Why ‘Little House on the Prairie’s Melissa Gilbert Regretted Her Remake of a Natalie Wood Classic

Melissa Gilbert was still starring on Little House on the Prairie when she stepped into one of Natalie Wood‘s best-known movie roles. In the 1981 television remake of Splendor in the Grass, she played Deanie Loomis, the Kansas teenager Wood had portrayed opposite Warren Beatty 20 years earlier.

The original opened in New York on October 10, 1961, and was directed by Elia Kazan from William Inge’s screenplay. Wood received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance, while Inge won the Oscar for his original screenplay.