{{Short description|American actress and author (born 1962)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Alison Arngrim | image = Alison Arngrim 2017.jpg | caption = Arngrim in 2017 | birth_name = Alison Margaret Arngrim | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1962|1|18}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | occupation = Actress, author | mother = Norma MacMillan | relatives = Stefan Arngrim (brother) | children = | spouse = {{plainlist| * Donald Spencer * Robert Paul Schoonover }} | years_active = 1974–present | website = {{Official URL}} }}
'''Alison Margaret Arngrim''' (born January 18, 1962)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rose |first=Mike |date=January 18, 2023|title=Today's famous birthdays list for January 18, 2023 includes celebrities Kevin Costner, Dave Bautista|url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2023/01/todays-famous-birthdays-list-for-january-18-2023-includes-celebrities-kevin-costner-dave-bautista.html |access-date=January 18, 2023 |website=Cleveland.com}}</ref> is an American actress and author. Beginning her television career at the age of twelve, Arngrim is a Young Artist Award–Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award honoree, best known for her portrayal of Nellie Oleson on the NBC television series ''Little House on the Prairie'' from 1974 to 1982.
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==Early life== Arngrim's father, Thor Arngrim, was a Canadian-born Hollywood manager.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=18 December 2009|title=Manager Thor Arngrim dies|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/manager-thor-arngrim-dies-92506/|work=The Hollywood Reporter|location= |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref> Her mother, Norma MacMillan of Vancouver, British Columbia, was an actress who provided the voices for the characters: Casper on ''Casper the Friendly Ghost'', Gumby on ''Gumby'', Davey on ''Davey and Goliath'', Sweet Polly Purebred on ''Underdog'', and other animated children's programs.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bishop|first=Angela|author-link=Angela Bishop|date=10 October 2018|title=Alison Arngrim's Dark Childhood Secret|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVIqPUuUXss|work=Studio 10|publisher=Network 10|location= |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref>
Her brother Stefan (b. 1955) was also a child actor, perhaps best known for his role as Barry Lockridge on the Irwin Allen science-fiction television series, ''Land of the Giants''.<ref name="Los Angeles Times">{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/513111762.html?dids=513111762:513111762&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Aug+25%2C+1968&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Groovy+Clothes+Call+for+Proper+Setting%2C+Teenage+Actor+Warns&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130104153144/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/513111762.html?dids=513111762:513111762&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Aug+25,+1968&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Groovy+Clothes+Call+for+Proper+Setting,+Teenage+Actor+Warns&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 4, 2013|title=Groovy Clothes Call for Proper Setting, Teenage Actor Warns|date=August 25, 1968|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>
Arngrim claimed that her brother sexually molested her from age 6 until 9, when he was between the ages of 13 and 16.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Macdonald |first=Gayle |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/television/little-houses-alison-arngrim-a-retrospective/article4353336 |title=Little House's Alison Arngrim: a retrospective |date=June 16, 2010 |work=The Globe and Mail |location=Toronto}}</ref> She also claimed that her brother admitted to the abuse but isn't particularly apologetic for his behavior. Arngrim stated that she no longer has any kind of relationship with her brother, a decision she reports has bettered her life.<ref name="studio">{{cite news |last=Bennett |first=Craig |author-link=Craig Bennett |date=14 April 2022 |title=Secrets from Little House On The Prairie |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuTtNgtnYps |access-date=17 April 2022 |work=Studio 10 |publisher=Network 10 |location= |quote=Often people deny it. In this case, he did not. He absolutely admitted to everything - but apparently not particularly sorry. I realise that's sort of stunning because a lot of people go 'oh yes, he was really sorry about the whole thing'. No. Not really. And that's sort of hard to take, I imagine, for people who don't work in the field to hear that someone said "Yes I did it" but that they don't care... I don't have anything to do with him and I think my life is better for it.}}</ref>
==Acting career== After beginning a career as a child model and actress in television commercials, Arngrim rose to fame as a child star in 1974, portraying Nellie Oleson in the NBC television series ''Little House on the Prairie''. She originally auditioned for the part of Laura Ingalls, and later Mary Ingalls, but was instead cast in the role of antagonist Nellie Oleson. Arngrim would play her for seven seasons, and her portrayal became a cultural reference and camp archetype for the spoiled "bad girl" throughout the 1970s.{{citation needed|date=November 2012}}<ref>{{Cite news|title=Mean girl pioneer: 'Little House' star recalls days on TV's favorite prairie|last=Meinhart|first=Kendra|date=July 29, 2012|work=The Town Talk}}</ref>
Years later in one of her stand-up routines Arngrim described playing Nellie on ''Little House on The Prairie'' as "like having PMS for seven years."<ref>[http://www.lvrj.com/neon/little-louse-on-the-prairie-100013249.html Interview in Las Vegas Review-Journal 5 August 2010]</ref> In 2002 she was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award for her work as a child actress on ''Little House''.<ref name="Young Artist Awards 23">{{cite web|url=http://www.youngartistawards.org/noms23A.htm |title=23rd Annual Young Artist Awards |access-date=March 31, 2011 |work=YoungArtistAwards.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903210759/http://www.youngartistawards.org/noms23A.htm |archive-date=September 3, 2014 }}</ref> At the 2006 TV Land Awards Arngrim tied with Danielle Spencer ('Dee' on ''What's Happening!!'') as the "Character Most in Need of a Time-Out" for her role as Nellie.
In addition to her work on ''Little House'', Arngrim also recorded the 1977 comedy record album ''Heeere's Amy'' on Laff Records, where she impersonates President Jimmy Carter's daughter Amy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/06/10/did-you-know-this-i-did-not|title=Did You Know This? I Did Not. |last=Schmader |first=David |date=June 10, 2009 |work=The Stranger |access-date=June 12, 2011}}</ref> Her mother, who voiced the Kennedy children on the comedy albums of Vaughn Meader, also guest-starred on the album. After leaving ''Little House'' Arngrim appeared in guest-starring roles on such television series as ''The Love Boat'' and ''Fantasy Island''. She was also a frequent panelist on the short-lived NBC game show ''Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour''.
Starting in 2006 she developed a successful career on stage in France with her friend, author/director/comedian Patrick Loubatière. In 2017 in Pinehurst, North Carolina, she appeared as Emily Brent in Judson Theatre Company's production of Agatha Christie's ''And Then There Were None''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thepilot.com/news/features/arngrim-headlines-cast-of-and-then-there-were-none/article_3640716a-f7a5-11e6-99c2-a79280145f50.html | title=Arngrim Headlines Cast of 'And then There Were None' | date=February 23, 2017 }}</ref>
==Philanthropy== In addition to performing, Arngrim also devotes her time to charitable organizations.
One of her inspirations for her charity work is the memory of friend and fellow actor Steve Tracy, who played Nellie Oleson's husband, Percival Dalton, on ''Little House on the Prairie''. Tracy died in 1986 of complications from AIDS. Tracy's death inspired Arngrim to become an activist for AIDS awareness. She worked for an AIDS hotline and with the advocacy group ACT UP.
Arngrim is also an advocate for several other issues. She has been a frequent speaker for PROTECT, a group that works to fight child abuse.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pace|first=Giacinta|date=10 March 2012|title=Whoa Nellie! Alison Arngrim fights for children's rights|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/whoa-nellie-alison-arngrim-fights-childrens-rights-flna411357|work=NBC News|publisher=NBC|location= |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref> In 2004 Arngrim revealed on ''Larry King Live'' that she herself was an incest survivor.<ref>{{cite news |last=King|first=Larry|author-link=Larry King|date=27 April 2004|title=Alison Arngrim |url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/lkl/date/2004-04-27/segment/00|work=Larry King Live|publisher=CNN|location= |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref>
==Author== In 2010 Arngrim authored an autobiography titled ''Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated |last=Arngrim |first=Alison |year=2010 |publisher=It Books |isbn=978-0-06-196214-1}}</ref> In the book she, for the first time, publicly identified her then-teenaged brother as her childhood abuser, though the book is mostly light-hearted and received critical praise for her ability to mix humor and personal tragedy.<ref>{{cite book|title=Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated Paperback – June 14, 2011 |isbn=978-0061962158 |last1=Arngrim |first1=Alison |date=June 14, 2011 |publisher=Harper Collins }}</ref> She wrote and performed a stage version, which premiered at Club Fez in New York.<ref>[http://www.hgd.com/alison/bio.html Hgd.com]</ref> She later performed this one-person show at Parliament House, a gay resort in Orlando, Florida.<ref>{{Cite news|work=The New York Times|title=From 'I Hate Her' to Icon|author=Barnes, Brooks|date=June 14, 2013|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/fashion/from-i-hate-her-to-icon.html?_r=0|access-date=April 11, 2015}}</ref>
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- |1974 || ''Throw Out the Anchor!'' || Stevie || Feature film |- |1974–1982 || ''Little House on the Prairie'' || Nellie Oleson || Main role |- |rowspan=2|1981 || '' The Love Boat'' || Becky Daniels || Episode: "Tony and Julie/Separate Beds/America's Sweetheart" |- || ''Fantasy Island'' || Lisa Blake || Episode: "Elizabeth's Baby/The Artist and the Lady" |- |1983 || ''I Married Wyatt Earp'' || Amy || TV film |- |1986 || ''Video Valentino'' || Trixie || rowspan=2|Short film |- |2000 || ''For the Love of May'' || Jude |- |2002 || ''The Last Place on Earth'' || Party Toast ||rowspan=3|Feature film |- |2007 || ''Le deal'' || Edith |- |rowspan=2|2009 || ''Make the Yuletide Gay'' || Heather Mancuso |- || ''The Bilderberg Club: Meet the Shadow One World Government'' || Dr. Samantha Klein || rowspan=2|Short film |- |2012 || ''Livin' the Dream'' || Debbie Sweat |- |rowspan=3|2015 || ''The Comeback Kids'' || rowspan=2|Herself || Episode: "Child Star Support Group: Part 2" |- || ''CPR Talent Agency'' || Pilot |- || ''Life Interrupted'' || Ally Hughes || TV film |- |2017 || ''The Mephisto Box'' || Leeza || rowspan=2|Feature film |- |2021||''Even in Dreams''||Debra |}
==Awards==
===Wins=== * 2002 – Young Artist Award: Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award for (''Little House on the Prairie'') * 2006 – TV Land Award: for "Character Most Desperately in Need of a Time-Out" (''Little House on the Prairie'')
===Nominations=== * 1981 – Young Artist Award: for Best Young Comedienne (''Little House on the Prairie'') * 2008 – TV Land Award: for "Siblings That Make You Grateful for Your Own Crazy Family" (''Little House on the Prairie'')
==References== {{reflist}}
'''Other sources''' * {{cite book|title=Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated|first=Alison|last=Arngrim|publisher=It Books|location=New York City|year=2010|isbn=978-0-06-196214-1}}
==Further reading== * Dye, David. ''Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914-1985''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1988, p. 7.
==External links== * {{Official website}} * {{IMDb name}} * {{TCMDb name}} * [https://www.facebook.com/alison.arngrim Facebook site (official)]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Arngrim, Alison}} Category:1962 births Category:Living people Category:American autobiographers Category:American television actresses Category:American child actresses Category:American HIV/AIDS activists Category:Actresses from New York (state) Category:American people of Canadian descent Category:American women autobiographers Category:21st-century American women writers Category:20th-century American actresses Category:Hollywood High School alumni