Is actress Karen Grassle still alive? Where is she today? Her Bio: Married, Net Worth, Age, Daughter, Height

• Karen Grassle is an American actress, best known for her role as Caroline Ingalls in “Little House on the Prairie”.
• She has an estimated net worth of $500,000.
• She attended college and received a Fulbright Fellowship to the London Academy of Dramatic Art.
• She has appeared in numerous television films, feature films, and theatrical projects over the years.
• She has been married three times and works with organizations that help with women who are victims of domestic abuse.



Known for movies

Little House on the Prairie (1974-1982)
as Caroline Ingalls

Wyatt Earp (1994)
as Mrs. Sutherland

Cocaine: One Man’s Seduction (1983)
as Barbara Gant

Battered (1978)
as Susannah Hawks



Who is Karen Grassle?

Karen Grassle was born on 25 February 1942, in Berkeley, California USA, and is an actress, perhaps still best known for her role as Caroline Ingalls, the mother of Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson in the television series “Little House on the Prairie”.

The Riches of Karen Grassle

How rich is Karen Grassle? As of late-2018, sources estimate a net worth that is at $500,000, earned through a successful career in acting. She’s also worked on numerous television films, feature films, and theatrical projects in her many years in the industry. As she continues her endeavors, it is expected that her wealth will also continue to increase.

Early Life and Education

Growing up, Karen was already very interested in a career in entertainment, studying ballet at a young age. She attended Ventura High School, and acted in school plays while also performing with the choir. During her senior year, she was the Vice-President of the student body and matriculated in 1959. She then enrolled in Sophie Newcomb College before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley.

She graduated with two degrees, the first in English and the second in Dramatic Art, then received a Fulbright Fellowship to the London Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and also apprenticed in San Francisco’s Actor’s Workshop from 1961 to 1962. Her parents struggled through the depression and later founded the company Grassle Realty located in California during the 1950s. After school, she spent time with the Stanford Contemporary Workshop playing leads in two classical roles at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, which led to her first professional project at the Front Street Theatre. She then moved to New York City, and travelled to other places in the country to perform.

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Career Prominence and Little House on the Prairie

While performing in theatre, Grassle started to make appearances on television, mainly in soap operas by PBS. In 1968, she made her Broadway debut in the short-lived “The Gingham Dog” before heading to another Broadway production – “Butterflies are Free” – which is based on the life of attorney Harold Krents. She continued to perform other iterations of the play, and also had a starring role in “Cymbeline” alongside Christopher Walken and Sam Waterston. In 1974, she auditioned forand won the role of Caroline Ingalls on the series “Little House on the Prairie”.

The television series focuses on a family living on a farm during the 1870s to the 1880s, and is based on the “Little House” series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The show would run for a total of nine seasons from 1974 to 1983, and was considered one of the top shows on television at that time, and won numerous awards. Concurrently she also appeared in an episode of “Gunsmoke”, and in “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”.

Later Career

Karen had a few feature films after her run with “Little House on the Prairie”, including “Wyatt Earp” which starred Kevin Costner. She co-wrote and starred in the television movie “Battered”, and appeared in a string of television movies over the next few years, including “Between the Darkness and Dawn” and “Crisis in MidAir”, as well as in numerous episodic television series such as “Murder, She Wrote”, “Love Boat”, and “Hotel”. She was a frequent guest in talk shows  and game shows too, and also started to do charity work.

She moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and became one of the co-founders of the Resource Theatre Company, serving as the Artistic Director. She then moved to Louisville, Kentucky to perform with the Actors Theatre, before in 1999 returning to Los Angeles, then settling in the San Francisco Bay Area. She continues to do theatrical work today, participating in productions such as “Driving Miss Daisy” in which she had a starring role, and was awarded a prize for her performance in “Cabaret” held at the San Francisco Playhouse. She has also occasionally appeared in commercials, such as promoting Premier Bathrooms.

Karen Grassle Talks Going from LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE to Gruesome LASSO https://t.co/Jsyd6of3Jb

— DREAD – An Epic Pictures Genre Label (@DreadPresents) November 26, 2018

Personal Life

For her personal life, Grassle has been married three times, firstly to Leon Russom in 1966 which lasted for four years until they divorced. Her next marriage would come 12 years later in 1982, to James Allen Radford and they had a child together, but that ended in divorce in 1987. In 1991, she married Dr. Scott Sutherland staying together for six years until their divorce was finalized in 1997. During her free time, she works with organizations that help with women who are victims of domestic abuse.

General Info

Full Name	Karen Grassle
Date Of Birth	February 25, 1942
Died	April 20, 1924, De Smet, South Dakota, United States
Height	1.67 m
Profession	Writer, Actor
Education	Ventura High School, University of California, Berkeley
Nationality	American, American

Family

Spouse	Scott T. Sutherland, Charles Ingalls
Children	Lily Radford, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Mary Ingalls, Carrie Ingalls, Grace Ingalls, Freddy Ingalls
Parents	Gene Grassle, Charlotte Quiner, Henry Quiner

Accomplishments

Movies	Wyatt Earp, Cocaine: One Man’s Seduction, Harry’s War, Crisis in Mid-Air, Little House on the Prairie
TV Shows	Little House on the Prairie

Social profile links

Quotes

#	Quote
1	No. I never tell people how old I am. As an actor, it’s not in my interest.
2	[on the importance of having the right chemistry of either a series’ or a co-star]: No. Of course, it’s more fun if you and the other person work well together, but it’s not a requirement. I mean, you’re acting. You can have difficulties with each other because of ego or insecurity or advertising and billing, things that can annoy people or hurt their feelings, but you don’t let it get in the way of the work. That’s the thing.
3	Well, yes! But you have to put the work first. It can be quite painful if you don’t feel appreciated by your partner, or if you’re supposed to be wildly attracted to them and you’re not. But so what? We get to be actors. We are lucky to be able to work.

Facts

#	Fact
1	Good friend of Michael Landon.
2	She now lives in Pacific Palisades, California, with her adopted daughter, Lily. [2005]
3	Appearing in a commercial for “Premier” bathrooms. [January 2009]
4	She is a staunch liberal Democrat.
5	Played the mother of 5 children on Little House on the Prairie (1974), but never had any biological children of her own.
6	When she came to LA in 1973 for a never-completed movie project, she was calling herself “Gabriel Tree”, and it was under this name that she beat out 47 other actresses for the role of “Caroline Ingalls” in the long-running TV drama Little House on the Prairie (1974) (co-star Michael Landon convinced her to revert back to her given name of Karen Grassle).
7	In the late 1960s – hoping to boost her career, briefly changed her professional name to Kay Dillinger, claiming to be the illegitimate offspring of the notorious 1930s bank robber (who died ten years before she was born!).
8	She was known as the miracle baby in her family because, previous to her birth, her mother had 4 miscarriages.
9	Her father, Gene Grassle, ran a gas station and her mother managed a restaurant.
10	Her first New York break was the play “The Gingham Tree.” She had to borrow a dollar from a friend to go to the audition!
11	After Little House on the Prairie (1974) ended, she was featured as a guest star on various television shows and toured the country performing in numerous plays. Later on, she moved to Louisville, Kentucky, to continue her work in the theater. She was the co-founder and artistic director of Santa Fe’s Resource Theatre Company and starred in “Wit” at the Arizona Theater Company.
12	Won the role of Caroline Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie (1974) out of 47 other actresses who also auditioned.
13	Inducted (as a cast member of Little House on the Prairie (1974)) into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1998.
14	2002 – Appeared on the “Memorable TV Moms” version of Weakest Link (2001), along with June Lockhart (Lassie (1954), Lost in Space (1965)), Jo Marie Payton (Family Matters (1989)), Pat Crowley (Please Don’t Eat the Daisies (1965)), Janet Hubert (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990)), Alley Mills (The Wonder Years (1988)), Carol Potter (Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990)) and Beverly Garland (My Three Sons (1960)). Potter won.
15	A long-involved advocate for women’s rights, she wrote and co-starred in the mini-movie Battered (1978), which dealt with the issues of domestic violence.
16	Best known for her role as Caroline Ingalls, Michael Landon’s ranch wife on the TV series Little House on the Prairie (1974) for eight seasons.
17	Trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
18	Graduated class valedictorian from Ventura High School in 1959.
19	Graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1964

Pictures

Movies

Actress

Title	Year	Status	Character
Lasso	2017	post-production	Lillian
Where’s Roman?	2015	Short completed	Mysterious Woman (rumored)
My Greatest Teacher	2012		Aunt Dorothy
Tales of Everyday Magic	2012		Aunt Dorothy
Wyatt Earp	1994		Mrs. Sutherland
Murder, She Wrote	1987-1988	TV Series	Fay Hewitt / Christine Stoneham
Between the Darkness and the Dawn	1985	TV Movie	Ellen Foster Holland
Little House: The Last Farewell	1984	TV Movie	Caroline Ingalls
Hotel	1983	TV Series	Susan Walker
Cocaine: One Man’s Seduction	1983	TV Movie	Barbara Gant
Little House on the Prairie	1974-1982	TV Series	Caroline Ingalls
The Love Boat	1981	TV Series	Paula
Harry’s War	1981		Kathy
Little House Years	1979	TV Movie	Caroline Ingalls
Crisis in Mid-air	1979	TV Movie	Betsy Culver
Battered	1978	TV Movie	Susannah Hawks
The President’s Mistress	1978	TV Movie	The President’s Mistress / Donna Morton
Emily, Emily	1977	TV Movie	Terry
Gunsmoke	1974	TV Series	Fran
Love of Life	1951	TV Series	Bonnie Draper (early ’70s)

Writer

Title	Year	Status	Character
Battered	1978	TV Movie

Self

Title	Year	Status	Character
Home & Family	2015	TV Series	Herself
A Day in the Life of Little House	2015	Documentary	Herself
Extra	2014	TV Series	Herself – Little House on the Prairie / Herself
Today	2014	TV Series	Herself
The Little House Phenomenon: A Place in Television History	2014	Documentary	Herself
Weekend Today	2007	TV Series	Herself – Actress
Class of…	2005	TV Series	Herself
Intimate Portrait	2002	TV Series documentary	Herself
Whammy! The All New Press Your Luck	2002	TV Series	Herself
Weakest Link	2002	TV Series	Herself
E! True Hollywood Story	1997	TV Series documentary	Herself
The John Davidson Show	1980	TV Series	Herself – Co-Host
The Hollywood Squares	1975-1980	TV Series	Herself
Battle of the Network Stars VIII	1980	TV Special	Herself – NBC Team
The Mike Douglas Show	1975-1979	TV Series	Herself – Actress / Herself – Co-Host
Dinah!	1977	TV Series	Herself
Battle of the Network Stars II	1977	TV Special	Herself – NBC Team
The Alan Hamel Show	1977	TV Series	Herself
Battle of the Network Stars	1976	TV Special	Herself – NBC Team

Awards

Won Awards

Year	Award	Ceremony	Nomination	Movie
1976	TP de Oro	TP de Oro, Spain	Best Foreign Actress (Mejor Actriz Extranjera)	Little House on the Prairie (1974)
1975	Bronze Wrangler	Western Heritage Awards	Fictional Television Drama	Little House on the Prairie (1974)

Source: IMDb, Wikipedia