Let's Go Back to the Beginning...with Mama Rosa (Part 1)
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This is Let's Be Clear with Shannon Doherty. Hi, everyone. Welcome to an episode of Let's Be Clear with Shannon Doherty.

I have Mama Rosa on. Hi, Mama Rosa. Hi. Hi, everybody. So I wanted my mom to be on because, well, she's only been on one other time and it was for like a quick Christmas sort of hello to all of you. But I wanted her on because, Mom, I want to talk early, early, early years, right? Like I want to talk about how I got into the business, sort of like my first job and then really my first

like meaningful job that sort of started my career the way that it did. So how did I get started? How did I even get in the business, mom? Well, your first foray into acting was in elementary school when you played Alice in Alice in Wonderland and you really got into that. You wanted the dress and everything. So we had to go to Disneyland and get you the dress and you did that. But then you went with a friend

to a children's theater at a church in Redondo Beach. And you just went to watch her audition. And then we were going to all go out and get hamburgers afterwards. And you ended up auditioning, as did your brother. And you got the role of Sneezy in The Seven Dwarfs. And he got the role of Grumpy. And you guys just enjoyed it so much. It's like you didn't want to even audition, but then you got into it.

And the wonderful thing about children's theater was it allowed you to participate in everything, not just in the roles that you were doing, but in painting the sets and helping build the sets. And so from there, somebody just happened to see that.

you and your brother and suggested it and you really wanted to do it. Suggested that I like do acting professionally. Get an agent and everything. And your dad and I discussed it. And we were really like, we were basically still new to California and the whole thing kind of like, we weren't sure about it. And you looked at us one day and you said,

I have to do this, Mom, because I have to work with Michael Landon. And at the time, you had this rag doll named Drusilla. And it was amazing because eventually that led to coming to life. You played a role of Drusilla in Father Murphy, which Michael created and brought you into. And that really started a lot. But before that, you had gone to...

An agency, which was actually an older lady in a modeling agency, and she sent you to a children's agent and they put you in Variety magazine. And she started getting all these phone calls. And that led to you doing the animated film, The Secret of Nimh, with Dom DeLuise and the wonderful producer, Don Bluth.

And it just kind of rolled on from there. You were with wonderful people. It was a wonderful experience. Um,

We did what we needed to do and went there and came home. Your dad would always drive us the night before to wherever we had to be the next morning or the next day for an audition because I was not familiar with Los Angeles at all. So what do you mean drive the night before? Like the auditions were in Los Angeles. So then like would we spend the night in a hotel or something? No, we would just like...

Oh, we would just go to the location and he'd say, okay, this is where you have to go. And I would see it. Then I would know. So the next morning or the next afternoon, I would know how to get there. That's funny. So it was, it was a lot going on. It was a lot, not just for you to learn and your brother to learn, but it was a lot for me to learn. And I learned how to get around Los Angeles. I learned how to be more confident myself and what I needed to do in order to get to places and get things done.

And it was just a whole learning experience for the whole family, I think. And we were very cautious about it. And I think rightly so. I think parents need to be cautious about it. Just like you would be cautious about putting your children in sports or any activities. It all takes time.

Not just a lot from the child, but it takes the family to be behind it and to be willing to put in the time and work. Because ultimately, you know, I mean, we had obviously you and dad. So you...

I remember you going to set with me all the time, which left Sean, my brother, but dad took him to whatever sports activities and everything else. But essentially some people would assume that at least one sibling is left out. Like somebody in the family is,

perhaps less attention paid to them or whatever, because one is requiring auditions. And then when they finally book a job, a series, they're going to work five days a week. And as a child actor, I don't remember back then what the rules were. How long could we work? Oh, it's been a while. Was it 12 hours or less? I'm not sure. I mean, I'm not sure, but I know you had to, there were definite three hours of school every day.

Which, by the way, you guys, it doesn't seem like a lot. But when you're talking about three hours of school, when you're in a classroom with only maybe either A, by yourself, or perhaps five, ten kids, that's, it's very, very, very intensive. And...

I remember my parents always sort of fighting for really, really good set teachers, which I did with Helen and Lillian and Marion Fife. I always had really good set teachers that were heavily focused on me getting an education. And they actually would not...

I remember that there was a chunk of time that they had to leave you in school. They couldn't take you out after just 10 minutes of being in school. It was like 30 minute blocks. Yeah, I think it was something like that.

So in those 30 minutes, it's been many years. I know. Right. For me too. It was highly focused, intense work. Well, part of that, like when you're doing commercials, it's a whole different thing because you're not really familiar with the teacher. Generally after a while, when you're doing it, you'll run into the same teachers off and on. And that's always nice. But when you actually are doing series, you,

or a movie, then you have the same teacher all the time. And fortunately, once you started working with Michael Linden and his crew, the teachers were excellent. And he told me from the beginning, he said to me, you as a parent have to be satisfied with your child's education because he knew how important education was for us. And

And you can't, if you see something or there's something that troubles you or you think she needs something different, a deaf teacher says you as a parent have the right to go to the producer and say, we need this. Ironically, that was Michael. He was the producer. Yeah. And he was, he was just really wonderful. And the teachers that he had, like Helen Minear had been with him for years, I guess, since Little House on the Prairie started.

And she was a wonderful teacher. And then he brought in Marion Fife, who was another fabulous teacher that he kept. So we always knew who was teaching you and what was going on. And then as you got to older, when you got older, and I remember one particular series you were on, Our House, it was you and two others. And the other two children were younger than you. And you were already, you were studying from the Lycee.

the International School of France. So we needed teachers that were really there for you all the time. So eventually... And you also could speak French because that was the whole thing of the school is... And eventually you would want to transfer to the school in Los Angeles, L'Ulysse Francais, which is in fact the public school of France. They had...

Two, it was all in the same campus, but you could either take all your classes except for French class in English, or you could transfer to the French side where every class is taught in French. And obviously that was always the goal.

And because on that particular show, on the show Our House, the three of you were in such different age groups that they required to have separate teachers. And then you were required to have three teachers because of the intensive study that you had. I just remember Lillian being my teacher. Lillian was one of your teachers. I don't remember.

I don't remember other teachers. There were two other teachers. Maybe it's because I bonded with Lillian. Lillian was the base for you. She also spoke fluent French. Yeah, she did all my French classes as well. And then someone came in for geometry, I believe it was. And then there was another teacher for something else. For calculus. You got a good education and it wasn't easy because your dad would go to this school and

really say, and they would have all the lesson plans and everything waiting for him once a week. He would do that. And it was sealed and it had to be presented to the teachers sealed. And the test. Anytime you took tests, any of your homework, anything, the teachers put in an envelope and it was sealed and then it was taken back to the school.

So it was not like you're going to a set and going into a classroom and not having to work. Or they just mark an A and fix your work for you and do all of that. So you got a really good education, which led you to being in...

Yeah. Like, is it? Who's who among American high school students? All American high school. Who's who among American high school students? But, and that was not for who I was. It was for my grades. It was for your grades. It was like the top 5%. Yeah. You were an excellent student. I forgot I was in that. I was in it for two years in a row. Right. An excellent student. And going back to what it's like for a family and for your brother, um,

This is another tribute to Michael. Michael allowed the crew and anybody working on the series that if you had children who wanted to come and be on the show, he would put them in background or whatever. And Sean loved that. And Sean was really excited one time when somebody really recognized him. He was recognized in a baseball uniform.

thing that was going on in the background and it was in the series but it was background but he got a real good shot and he was like really happy but he also loved theater more and he took acting class more for theater and after a while it just wasn't his thing he played football which is why I got into politics

Basically acting anyway. Right. Essentially, most of our politicians, it's all acting. So, okay. That was, that was a lot and very fast. No, we like, you know, you, you took a, what's supposed to be a 45 minute podcast. You narrowed it down to 10 minutes. So no, there's a lot more. We can't cover it all in one.

Because they don't have nothing else to talk about, mom. So I'm going to go back because I remember my first job being a Pac Bell commercial. You're right. And it was for the Latin American market. Yes, the Spanish, Hispanic. And...

The woman who played my grandma. I think it was Carmen Zapata. Right. Very well-known Hispanic actress. Famous Latin Hispanic actress. She was fabulous. And all I had to do was sleep. All I had to do was lay in bed and sleep, which was quite easy. I actually think I fell asleep on set in the bed. Yes, you did. This is amazing. I'm coming to work and working with this woman.

cool lady and I get to actually sleep and it was like you were with a grandmother yeah she was so nice she was so nice and I did I remember I did a shout it out commercial you did a lot of commercials yes

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Do you remember what drew you to horses? Yes, Robert Kennedy and his times. No, way before that. That's the story I've been telling everyone because that's my truth. Here's what happened. You went and you auditioned for a Sergio Valente jeans commercial. Yes! And it was, you had to be on a horse. And we were in Bell Canyon, which at that time was very secluded.

And I was so nervous about getting there that we got there, I think, like five or six in the morning and we didn't need to be there till eight or something. And suddenly we heard all this thundering coming through.

And it was this whole big motorcycle gang or whatever. And I was like, okay, let's lay down and be very quiet. We were just like, and then come to find out they were shooting a commercial there as well. Another, it was another commercial, but yeah. I do remember Sergio Valente. It wasn't. So I think I'm still correct that Robert Kennedy in his times got me into horses. Yeah. Because Sergio Valente,

you're on and off the horse pretty quickly. And I loved my horse, but there was something that felt a little like wild about that particular commercial shoot for me as a kid. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed everybody who was in the commercial with me. And, but it was, it was weird. It was the area was a little rough. I mean, the landscape. I mean, now it's amazing. But,

Here's what was weird for me is that I remember they had us sort of climb on the horse. One leg, my right leg would be in the stirrup and then you had to hoist your left leg and they would see whose bottom looked the best in jeans. But we were kids. We were young. And Sidney Penny did it with me and her bottom looked the best. So she had the butt shot, which made her, yes, but...

a little, now that you think about it, it's a little inappropriate. No, when I said it was great, I just meant you didn't have to do it. Right, I didn't have to do it. And that part was great, but- And I didn't even realize it at the time. I was a little devastated at the time though, that I didn't get the butt shot only because the butt shot person then got the big closeup and they were considered sort of the star of the commercial. You're right, it's great because-

I don't know any commercial that would do that nowadays, at least in the United States of America. I don't think that you're doing an ass shot of, how old was I? 10, 11, 10? Yeah, I don't think that's happening anymore. I think there's probably still certain done commercials.

Maybe they didn't even, they were thinking, maybe they were just thinking jeans. I really think they were just thinking jeans. And that's where the insignia was, was on the back pocket of the jeans. And they were doing a closeup of that. I don't think it was about, because I would not have allowed that. They do the commercial with adults and not with kids. You got to be a little bit more aware. I was extremely cautious. I know you were. I know you were very protective.

Not saying you weren't. So Sergio Valente, was there any other commercials I did? Yeah, you did. Do you remember doing Mattel? You did Mattel. I don't. Yeah, you did various things and you enjoyed it for the most part.

And the Mattel commercial, you got to dress up in the long frilly dress and your hair was all curly. That was something that was really, especially to have a girl, a little girl doing commercials.

it was a lot. And what I finally figured out was to take the trunk of my car and I would put a box for Sean and a box for you and things in it. And I would have different changes of clothes because we might think that we're going for one commercial audition and suddenly we would get

You know, we would check in before we headed home because you didn't have cell phones then. And they would say, no, we need you to do. And we would go to another commercial. You might have your hair in braids. And the next minute you might need to have like curls. Right. I liked my braids and I liked my Oshkosh bigosh. You were more a little tomboyish, which was great. And I think that also because of that, I think it just kept you on a real level playing.

And having a brother and just being a, you weren't so into like, you know, I have to have this, I have that. And then if you did have to have something special, fine. But otherwise it was, you generally just went in your oshkosh. That's how you got, I think that's how secret of NIMH.

You went in your, I think it was your peach or orange colored Oshkosh overalls. And you always liked to have, we called it dog ears. They call it two ponytails now. And you always wanted ribbons. So you always had ribbons in your hair. You love ribbons, but you were a little tomboy, basically. Well, the ribbons just...

For me, it was decorative and gave a little zhuzh to my outfit. But it was cute. So when you did The Secret of Nimh, they actually put a big bow in your character's hair because you always wore ribbons. That was a nod to you as a little girl. I ran into Don Bluth at a convention, and I can't believe how talented he is. He drew me. I brought it home, and I showed you, right? He drew...

No, I haven't seen it. He drew Teresa all over again and signed it. And we talked about what that experience was and the big bow in my hair and all of it. What a wonderful... That was with Dom DeLuise. Yeah, but Dom DeLuise was amazingly talented and so kind, so kind. And the interesting thing about voiceovers is that you don't... You're in a booth...

by yourself recording your lines with people staring through a recording studio through a glass telling you, you know, do it this way or do it that way or give me five readings in a row. And you don't get to hang out with the cast that much because you're all on different time schedules. But I did meet Dom DeLuise. I think also by doing an animated movie while you were so young and doing that voiceover later,

You have always been so good doing this in the sound booth when they have to go back and... Oh, you mean looping? Yeah, looping. No, that's just... That's little... That's Father Murphy in Little House. That's Michael Landon, 100% that taught me how to... But I think you were so open to it because you felt comfortable because you were part of the whole... Yeah, I mean, I...

I don't particularly love it now because I think when you're, so guys, what looping is, is if there's, when you're filming and there's a noise over your line, but you don't have time to take it over or the sound cuts out, there's something weird. When they're done editing, you go into a booth and you re-record, but you have to match the movement of your mouth perfectly with,

Sometimes they don't do it perfectly, which is when all of us watch a show and we're like, oh, what's that? That's what's called bad looping. And I don't love it because I think when you're in the moment on the soundstage and you're filming with your fellow actors, there's a different chemistry. There's...

All the emotion is coming up. You're fully in character, but I'm also not deeply opposed to it when it, when I have to loop, I'm okay with it because of Michael. It's a very good with it. Yeah. I, so back then when I, when I started, cause I'm old, um,

You didn't have the playback. No. So you couldn't watch your lips. You couldn't do anything. There was no picture in sight. All by sound. And so they would beep you in. So it would be three, beep, beep, beep. You could hear what you recorded most of the time, but you had to be perfectly in sync with that. And that is the hardest way to...

to loop humanly possible, in my opinion. But that's how I learned. And I think that's why I'm really good at it is because... And Michael taught me how. And by the way, his sound engineers were fantastic. His whole crew. There was nobody in his crew that wasn't just... And they were just... They were kind. They were polite. They were respectful. I mean, they were fun. But I mean, they were just...

It was, I think it's probably one of the best crews ever in the business. But you've always been a crew person. You've always, since you were little, you would like go talk to the crew and you always have just been interested. And they would show you things. They taught you things. And then once Michael taught me how to play liar's poker, I would always hang out with them so I could make extra money.

which is hysterical. So Father Murphy, the audition came around. And like my mom said earlier, I had this sort of cloth doll that I had named Drusilla. So we get the sides for Father Murphy for the audition. And the character didn't get the sides. Did you get them before? I thought you didn't get them till you walk into the into the room. I don't know. Do you think I did a cold read?

I'm pretty sure. I can't remember. Okay. I trust your memory. Let's say I did a cold read, walked in and the part was named Drusilla, which was so cool. I also thought, well, I'm getting this job because... You walked into a room full of... This was your first series. But it wasn't a series. I was only a two-part episode. Yeah. But I mean, you know, it led to... But you walked into a room and...

I walked in with you to check you in. And then there was a room full of children, some parents sitting in. And I'm like, are you okay? Yep. I'm okay, mom. I said, you want me to, they handed you the signs. I'm like, you want me to go over anything? Nope.

I got it, mommy. I'm like, okay. I'm like, I'll be right out in the hall. And you sat there and you wait and they called you in. And you always knew when you got something, you would always come out and say, I got this mommy. I'm like, okay. I did not say that when I auditioned for the halfsies commercial, I came out halfsies commercial. Do you remember that cereal halfsies that I auditioned for? And I knew I didn't have it. Oh, you would come out and say, I don't, I don't have this. I also told them I didn't know the cereal that I didn't care.

I was far too honest as a kid, which continued throughout my adult life, which caused a lot of problems. But I don't regret it, sort of. So, yeah. So, I knew I had that. I walked out and I was so excited because it was a Michael Landon produced TV show. And it was with Merlin Olsen and then the man who played...

My father, Eli, was Jack Elam. What a wonderful. A character actor back then, very well known. And he was so awesome to work with. And so was Merlin. And there was Timothy and Scotty. Catherine. Catherine, everybody else on the set. It was such a cool experience. I wore buckskins for half of it.

We shot it in Arizona and it was 110, 120 degrees. Tucson. Out in the old movie, some old movie lot outside of Tucson. It was so hot. I have pictures of me in the trailer with bandanas wrapped around my neck, on my forehead because...

People were passing out from the heat. And again, when you wear buckskins, that's... And a coonskin cap. And a coonskin hat. So you would wrap bandanas, you would dunk them in sea breeze. Ice cold, sea breeze. Yeah. So ice and sea breeze, and then dunk your bandanas in, and that would keep you... Time around your neck. Cooler. But...

That was a wild, fun experience. Well, that's the first time we ever went anywhere by ourselves. You and I boarded a plane. Dad and Sean took us to the airport. And we got on the plane to Tucson. You had a cowboy hat. You had a strong cowboy hat because you were going to cowboy country. And we're so cute. And you had Drusilla with you.

And when we got there, this big heavy set man was like so jolly. And we didn't know who he was, but he was like, he was taking care of us and everything else. It ended up to be an exec producer, Kent McRae, who was wonderful. And his, his later, he married Susan McRae. It was Suckman at the time. He married her. Who was the head casting director for Michael's shows. Yes.

But it was such a beautiful experience. And on your lunch break, you would come in and everybody was in Honeywagon. There were no special trailers. And you would sleep during your lunch. It was so damn hot. Yeah. You just needed to recoup. And then you could always get, you know, you always had food there. But it's like, yeah, you slept.

It was way too hot. Yeah, but it was fun. Very fun, cool, different experience. I loved everyone. But remember what you got special every day? I think Jack brought it to you. What? It was because it's this old Western town and they're open sometimes for tourist type of stuff. Root beer floats. Oh my gosh, that's right. That's right. I think it was Jack that brought me the root beer floats.

What a nice man he was. And then you met his daughter, who was doing a little internship, same age, but she was working at times at the zoo in Santa Barbara. We went up there. It was beautiful. It was a beautiful show to be on and beautiful people to work with. So how did Father Murphy lead to Little House?

Father Murphy, your particular episode on Father Murphy, it was a two-part episode. It pulled such high numbers from what I was told that NBC was really interested and NBC was really wanting to do something with you. And Michael was holding back because Michael, they wanted, and all the director and the producers on Father Murphy were,

wanted him to put you on Father Murphy. They wanted you on Father Murphy. And NBC, I think, too, everybody wanted you to come on Father Murphy and hold those ratings that you were pulling from the two-part episode. That wasn't really about me. Honestly, it was probably more about Jackie Lin, but it was also the writing. It was the episode. It was phenomenal. It was our director, Bill. I remember how fantastic he was. It was just... I mean, first off, the show was really good, but...

But those particular two episodes, I think were just so well written and struck a chord with people. And your character left a lot, it left a lot to work with. And you were, I don't, you were, the boys were pretty much, I can't remember what girl was on there. There was a

I don't remember. There was. Yeah. And I remember she was really pretty and it was the first time I'd ever sort of formed a crush, which really paralleled my character because there was Scotty and there was Timothy and my character has the crush on the older boy, Timothy, but the younger boy has the crush on me and their brothers. So the older one,

was all about the his age, beautiful, stunning girl, as opposed to me with my buck teeth. And it sort of paralleled real life. And I remember it was my first kiss ever because Scotty had to kiss me on the cheek. Oh, that's right. That's right. He did. He did like a quick kiss on my cheek for the show, in the show. And I just remember being a little embarrassed and being like, oh.

Because you, yeah. And that was, that's nice. I was nice that you were a little embarrassed. I would have been a little concerned if you were like, over the moon. I mean, it was, you're in front of a whole crew and you're young and it was just an innocent, like, it was literally like a quick peck on the cheek. But for me, it was still sort of like, oh, this is,

this is crazy. What's happening right now? I can't believe people are watching this. Okay. So how did that lead to Little House, Mom? Ha ha ha!

I'll tell you how it, I'll tell you. Here's what happened is Michael Littlehouse on the prairie was ending, but he was starting a continuation of it called Littlehouse, The New Beginning. That was, you know, Laura Ingalls and Almanzo and Victor French was going to continue his role on it.

better known to me as Stinky and Catherine McGregor was going to stay. It was basically that Michael, Karen Grassel, that whole group, Melissa, Dina Anderson was leaving, was leaving Stinky.

And so it was all about Laura Ingalls for, for the most part. And yeah. Yeah. And he brought me in to do little house, a new beginning, which I'm not sure how many seasons it lasted, but I recall it being a total of four years of my life. If I'm correct, if I'm not, please, if you were looking up and tell me, um,

or a listener. Oh my gosh. It's when Laura Ingalls meets Al Monzo and she marries Al Monzo. She's already married to Al Monzo. Al Monzo, but now she's moved on and she has a baby. Yes, Rose. And then her niece, who is you. I was not her niece. I was Al Monzo's niece. Al Monzo's niece. I'm sorry. Al Monzo's...

brother comes to visit with his daughter, which was me, Jenny Wilder. And he suffers a massive heart attack. He knew he was sick. That's why he brought me there. He dies and they essentially take me in and treat me as their own.

Sort of. I mean, did they ever do an official adoption? No, but I mean, I don't know if they did. I don't know. But basically, they adopted you into their family. This is turning into like a trivia episode, you guys. So anything that we say we don't know or we're not sure about, feel free to let me know what it is. Did they have adoption, official adoption back then? I don't know. So, right. So he brought me in.

And I just remember being seriously overjoyed that I got to work with Michael again because he was so kind and so funny and so witty and so smart.

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So Little House actually getting the job. Did I do remember? Did I have to audition for it? I don't believe you audition. I just believe you went in and you just you met with them. And they just wanted to see because you'd grown. It was a couple of years or whatever you had. You had grown. You weren't that little girl. You were like now you were taller. You were you had grown. And they just I think you're just just meeting with you again. That's all. Just seeing you saying hi and.

That was it. And I got the job, which was thrilling and exciting. It was very exciting. And to be on the lot when we were on the lot, to be on the MGM lot. Because it was MGM back then, right? And the old MGM, all the kids would go to the cafeteria. I mean, it was people who had been there for years. And the security guards, you would drive in every morning and they would have

hello and they would say our names even my name i'm like they were really nice you were just like it was a beautiful lot to be on and then sometimes we would shoot at disney ranch yep the outdoor stuff and then other times we would shoot what to penga do you remember oh it was um simi valley tepo canyon that's where all the

They sent wranglers out in the mornings before everybody came to, you know, check everything. Yeah. I never had a problem with rattlesnakes. I still don't. You do though. But well, that's a whole other episode, mom. You and nature. She's like, I'll never be on that episode. I just don't like to be, you know. Sometimes it rebels against you. But again, that's a different episode. So,

All right. So I got on Little House. I think it was a four year time period. And one of my favorite episodes I did was with Ralph Bellamy. Well, that's something else that Michael did. He brought in like Vera Miles. He brought in wonderful people and wrote wonderful stories.

Episodes that gave you such a beautiful experience. And it was just, it was really exciting to see that part of what the experience of being in the business was. Yeah, I can't remember what that episode was called, but it was Michael wrote it, Michael directed it, and it was Ralph Bellamy played

country doctor that was losing his eyesight. And, oh, it makes me cry. He was so good. And he basically wasn't really able to take on patients anymore because he was losing his eyesight. And my character,

lost. We, I was with my friends and the locket that my father was pretty much the only thing I had from my dad that he gave me had somehow fallen off in the pond slash lake. And I dove down to get it. And my character got stuck under like trees and brush. And I was down there for far too long. And so it, it,

When they finally found me and brought me up, I couldn't speak properly. I stuttered. I couldn't spit out words. I couldn't formulate the words. I had a limp. And I remember the big, huge water tank.

on the soundstage. Aquarium, the human aquarium is what I called it. Yeah, it was big. And again, Michael was directing, so he was very concerned about my safety and he made me feel good. He talked to me about, he took me aside and explained everything. I mean, he was just... He did have to tell me a couple of times to stop

holding my breath with my cheeks puffed out. Because supposedly, I've now drowned and I'm no longer breathing, but my cheeks, I would hold my breath so it would seem like I was no longer conscious, but I would puff out my cheeks with all the air that I had sucked in before I went down to get in position. So, I don't know. There might be...

I would have to look that episode up and see if I ever actually did that right. I might not have. I somehow recall that I saw it

A long time ago. And I was like, oh my gosh, look at my cheeks puffed out. There was no stunt woman doing that. You did the whole thing. But he was, oh, I'm going to have to find the photo. There's a photo of me wrapped up in a bathrobe with Michael. And he's talking to me and directing me. And I'm looking at him with such adoration because I did. I adored him. He was amazing.

a mentor. He very much so. He appreciated your interest because you would like, instead of going off to play, you would come and you would sit behind camera and Teddy Voigtlander, Teddy Voigtlander, one of the best DPs of all time, cinematographers. You were interested. You had such an interest and you, nobody ever had to tell you,

your mark, anything. You just, you were so totally wrapped in it. You just, you couldn't get enough of it. It was like. Yeah. Teddy taught me all about different lenses and he would have me sit behind the camera and learn how to operate and then teach me about the lenses. And he gave me,

a list of books on lighting that I still have, like The Face on Her Light. There are just some extraordinary books that I still pick up today. And I certainly used them when I was directing Charmed and the web thing I did, music videos. I still sort of look at those books. That show, Little House, shaped me in so many ways. And it still is...

the best experience of my entire career. And as a parent, because you hear so many negative things about children working in the industry and everything, but as a parent, and I had questions in the beginning and I wanted to be sure, but you were with the right person. You were with the right people. And as a parent watching this and watching them

taking note of your interests and your intelligence to see it and to grasp it and they just they were thrilled as thrilled with you as you were with them about wanting to learn they were thrilled about teaching you yeah and so it was just really I just it was a very comfortable thing as a parent to see that they didn't just treat you as some kid that like you know oh

Just you did this now go to your room or whatever. They just always were there for you. Okay, so going back to the Ralph Bellamy in the episode. So I drown a little bit and I lose my speech and I have a limp.

And I am the last patient of this country doctor, essentially because everybody else is saying they can't do anything for me, if I recall correctly. And Raph Bellamy, again, one of the most

character actors. He was in trading spaces. He's just phenomenal. He lived in New York. Very old school. And he had this little licorice candy. Stillies, I think. That always came, which by the way... You have them. You always have them. I always have them. Pastillies. Pastillies, yes. And so he would always bring me a tin. And...

He got me hooked on those, but we just bonded. And I remember he would write me letters afterwards. We would, we were like pen pals for a little bit. He would sit by you. I mean, you could, either one of you could have gone and done anything and while they're setting up for another scene or something, but he, the two of you would sit there in your chairs and,

And you would have these conversations. He would talk to you and you would each have a little licorice once in a while. And it was amazing. And I always tried to like give space. I didn't want to hover. I wasn't going to, whether it was whatever it was, I was not the mother that was going to leave my children or put them with somebody else to take care of. It's like, if I can't, if I can't watch over my kids, especially this was like really nothing we had ever done.

been familiar with. I was going to be there. If not, then you weren't. But it was just to sit back and I always tried to sit. And of course, you would always at some point come and sit on my lap. And you even did that

My own Charmed and all the others, you would always come sit on my lap at some point. But it was amazing to sit and watch you and Ralph Balame sit there and have this relationship. Nowadays, I don't sit on your lap, but my legs do. Yeah. While you rub my feet. While we watch TV. While we watch TV. So this is just, it's kind of amazing because when I think about

the long span of my career, but also how rough some jobs were and unenjoyable to be a part of, a little bit toxic. It was really the experience on Little House that spurred that passion on for being an actor. And it was having a mentor like Michael Landon, and I don't care what anybody else's experience was like,

I know the truth about that man. And he was just unbelievable. So, so, so talented, so kind, so considerate. And it really helped shape me. And he was incredibly caring for my entire family, not just you and me. He was caring for dad and for Sean. And he actually sent your dad to...

a doctor at UCLA that was at Jules Stein eye clinic. That was very hard to get into it. He, he knew that because he had took the time to talk to your dad and know him. And that's how he knew that. And in order to give your dad that opportunity. So, yeah, no, he was very, he was, he was very interesting, man. All right, you guys, there is going to be a part two of this.

Of this because a, we have more to talk about little house, but also what came after little house, uh,

We haven't even... Cliffwood Avenue kids. What's Cliffwood Avenue kids? Oh, Cliffwood Avenue kids. Who was that? Oh, my... Well, see, we skipped right over a lot of the initial things. We'll make notes. We didn't make notes this time. Like Sheila Manning, one of the best casting directors ever. Sheila Manning, yes. So, we'll talk all about that. We'll talk about the transition into our house, Wilford Brimley. Which I'm watching now on some network. I know. Like...

Last night you were watching it and I... You walked in and I was like, what? This is so weird. I walked right out. I was like, I can't. But yeah, I

Listen, let's be clear is a diary. It's a memoir. It's also about the present. It's also about the future right now with my mom. We're going to do a little bit of the past. So please, I hope you enjoy this episode. It's so special for my mom and I to be able to do this and share our memories with all of you because there's so many positive ones. So many beautiful ones that, that,

that we'll have forever like just moments between mother and daughter that's incredibly incredibly special don't cry mama um and then obviously there'll be a part two so thank you so much for listening let's be clear with shannon doherty and let's thank my mama mama rosa she's already tearing up so bye you guys thank you so much bye guys

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