‘Little House on the Prairie’ Star Recalls How Michael Landon Once ‘Threw’ Him Across the Set

Little House on the Prairie star Dean Butler opened up about a time on set when he failed to follow instructions and it led to a bit of frustration on his costar Michael Landon’s part.

“I wanted to test and see how strong Michael was. We’re doing a scene together where I was supposed to go limp when I lunged at a guy and I didn’t,” Butler, 69, said during the November 12 episode of The Patrick LabyorSheaux after host Patrick Labyorteaux asked about a favorite moment with the late Landon. “The first time [Landon] said, ‘Go limp.’ I didn’t. The second time he said, ‘Go limp.’ I didn’t.”

He continued, “The third time — this was the test of his strength — he picked me up and threw me across the interior of the barn as he yelled at me, ‘Go limp.’”

Butler described it as a “signature moment.”

“I just remember saying, ‘What the hell?’ as I was flying through the air and landing on the ground and rolling across the barn, and there were a lot of yucks from the crew,” Butler recalled.

The New Gidget alum took responsibility for the incident and said it was “totally” his “fault.”

“I got a flight lesson in one of the barns at Big Sky Ranch as Michael launched me across the barn,” he said before adding that “the next take was just fine.”

Butler joined Little House on the Prairie in season 6 as Laurel Ingalls’ boyfriend and eventual husband, Almanzo Wilder, and he stayed with the show all the way to its finale.

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