Editing Melissa Sue Anderson (section)

==Career==
Anderson's show-business career began when a dance teacher urged her parents to find an agent for her.<ref>{{cite news |last=Miley |first=Scott |title=Melissa Anderson's role challenging |work=Anderson Daily Bulletin |date=September 14, 1979}}</ref> After appearing in commercials, she was soon in demand for television roles. Another memorable early role was as Millicent, a girl who kissed Bobby in ''[[The Brady Bunch]]''. She also appeared in an episode of ''[[Shaft (TV series)|Shaft]]'' the same year.<ref name=gritten/>

At the age of 11, Anderson landed the role of Mary Ingalls in ''[[Little House on the Prairie (TV series)|Little House on the Prairie]]''. She would go on to star in the series for eight seasons, beginning in 1974, and leaving after season seven; she later appeared in three episodes of season eight in late 1981.

[[File:James at 15 Lance Kerwin Melissa Sue Anderson 1977.jpg|thumb|left|Anderson with [[Lance Kerwin]] in the television film ''[[James at 15]]'' (1977)]]
In 1976, [[Michael Landon]] asked Anderson if she would appear in his autobiographical film ''[[The Loneliest Runner]]''. Anderson agreed to play Nancy Rizzi, the first girlfriend of John Curtis (based on Landon and played by [[Lance Kerwin]]), saying she was very thrilled to have been asked.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bed-wetting is a problem for 'The Lonliest Runner' |work=The Tampa Times |date=December 26, 1980}}</ref> In 1977, she once again co-starred as the love interest opposite Kerwin in the television film ''[[James at 15]]''.

She was nominated for a 1978 Primetime [[Emmy Award]] for Best Leading Actress in a Drama Series for her work on ''Little House on the Prairie'' and won the Emmy Award for her performance in ''[[ABC Afterschool Special#Season Eight (1979-80)|Which Mother Is Mine?]]'', which aired as an ''[[ABC Afterschool Special]]'' in 1979. Also in 1979, she played the title role of Dana Lee Gilbert, a [[North Dakota]] [[transfer student]] to Los Angeles' [[San Fernando Valley]], in [[CBS]]'s [[television film]] ''[[Survival of Dana]]''.

In 1980, Anderson earned a '[[TP de Oro]]' Award (considered to be Spain's most prestigious award for television) for 'Best Foreign Actress' for her role in ''Little House on the Prairie''. This followed a successful visit to Spain in 1979 to appear as a guest on {{lang|es|[[Televisión Española]]|i=no}}'s program, ''[[625 Lineas]]''. In 1981, she earned a [[Young Artist Award]] nomination for her performance in the Canadian slasher film ''[[Happy Birthday to Me (film)|Happy Birthday to Me]]''.<ref name="Young Artist Awards 3">{{cite web |url=http://www.youngartistawards.org/pastnoms3.htm |title=3rd Youth In Film Awards |access-date=March 31, 2011 |work=YoungArtistAwards.org |archive-date=April 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110402060410/http://www.youngartistawards.org/pastnoms3.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> After leaving ''Little House'', she continued acting in television series like ''[[The Equalizer (1985 TV series)|The Equalizer]]'', ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985 TV series)|Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]'', ''[[CHiPs]]'', and ''[[Murder, She Wrote]]'', and was the associate producer for the penultimate television project Michael Landon made before dying: ''[[Where Pigeons Go to Die]]'' (1990).<ref>{{cite news |last=Hill |first=Michael E. |title=Michael Landon |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/1990/01/28/michael-landon/9dc41b8b-a6bb-4e4c-b35d-bc05715526f7/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=January 28, 1990 |access-date=February 10, 2018 |archive-date=March 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316214618/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/1990/01/28/michael-landon/9dc41b8b-a6bb-4e4c-b35d-bc05715526f7/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1998, she was inducted into the [[Western Performers Hall of Fame]] at the [[National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum]] in [[Oklahoma City, Oklahoma]]. In 1999, she starred alongside [[Heather Langenkamp]] in the short-lived television series ''Partners''. In 2014, Anderson had an uncredited appearance as Stosh's mother in the [[neo-noir]] [[Mystery film|mystery]] [[comedy drama]] film ''[[Veronica Mars (film)|Veronica Mars]]'' (2014).<ref name=yahoo>{{cite web |last=Potts |first=Kimberly |title='Little House on the Prairie' Cast: Where Are They Now? |url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/little-house-prairie-cast-where-140127358/photo-melissa-sue-anderson-as-mary-1444920045222.html |website=Yahoo! Entertainment |date=October 15, 2015 |access-date=March 16, 2018 |archive-date=August 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802041034/https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/little-house-prairie-cast-where-140127358/photo-melissa-sue-anderson-as-mary-1444920045222.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>