Jonathan J. Gilbert (born April 28, 1967) is an American former television and film actor known for his role as Willie Oleson on the TV series ''

Little House on the Prairie The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books is a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adolescence in the Midwestern United States, American M ...

''.

Personal life

Gilbert was born on April 28, 1967. He is the adopted son of actors Barbara Cowen (née Barbara Crane) and

Paul Gilbert Paul Brandon Gilbert is an American hard rock and heavy metal guitarist. He is the co-founder of the band Mr. Big, and was also a member of Racer X, with whom he released several albums. In 1996, Gilbert launched a solo career, for which h ...

and adopted brother of

Melissa Gilbert Melissa Ellen Gilbert (born May 8, 1963) is an American actress, television director, producer, politician, and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. Gilbert began her career as a child actress in the late 1960s, appearing in numerous co ...

and adopted brother of

Sara Gilbert Sara Gilbert (born Sara Rebecca Abeles; January 29, 1975) is an American actress best known for her role as Darlene Conner on the ABC sitcom '' Roseanne'' (1988–1997; 2018), for which she received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and ...

. In Melissa Gilbert's 2010 autobiography, ''Prairie Tale'', she said Paul killed himself in 1976 due to his suffering from constant pain. Barbara then married Harold Abeles, and together they had Sara Abeles, who changed her name to Sara Gilbert, even though she has no relation to Paul. In Melissa Gilbert's autobiography, she wrote that when Jonathan was in his early 20s, he moved away from California and she had no relationship with him since then, for reasons supposedly unknown to her. Her autobiography states that he is a

stockbroker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...

living in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Acting career

Gilbert is best known for his performance as Willie Oleson on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

TV series, ''

'', from 1974 to 1983. He is also one of only six actors on ''Little House on the Prairie'' to appear throughout the entire series, along with

Katherine MacGregor Katherine MacGregor (born Dorlee Deane McGregor; January 12, 1925 – November 13, 2018) was an American actress, best known for her role as Harriet Oleson in ''Little House on the Prairie''. She started her career on stage in New York City, i ...

, Richard Bull,

Kevin Hagen Kevin Hagen (April 3, 1928 – July 9, 2005) was an American actor best known for his role as Dr. Hiram Baker on NBC's ''Little House on the Prairie.'' Early life Hagen was born in Chicago, Illinois, to professional ballroom dancers, Haakon O ...

, and

Dabbs Greer Robert William "Dabbs" Greer (April 2, 1917 – April 28, 2007) was an American character actor in film and television for over 60 years. With nearly 100 film roles and appearances in nearly 600 television episodes of various series, Greer m ...

. In 1979, Gilbert was in the

made-for-television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

'' The Little House Years'' also as Willie Oleson. Also in 1979, he was in the made-for-TV-Movie ''

The Miracle Worker ''The Miracle Worker'' refers to a broadcast, a play and various other adaptations of Helen Keller's 1903 autobiography '' The Story of My Life''. The first of these works was a 1957 ''Playhouse 90'' broadcast written by William Gibson and st ...

'' as Jimmy. He was in two out of the three made-for-television movies based on the ''Little House on the Prairie'' series of books ('' Little House: Look Back to Yesterday'' and '' Little House: The Last Farewell'').

Filmography

Television

References

Sources

* * *

External links

* 1967 births Living people American adoptees American male child actors American male film actors American male television actors {{US-screen-actor-1960s-stub