Notorious Prankster Michael Landon Used To Bug ‘Bonanza’ Cast With Pet Tarantula

He was America’s favorite Pa, a heartthrob who stunned thousands, and he was a chronic jokester. Between serving as an actor and producer, Michael Landon was an insatiable prankster who had one trick that would always cause quite the buzz, involving none other than his pet tarantula.

Viewers saw Landon in his first big on-screen credit in Bonanza as the youthful Little Joe Cartwright, wide-eyed, handsome, and playful among the quartet comprised of himself, Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, and Pernell Roberts. While Landon came with plenty of inner demons, he also had a remarkably playful streak he wielded against strangers and colleagues alike. This one stands out for involving a very creepy-crawly partner in crime.

Michael Landon pranked his ‘Bonanza’ co-stars with his pet tarantula

Landon died on July 1, 1991, at the age of 54, but accounts of his practical jokes endure through those who knew him. One such witness was Cheryl Landon, daughter of Landon’s second wife, Marjorie Lynn Noe, and author of I Promised My Dad: An Intimate Portrait of Michael Landon.

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Cheryl was nine when her mother married Landon and this blending of families gave her a front-row seat to his hijinks on the set of Bonanza.

Landon had a pet tarantula he’d named Homer. “He’d put Homer underneath his hat,” shares Cheryl in her book, “and then, during the filming, he’d lift his hat and Homer would go scurrying down his face.” Usually, the unsuspecting colleague was an actress. “Lots of actresses went scurrying off the set,” she adds.”Playing opposite Dad really kept people on their toes.”

Michael Landon kept colleagues on their toes with his pranks

Landon’s pension for jokes continued well into his Little House on the Prairie days, when he starred as Charles Ingalls and directed several episodes. In a 2016 interview with Medium, producer Kent McCray recalled one prank Landon pulled against Melissa Gilbert, who played his TV daughter Laura.

During one season, the Little House production decided to host Halloween for its younger cast members. At their hotel, Gilbert, along with Matthew Labyorteaux, who played Albert, took up pillowcases and went from room to room asking for candy.

“They got to Mike’s room. He said, ‘Just a minute,’” recalled McCray. “He came back out and put something into the pillowcase.” Only when she was back at her hotel room did Gilbert inspect her treat, which was actually more of a trick: Landon had smeared peanut butter onto his underwear and tossed that garment into her makeshift Halloween bag.

“They nearly fainted!” said McCray. “Melissa’s mother told me the next day that Melissa exclaimed, ‘This is terrible, just terrible. Get this outta here!’ They assumed it was something else kinda gross [laughs]. That’s the kind of jokester Mike was.”