- Television: failure, cancer and forgetfulness: what happened to the actors in 'La casa de la pradera'
It seems that his fate was already written. The Highway to Heaven series was prophetic. The two protagonists, Michael Landon and Victor French, died two years apart. French in 1989 and Landon in 1991.
At a time when digital platforms did not exist, Landon achieved planetary fame thanks to three successful television products, Bonanza (1959-1973), La casa de la pradera (1974-1983) and Autopista para el cielo (1984-1989). ). Despite becoming an idol for millions of viewers, he never received an Emmy nomination, considered the Oscars on television.
When he died of pancreatic cancer at age 54, the television story was never the same again. His funeral was attended by Ronald Reagan, a former Hollywood actor and former president of the United States, and his wife Nancy, since the interpreter was a convinced Republican. That sad but tremendous ending contrasts with the childhood of someone who has been nicknamed "the Jesus of Malibu".
Before reaching the top, his childhood was hell . In high school he suffered the antisemitism of his classmates: "Jewish bastard", they used to shout at him; It was impossible for him to find a girlfriend because the girls' parents had strong Catholic convictions; his mother constantly threatened to commit suicide and humiliated him by hanging the sheets that Michael soaked with his urine and he felt tremendously alone because his parents fought regularly.
To make matters worse, with almost 16 years he had a motorcycle accident that disfigured almost his entire face, a disgrace that had a happy ending thanks to the repair surgery. And, as good a vain and flirtatious as he was, he began to dye his long hair and color it. Landon was able to continue forging his dreams with a new name that he chose from a phone book (because his name was actually Eugene Maurice Orowitz ).
In 1959, at the age of 22, he became a great star when he played the little John Cartwright in Bonanza , the mythical series he was in for 14 seasons. At that time he began to feel insecure about his height (he was 175 cm tall ) and wanted to stand out like his other colleagues, so he always used risers on his shoes. During filming, he learned to write scripts and direct, but it was difficult for him to digest fame because of the entire artistic cast, he received the most letters from fans. He ended up taking refuge in drink and tranquilizers like other great stars of the moment, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe or Tony Curtis.
The support of his first wife, Dodie Levy-Fraser, along with the love for his three children (Mark and Josh, adopted) and the help of his second wife, Marjorie Lynn Noe (1963-1982), who gave him five other children (Cheryl , Leslie Ann, Michael, Shawna and Christopher Beau) were essential to get him out of that spiral of destruction. But the good times were short-lived. In addition, he smoked four packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day , which likely influenced the onset of pancreatic cancer that eventually killed him.
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Being a great star thanks to Bonanza allowed him to star in La casa de la pradera without casting. The Ingalls family stories aired in 140 countries over nine seasons with 204 episodes plus four other specials. Despite the good vibes during the filming of La casa de la pradera because Michael played a lot of jokes, he had cakes on the children's birthdays and he 'adopted' Melissa Gilbert (Laura Ingalls) after the death of his father, his second marriage ended up being hell.
When the romance he had with his makeup artist, Cindy Clerico, 20 years younger, was discovered , the scandal overshadowed his good-natured aura because the relationship went against the values that the soap opera conveyed. After taking the bull by the horns, during the divorce process, Marjorie took 24 million euros from the time and a 35-room mansion in Beverly Hills. When the actor died, he did not attend the funeral because he told his children that "the divorce was like a death for me." Cindy and Michael were married in 1983 and had two children, Jennifer Rachel and Sean Matthew.
The most curious anecdote occurred at the end of the series because Melissa Gilbert lost contact with her 'adoptive father', whom she did not call again until she saw her last television interview with Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show , where she confessed that she suffered from cancer.
With nine children by 3 different women, Landon's home was always full of joy. Despite the hard working hours, the actor was always a devoted, caring and loving father. His special sensitivity helped him to intuit that one of his children, Christopher, was gay, but the young man did not officially come out of the closet until 1999. As he has stated on some occasion, "my stepmother [Cindy] explained that they both smelled about my sexual orientation, but my father decided that I would come to that conclusion by myself. " Unfortunately he could not see his son married and with two children conceived through surrogacy. "Dad was absolutely liberal in his life," he said.
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Michael found the last to his shoe when he was proposed to star in the angel Jonathan Smith who helped people in the iconic Highway to Heaven series , which premiered in our country 35 years ago. When producers told him that his land partner had to be a much younger man, Landon refused and forced them to hire his close friend Victor French, with whom he had worked at La casa de la pradera . Throughout 111 chapters, Landon demonstrated, once again, the values most coveted by American society: kindness, loyalty, and patriotism.
After the series was canceled, he left the NBC he had worked for all his life and joined CBS, with which he was preparing a pilot for what would be his fourth series, Us. But pancreatic cancer ended his life on July 1, 1991 at his Malibu ranch. Ronald Reagan stated, "His tragic battle with cancer touched the hearts of all Americans, as did his indomitable spirit." He left a fortune of 90 million euros.
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