Katherine MacGregor (born Dorlee Deane McGregor; January 12, 1925 – November 13, 2018) was an American actress, best known for her role as

Harriet Oleson There are many ''Little House on the Prairie'' characters, appearing in various forms of media in the ''Little House on the Prairie'' media franchise. Television series characters The Ingalls family The in-laws Townsfolk One-shot chara ...

in ''

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 ...

''. She started her career on stage in New York City, in theatres

off Off or OFF may refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Off'' (video game), a video game by Mortis Ghost. *Sven Väth, German DJ and singer who uses the pseudonym OFF * ''Off'' (album), by Ciwan Haco, 2006 * ''Off!'' (album), by Off! *Off!, an America ...

and on Broadway, credited as Scottie MacGregor.

Biography

Katherine MacGregor was born Dorlee Deane McGregor on January 12, 1925, in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

, to Ralph S. McGregor and Beatrice E. Willard. When Katherine was a child, her mother Beatrice moved the family to

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Larimer County, Colorado Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359 ...

, where they lived most of Katherine's early life. She graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

with a major in drama and moved to

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 ...

in 1949. She was hired by the Arthur Murray Dance Studios as a dance instructor. She studied acting under

N. Richard Nash Nathan Richard Nusbaum (June 8, 1913 – December 11, 2000), known as N. Richard Nash, was an American writer and dramatist best known for writing Broadway shows, including '' The Rainmaker''. Early life Nash was born Nathan Richard Nusbau ...

Sanford Meisner Sanford Meisner (August 31, 1905 – February 2, 1997) was an American actor and acting teacher who developed an approach to acting instruction that is now known as the Meisner technique. While Meisner was exposed to method acting at the Group ...

, and

Stella Adler Stella Adler (February 10, 1901 – December 21, 1992) was an American actress and acting teacher.
''

She did summer stock in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, as Dorlee Deane McGregor but switched to using the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Scottie MacGregor as her acting career advanced. Beginning in the 1950s, as Scottie MacGregor, she worked in theatre on and off Broadway in New York City and other locations in plays such as ''

The Seven Year Itch ''The Seven Year Itch'' is a 1955 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, from a screenplay he co-wrote with George Axelrod from the 1952 three-act play. The film stars Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell, who reprised his stage role. ...

'' and ''

Handful of Fire ''Handful of Fire'' is a 1958 play in two acts by American playwright N. Richard Nash. The play opened on Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional the ...

'', and won such uncredited parts as "a longshoreman's mother" (''

On the Waterfront ''On the Waterfront'' is a 1954 American crime drama film, directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg. It stars Marlon Brando and features Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning, and Eva Marie Saint in her film debut. ...

''); "Alice Thorn" (''

The Traveling Executioner ''The Traveling Executioner'' is a 1970 American comedy-drama film directed by Jack Smight and starring Stacy Keach, Bud Cort, Stefan Gierasch and Marianna Hill. The musical ''The Fields of Ambrosia'' is based on the film. Plot Jonas Candide, a ...

''), and "Miss Boswell" (''

The Student Nurses ''The Student Nurses'' is a 1970 American film directed by Stephanie Rothman. It was the second film from New World Pictures and the first in the popular "nurses" cycle of exploitation movies. It has since become a cult film. Plot Four young women ...

''). She appeared in numerous episodes of various television series: ''

Love of Life ''Love of Life'' is an American soap opera televised on CBS from September 24, 1951, to February 1, 1980. It was created by Roy Winsor, whose previous creation ''Search for Tomorrow'' premiered three weeks before ''Love of Life''; he created ''Th ...

'' (1956), ''

The Secret Storm ''The Secret Storm'' is an American soap opera that the CBS television network transmitted from February 1, 1954, to February 8, 1974. It was created by Roy Winsor, who also created the long-running soap operas ''Search for Tomorrow'' and ''Love ...

, The Nurses'', ''

Play of the Week Play of the Week may refer to: *''ITV Play of the Week'', British TV anthology series broadcast from 1956 to 1966 *''The Play of the Week'', American TV anthology series broadcast from 1959 to 1961 See also *''Play of the Month ''Play of the M ...

'' (1959), ''

East Side/West Side ''East Side/West Side'' is an American drama series starring George C. Scott, Elizabeth Wilson, Cicely Tyson, and, later on, Linden Chiles. The series aired for one season (1963–1964), and was shown Monday nights on CBS. Set in New York City, t ...

'' (1963), ''

Mannix ''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that ran from 1967 to 1975 on CBS. It was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller. The title character, Joe Mannix, is a private inves ...

'' (1970–71), ''

Emergency! ''Emergency!'' is an American action-adventure medical drama television series jointly produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. Debuting on NBC as a midseason replacement on January 15, 1972, replacing the two short-lived situatio ...

'' (1972), '' Ironside'' (1972, 1974), and ''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons, from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. Afterwards, it was continued with the spin-off series '' Archie Bunker's Place'', which picked up where ''All in ...

'' (1973), as well as the two 1981 "Heroes vs. Villains" episodes of ''

Family Feud ''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes. The show has had three separate runs, the ...

'' hosted by

Richard Dawson Richard Dawson (born Colin Lionel Emm; 20 November 1932 – 2 June 2012) was a British-born American actor, comedian, game-show host and panelist in the United States. Dawson was well known for playing Corporal Peter Newkirk in ''Hogan's Hero ...

. She had roles in the TV movies, ''

The Death of Me Yet ''The Death of Me Yet'' is a 1971 television film directed by John Llewellyn Moxey and starring Doug McClure and Darren McGavin. It based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Whit Masterson. The movie appeared on the ''ABC Movie of the Week'' ...

'' (1971), ''

The Girls of Huntington House ''The Girls of Huntington House'' is a 1973 television film directed by Alf Kjellin. The film is based on the 1972 novel of the same name written by Blossom Elfman. Plot Anne Baldwin arrives at Huntington House, a maternity home for pregnant min ...

'' (1973), and ''Tell Me Where It Hurts'' (1974). When she adopted the use of Katherine as her given name is unclear, but she switched from using ‘Scottie’ as she matured in age on the advice of her manager, and was still credited for her film and television roles as Scottie MacGregor until an early 1974 two-hour episode of '' Ironside'' (which served as pilot for the short-lived ''

Amy Prentiss ''Amy Prentiss'' is an American police drama television series that originally aired on NBC. Description ''Amy Prentiss'' was a spinoff of ''Ironside (TV series), Ironside'' (the pilot was a two-hour episode of that show) and like that series wa ...

''). Her first screen credit as Katherine MacGregor, and her best-known role, was from 1974 to 1983 in NBC's ''Little House on the Prairie'' as Harriet Oleson, the general store owner's wife and a comedic part. MacGregor's favorite description of her character in ''Little House'' came in a fan letter from Minnesota in the 1970s, in which Mrs. Oleson was described as "the touch of pepper in the sweetness of the show". In 1979, due to the popularity of ''Little House'' in Spain, MacGregor was invited to

Madrid, Spain Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, and appeared on

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española or RTVE, is the state-owned public corporation that assumed in 2007 the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service know ...

's ''

625 Lineas ''625 Lineas'' ( en, 625 Lines) was a program broadcast on La 1 (Spain), La Primera Cadena of Televisión Española on Sunday afternoons from November 18, 1976 to April 5, 1981. It provided interviews with television celebrities and reviewed telev ...

'' and ''Ding Dong La Cocina'' programs. After ''Little House on the Prairie'', she withdrew from screen productions in favor of local theater. She dedicated herself to the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

religion, and to teaching acting to children at the Wee Hollywood

Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu philosophy. Literally meaning "end of the Vedas", Vedanta reflects ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, t ...

Players, before finally retiring in the early 2000s. In 2014, she did an in-depth interview about her life and career for the book ''Prairie Memories'' by Patrick Loubatiere.

Personal life and death

She was married to actor

Bert Remsen Herbert Birchell "Bert" Remsen (February 25, 1925 – April 22, 1999) was an American actor and casting director. He appeared in numerous films and television series. Biography Remsen was born in Glen Cove, New York, on Long Island, the son o ...

from 1949 to 1950 and to actor, director, and teacher Edward G. Kaye-Martin, 14 years her junior, from August 1969 to October 1970. She had no children. While recovering from

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

, MacGregor converted to

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

. She was unable to appear in the series finale of ''Little House on the Prairie'', because she was on a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

at the time of the episode's filming. MacGregor died on November 13, 2018, at the age of 93, at the

Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and mea ...

in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. No cause was given.

Filmography

References

External links

* * *
Little House on the Prairie: About Katherine MacGregor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macgregor, Katherine Scottie 1925 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Glendale, California American Hindus American female dancers American film actresses American soap opera actresses American television actresses American stage actresses Dancers from California Northwestern University alumni 21st-century American women