-in for one of the stars he had met at the set of "Little House on the Prairie", Cindy Clerico, who was 21 years younger than he. In fact, recordings of his voice can be found on the Internet. Landon treated her like his own child and had four more children with Lynn. Many people believed he was actually mute.

A few years later he divorced Dodie to marry (Marjorie) Lynn Noe, a model in 1962 who had a little daughter from a previous marriage. In it he took pains to tell people he really could talk. He adopted her son Mark and together they adopted another boy. In 1961, Harpo published his autobiography, Harpo Speaks. His first wife was Dodie Frasier, a legal secretary who was six years his senior. In 1955, Harpo made a memorable appearance on Lucille Ball's popular sitcom, I Love Lucy, in which they re-enacted the famous mirror scene from the classic Marx Brothers movie, Duck Soup. Landon was married three times. Harpo, who was quiet in his personal life, said his main contribution was to be the audience of that group of wits.

He is buried in a Jewish cemetery. Harpo was good friends with theater critic Alexander Woollcott and because of this became a regular member of the Algonquin Round Table. A few weeks later, Landon passed away in Malibu, California with his family, children and colleagues by his side. The couple adopted four children (Bill, Alex, Jimmy and Minnie.). His last public appereance was on the "Johnny Carson Show" in June. Harpo married actress Susan Fleming on September 28, 1936. This was meant to be another winning series for Landon, but he was soon diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that had spread to the liver. Harpo changed his name to Arthur during World War I because he thought Adolph was "too German".

He then went to CBS and in 1991 starred in a two hour pilot called Us. While he later learned that he did not play the instrument in the accepted manner, his fame with the instrument drew musicians from all around to learn his style. Landon had produced all three of his series for NBC, but after ending Highway he was let go. He taught himself to play the harp, and played it in an unconventional manner with an idiosyncratic tuning of the strings. When his friend and co-star, Victor French, died of lung cancer in 1989, Landon cancelled the series. His other brothers were given names to match their personalities or hobbies; His brother Leonard became "Chicko" (Chico) because he was always chasing women ("chicks"), and his brother Milton became "Gummo". In 1984 he began his role in Highway to Heaven as Jonathan Smith, an angel who tried to save people by helping them turn their lives around. Harpo got his stage name during a card game: the dealer called him "Harpo" because he played the harp.

He not only starred in the show as the patriarch Charles Ingalls, but served as the producer, writer, director and executive producer. He served mostly in these capacities for the series' eight years, which ended in 1982. The theater critic wrote, "Adolph Marx performed beautiful pantomime which was ruined whenever he spoke". Little House would later develop into a television series. When the Marx Brothers were playing in vaudeville, Harpo was inspired to develop his "silent" routine after reading a review of one largely ad-libbed performance. Soon after the cancellation of Bonanza, Landon started a new project in 1974, a television film called Little House on the Prairie based on the popular book by Laura Ingalls Wilder. In January of 1910, Harpo joined two of his brothers to form "The Three Nightingales". The show ran for 14 years, from 1959 to 1973, and spanned 461 episodes. His trademarks were that he never talked in any of the Marx brothers films, that he played the harp, and that he frequently used props in sight gags — for instance, when he is told in one film that he cannot burn a candle at both ends, he immediately produces a candle burning at both ends from inside his coat.

Late in the series, Landon asked for the direct and got permission to direct a few episodes of the series. Adolph Arthur Marx, known as Harpo Marx, (November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was one of the Marx Brothers, a group of Vaudeville entertainers who later experienced tremendous success in making film comedies. That same year he started starring in the then-new TV series Bonanza as "Little Joe." The youngest brother in the Cartwright family and always a ladies man, he quickly became one of the show's most beloved characters. Harpo Speaks. ISBN 0879100362. He also gained exposure as Tom Dooley in the western The Legend of Tom Dooley (1959). Marx, Harpo. Landon's first big part was as Tony Rivers in I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957).

He decided on the name by picking it out of a Los Angeles phone book. At this point he started taking small roles and bit parts, but decided his birth name was not appropriate for an aspiring actor and changed his name to Michael Landon. He earned a scholarship to UCLA, but could no longer attend after tearing a ligament in his arm. In high school, Landon excelled at track, especially with the javelin.

Landon also directed the last two series. In the 1970s and into the 1980s he starred as Charles Ingalls in Little House On The Prairie and starred in Highway to Heaven as an angel, also in the 1980s. In the 1960s he starred as "Little Joe" on Bonanza. Landon was best known for his starring roles in three TV series spanning three decades.

Landon considered himself Jewish. Landon's father was Jewish, his mother was not. Michael Landon (October 31, 1936 - July 1, 1991), born Eugene Maurice Horowitz, was an American actor and director.