Inside ‘Little House On The Prairie’ Star Michael Landon’s Blended Family Of 9 Children

Michael was the father of five sons and four daughters. The sons are Mark, Josh, Michael Jr., Christopher and Sean. The daughters are Cheryl, Leslie, Shawna and Jennifer.

Mark and Josh are the oldest of Landon’s children. Landon adopted Mark, who was born in 1948, when he married his first wife Dodie Levy-Fraser in 1956. The couple went on to adopt Josh together. Michael was so devoted to the boys that he didn’t like people to say they were adopted. This is because he felt that they were truly his own.

When Michael married his second wife in 1963, he adopted her daughter Cheryl. They then had four children together: Leslie, Michael Jr., Shawna and Christopher.

Michael married his final wife Cindy Landon in 1983. They welcomed their daughter Jennifer later that year. Michael’s youngest child Sean was then born in 1986.

Michael didn’t just star in Little House On The Prairie, he also produced it. This allowed him to cast his children on the show.

Michael Jr. acted in two episodes of Little House On The Prairie in 1977. Shawna also acted in an episode of the show as well as the spinoff TV movie Little House Years. Michael’s daughter Jennifer appeared in an episode of his TV show Highway To Heaven in 1989.

Later, Michael wrote and directed a made-for-TV movie Us, and he cast his son Mark in a part in the film. Michael managed to complete the project just before his death on July 1, 1991.

Given how close he was to his children, it’s no surprise that Michael loved working with them!

His Little House On The Prairie role clearly had a deep impact on Michael Jr. He’s gone on to become a Hollywood player who found great success as a director and producer.

Michael Jr. is currently the creator and executive producer for the Hallmark television show When Calls The Heart, which has been on since 2014. He also directed and produced various feature films and TV movies, including the 2007 films The Velveteen Rabbit and The Last Sin Eater.

In 1999, Michael Jr. honored his father by making the TV movie Michael Landon: The Father I Knew. The film explores the difficulties his family faced when Michael left his second wife Marjorie to marry his third wife Cindy. It also depicts when Michael Jr. reconciled with his father years later.

Michael would undoubtedly be very proud to see the man Michael Jr. has become today.

Michael Jr. isn’t the only Hollywood power player among Michael’s kids. His son Christopher is a successful director and producer of horror movies.

Christopher has written, directed, and produced movies like Freaky, We Have a Ghost and Happy Death Day 2U. Last year, it was announced that Christopher will direct Scream 7, his highest profile project to date.

On top of all of that, Christopher honored his dad when he wrote the screenplay for the 2021 TV movie Highway to Heaven, which was inspired by his father’s show.

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Michael’s daughter Jennifer, who goes by Jen, has become a successful actress in her own right. After making her debut alongside her father in a 1989 episode of Highway to Heaven, she appeared in over 500 episode of the soap opera As the World Turns.

This was followed by roles in The Young and the Restless, Days of Our Lives and FBI: Most Wanted.

Jen’s biggest role to date, however, has been that of the sassy pink-haired Teeter on seasons 3-5 of the hugely popular TV show Yellowstone. Last year, Jen told Cowgirl Magazine that this role was “very healing” for her because her mother Cindy got into a bad horseback riding accident soon after Michael’s death. This stopped Jen from ever riding herself.

“My mom rode hunter-jumpers, and that accident was horrible timing,” Jen explained. “I was seven and we were in Arizona getting a new horse, just after my pops had died and my mom was thirty-four years old with two young children.”

Given the fact that Michael acted in western shows like Bonanza and Little House On The Praire, one can’t help but think that he would love the idea of his daughter acting in a show like Yellowstone!

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Michael’s daughter Shawna and his youngest son Sean work together selling luxury real estate in Hollywood.

Shawna’s LinkedIn bio states that she “knows a lot about big houses in Hollywood. As the daughter of a beloved actor and filmmaker, she has a unique perspective on luxury properties and estates.”

Meanwhile, Sean’s profile on the Douglas Elliman Real Estate website also references his famous roots.

“Sean Landon was born and raised in Malibu with deep familial ties to this special beach side community,” it reads.

Who wouldn’t want to see their kids work together? We’re sure Michael would get a kick out of this!

Michael’s daughter Cheryl nearly died in a 1973 car accident.

“She was coming home from a fraternity-sorority gathering with four friends in a little Volkswagen, and they were struck by a Ford going in excess of 80 miles an hour,” he later said. “It killed everyone but her, and it broke everything in her — all her ribs, her neck, you name it.”

As Cheryl fought for her life, Michael promised himself that if she lived, he “would do my best to make a product to help people.”

This was the inspiration behind Michael’s television show Highway to Heaven, which ran from 1984 until 1989. The show was about “a probationary angel, sent back to Earth, teams with an ex-cop to help people.”

Michael wanted to make “a show where people could see how much better and healthier it is to go through life being nice.”

Mission accomplished!

Michael’s daughter Cheryl has written various books inspired by him. One year after his death, she wrote the memoir “I Promised My Dad: An Intimate Portrait of Michael Landon by His Eldest Daughter.” The book tells the story of Michael’s home life and him leaving his second wife Marjorie, Cheryl’s mother, for his third wife Cindy.

In 2001, Chery wrote Michael Landon’s Legacy: 7 Keys to Supercharging Your Life. This book was about Cheryl’s spiritual philosophy that stemmed from Michael’s deathbed message, “Love one another.” 

Last year, Cheryl told The Coronado News that she didn’t know about the promise her father made as she tried to recover from her car accident.

“I looked at him [on his deathbed] and said, ‘you made this promise over my life?’ ” she recalled. “And he squeezed my hand; he said: ‘We don’t know how to love each other; we’ve forgotten.’”

This promise inspired Cheryl to become a motivational speaker and lecturer. Her goal in this career is to continue to spread Michael’s message of love to the world.

Michael was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer in April of 1991, and he was dead less than three months later.

This has led to his children being hyper-vigilant about their health and prioritizing early detection of cancer and other diseases. After seeing their father’s hard decline, they want to ensure that they don’t suffer the same fate.

Michael’s daughter Leslie said in 2021 that her father was so busy that his “own health got put on the back burner.”

“Because we knew how my dad was with his own health, we kids do the opposite,” she explained. “We’re like, ‘Something doesn’t seem right, let’s look into it.'”

“Information is power and it allows you to make choices about your health when you know what you’re dealing with,” she added. “Fear tends to paralyze people.”

This paid off big time that same year, when doctors found a cancerous tumor on Christopher Landon’s kidney. Because he got it checked early, they were able to remove it before it became a serious issue.

Michael’s children were devastated when he passed away on July 1, 1991. At the time, they ranged in age from 5 to 43, but none of them were ready to say goodbye.

“You could say a thousand goodbyes, and it would never be enough,” said Christopher, who was 15 at the time.

“He really showed us how to handle death. I’d want to go with dignity, like he did,” added Michael’s oldest son Mark, who sadly died in 2009 at the age of 61.

Michael’s surviving eight children still miss him dearly all these years later.

“It’s so hard for us to believe 30 years have gone by,” Leslie said in 2021. “Sometimes it feels like just yesterday that he was here. But I think that he would be so thrilled to see his loved ones holding up his legacy.”

It’s save to say that this is spot on. In the end, Michael would be very proud of what his children are doing today!