Memorable World History/Authors

RIP Michael Landon: A Memorial to Michael Landon

Michael Landon (born EugeneMaurice Orowitz; October 31, 1936 – July 1, 1991) was anAmerican actor, writer, director, and producer. He is known for hisroles as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza (1959–1973), CharlesIngalls in Little House on the Prairie (1974–1983), and JonathanSmith in Highway to Heaven (1984–1989). Landon appeared on thecover of TV Guide 22 times, second only to Lucille Ball.

Early life

Landon was born Eugene Maurice Orowitzon October 31, 1936 in Forest Hills, a neighborhood of Queens, NewYork. His parents were Peggy (née O'Neill; a dancer and comedian)and Eli Maurice Orowitz. His father was Jewish, and his mother wasRoman Catholic. Eugene was the Orowitz family's second child; theirdaughter, Evelyn, was born three years earlier, in 1933. In 1941,when Landon was four years old, he and his family moved to thePhiladelphia suburb of Collingswood, New Jersey. He attended andcelebrated his Bar Mitzvah at Temple Beth Shalom. His family recallsthat Landon "went through a lot of hassle studying for thebig event, which included bicycling to a nearby town every day inorder to learn how to read Hebrew and recite prayers."

During his childhood, Landon wasconstantly worrying about his mother attempting suicide. On a familybeach vacation his mother tried to drown herself, but Michael rescuedher. Shortly after the attempt, his mother acted as if nothinghappened and a few minutes later, Michael vomited. He said that itwas the worst experience of his life. Stress overload from thesuicide attempts of his mother caused Landon to battle the childhoodproblem of bedwetting, which was documented in the unauthorizedbiography Michael Landon: His Triumph and Tragedy. His mother put hiswet sheets on display outside his window for all to see. He ran homeevery day and tried to remove them before his classmates could see.

Landon attended Collingswood HighSchool and was an excellent javelin thrower, with his 193 ft 4 in(58.93 m) toss in 1954 being the longest throw by a high schooler inthe United States that year. This earned him an athletic scholarshipto the University of Southern California, but he subsequently torehis shoulder ligaments, putting an end to his days as a collegeathlete and as a student. Landon considered show-business and servedas an attendant at a service gas station opposite the studios ofWarner Bros. He was eventually noticed by Bob Raison, a local agent.Following advice, Landon changed his surname, selecting a new onefrom a phone book.

Career

Early work

Landon's first starring appearance wason the television series Telephone Time, in the episode "TheMystery of Casper Hauser" (1956) as the title character.Other parts came: movie roles in I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957),Maracaibo (1958), High School Confidential (1958), the notoriousGod's Little Acre (1958), and The Legend of Tom Dooley (1959), aswell as many roles on television, such as Crossroads (threeepisodes), The Restless Gun (pilot episode aired on Schlitz Playhouseof Stars), Sheriff of Cochise (in "Human Bomb"),U.S. Marshal (as Don Sayers in "The Champ"),Crusader, Frontier Doctor, The Rifleman (in "End of a YoungGun", 1958), The Adventures of Jim Bowie, Johnny Staccato,Wire Service, General Electric Theater, The Court of Last Resort,State Trooper (two episodes), Tales of Wells Fargo (Three episodes),The Texan (in the 1958 episode "The Hemp Tree"), TheTall Man, Tombstone Territory (in the episodes "The Man FromBrewster" (credited as Tom Landon), with John Carradine and"Rose of the Rio Bravo", with Kathleen Nolan),Trackdown (two 1958 episodes), and Wanted: Dead or Alive, starringSteve McQueen (in episodes "The Martin Poster",1958, and "The Legend", 1959). Landon also appearedin at least 2 episodes of Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater including"Gift from a Gunman" in 1957 and "Living isa Lonely Thing" in 1959.