Karen Grassle

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Karen Grassle

Born	Karen Grassle February 25, 1942 (1942-02-25) (age 66) Berkeley, California, U.S.

Karen Grassle (born February 25, 1942, in Berkeley, California) is an American actress known for her character-type roles. The naturally brunette-headed Grassle is best known from the role as Michael Landon’s wife, Caroline Ingalls, on Little House on the Prairie TV series, who was a brunette in real life. Her mother was a restaurant manager, and her father managed a gas station.

She graduated from high school in 1959, She skipped two grades serving as the student body's vice-president, and she then entered the University of California, Berkeley. She graduated with 2 BA degrees in 1965, one in English, the other in Dramatic Art. She received a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and eventually became head of its Voice Department.

Her first acting job in New York City was in the Gingham Tree, and she began calling herself “Gabriel Tree”. Using this name, she auditioned for the role of the mother, Caroline Ingalls, in Little House on the Prairie, and won the part against 47 other candidates. Michael Landon convinced her to revert to her birth name.

The series ran for nine seasons, from 1974 to 1983.

She was married to Leon Russom. In 1982, she married J. Allen Radford, and later Dr. Scott T. Sutherland in 1991. After the series ended, she moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where she remained active in theater. She would later become co-founder of Sante Fe’s Resource Theatre Company, also serving as the art director. Eventually, she moved back to California, where she lives with her daughter.

In 2006, she performed in Driving Miss Daisy in the starring role of Miss Daisy at the Manitoba Theatre Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.