What Michael did for fun away from the set ~ and the fun he had on the set.

In the years when he was married to Dodie, Michael liked buying houses and renovating them. He also built dog houses, building one once in the garage that was too big to get out the door. He had an interest in horror films and they were often his theme for his paintings and mosaic coffee tables that he made. Michael loved his swimming pools, there are many photo’s of him through the years playing in them with his children. After Michael married Lynne a lot of his interests stayed with physical activities, often working out at the gym at the studio, club or later when he had one built, his home gym. He liked playing tennis, golf and he also did things like water skiing and hang gliding. With Cindy, Michael participated in much the same things that he had in previous years. Physical fitness was always important to him. He also enjoyed cooking when he was married to Lynne and Cindy; he often cooked for the family. He participated in a lot of charitable sporting events. Michael enjoyed fancy dress parties and they were often his theme for his Halloween birthday.

By Norah Astor (1975)

When he gets home, Mike likes to go down to his private gym, exercise and take a dip in the pool. Judging from his beautifully trim physique, the regimen achieves results. Lynn is also a bug on physical fitness. The greatest pleasure for Mike and Lynn is to spend time together at these types of activities. They joined a country club to play golf and they take tennis lessons together. “I never went on a roller coaster until she convinced me that I was missing fun. She taught me to water ski, but when I bought a motorcycle to ride to work soon after we married, she worried so about a possible accident for me in traffic that I sold it. Their hours together in their private gym are refreshing for them both physically and emotionally. This special harmony stems in part from their enjoyment of the same kinds of recreational activities. Their recent vacation in Palm Springs was a perfect example. “During the week,” Mike says, “there were very few people at the pool. We went out to it at 9:30 a.m. , and stayed until 4:30 in the afternoon. We swam, dozed and had lunch under an umbrella. I don’t think it’s important whether we stay at the Kahala Hilton in Hawaii or we go to rent a small room on the seamy side of town. What is important,” Mike Insists, “is to get away sometimes together without our children.” Not that Mike and Lynn don’t enjoy doing things with the kids. Whenever he can Mike likes to camp and hike with his son, Josh. He has taken his “children” from Little House On The Prairie fishing with his own children on his day off and he often plays catch with them between scenes. Lynn herself admits, “The best times are shared times; a drive-in movie, a picnic on the beach with the children.”

Leslie Landon (1976)

(Talking about when her father took the family to Disneyworld in Florida ). “It was so great! The Space Mountain is twice as fast as The Matterhorn at Disneyland – and I was in the front seat!” “You should have heard the screaming that went on,” her dad calls from the pool. “It was me screaming,” confides Leslie. “I was afraid I’d be killed. My dad was right in back of me, and I was screaming. ‘Squeeze as hard as you can, Dad.’ And he kept saying, ‘Gotcha, Louie.’ That’s what he calls me, Louie. And then when we got off, it was OK and fun. Michael was with us – he rode in the back seat by himself. Mom couldn’t go because she’d just had the baby, but she and Dad both like high rides. Once they were somewhere and the park was closed and just the two of them were able to go on all the rides in the place. Free. That was when he was making a personal appearance.”

John Florea

"Mike liked to play golf. Alex and Mike and Mike's double, Bobby Miles, we went out to play golf one morning. Mike had asked Bobby to order him a new set of these fiberglass shafts for the clubs. They were something new coming out on the market. The shaft was a long piece of fiber that was like plastic, that wound around and round and round, and it was solidified into a long shaft. So, we went out to play. Mike was a southpaw, he hit from the left side, so the clubs were left-handed clubs. He got up to hit his driver, and when he hit the ball, the complete shaft unraveled like a long piece of rope. And there it is stretched out about 15 feet! And we looked at it and fell down laughing, roaring all over the golf course! Poor Bobby was standing there with a red face and Mike said, 'What the hell is THIS? Is this a gag??!' Bobby said, 'No, it's not a gag.' Well, it turned out that they later quit making them because they found out that if you hit right-handed the thing wouldn't unravel; if you hit left-handed the whole shaft would unwind!"

Betty Rose (David Rose’s wife)

We went to his 50th birthday party. It was very touching because it was his wife's plan for this magnificent party - everything you wanted, from a circus to an ice cream sundae to a fish fry -  she tried to dream up everything that Michael liked or would like, and it was just fantastic. And Johnny Carson made a big toast to him and said, 'I thought I was at your 50th birthday two years ago!'"

Michael (1961)

“One night I came home after a day on the set that had involved my being stabbed in the back. They of course used a fake knife. Well, I walked in the front door with the knife still in my back. I staggered toward the dinner table, grimaced (but didn't say a word), sat down, and flopped my head down on my plate. My wife, Dodie, almost died of fright when she saw that knife. "If you ever try that again, Michael Landon (she always calls me by my full name at times like this)," she said, "That knife won't be a fake one." That was all I needed! The next night I came home with blood make-up all over my face. Dodie was downstairs washing, so I fell all the way down the stars. She didn't bat an eye... just said "a long step, isn't it?" That learned me. We used up a lot of liniment that night!”

Lorne Greene (1965)

“Mike’s crazy sense of humor is contagious. Here’s a tale to illustrate it that’s never been printed. After we’d been doing the show for three years, he went back to his home town in Collingswood , New Jersey , on a sentimental visit. It was winter and he nearly froze because he had no heavy clothes. Yet at 3:30 a.m. , he climbed on a milk truck with Tony Rizzi, a buddy of his there he’s never forgotten, to help him on his route. When startled housewives asked Mike what he was doing delivering their milk, he solemnly informed them that he had moved back from Hollywood and that Tony had gone west to replace him. He was so convincing a number of them believed him for awhile.”

Okay so this isn’t what we would call a practical joke but we think it is pretty funny; it’s from an interview with Lynn Landon in 1975.

“Mike was singing on the stage of an amusement park in Connecticut and I was watching from the wings. He ended with an athletic roll over. And his pants split right up the back then. He had no underwear on, but he’s worn some ever since!”

Melissa Gilbert (1975)

“When we went on location for the episode of the show called ‘The Lord Is My Shepherd,’ we all stayed at one big motel. One day, when we had time off, Michael took us fishing. Leslie and little Mike and the assistant director and me. We didn’t catch anything, though. Michael said we should stop at a fish store; buy some already cut up, and then tell everybody we’d caught them and cleaned them ourselves. So we did. Only they started to smell! So we tossed them away!”

By Hollis G. Haines (1968)

“On location in the tiny hamlet of Lone Pine, California , not long ago Mike and five others from the Bonanza crew were having dinner in a cafe that passes for Lone pine's finest restaurant. Half-way through the meal he was approached by a kindly-looking old gentleman in a neat dark suit. "Excuse me," he said apologetically, tapping Landon tentatively on the shoulder and looking for all the world like a little boy approaching his greatest idol, "but aren't you "Little Joe?"  Mike, whose straight face is legendary, looked up at him earnestly. "No," he said, "I'm sorry. I'm Hoss." "You're - Hoss?" the old gentleman said, his voice quavering a little. "Yes," Mike explained. "You see, I dehydrate between films. Tomorrow morning I'll weigh 290 again." The old man retired in confusion, even forgetting to ask Hoss for an autograph. "Shame on you!" Mike's wife laughed. "Really, Mike, how could you do such a thing to a nice old man?" Mike grinned his white toothed smile. "Don't worry. He'll be back again." Ten minutes later the old man came back, his weathered old face etched with a nervous, likeable smile. "Look," he said to Mike, "I think you're kidding me. You are Little Joe aren't you?" Mike pushed his chair back, got to his feet and embraced the old man in a bear hug. "How'd you ever guess?" he laughed. The old man was now beside himself with delight. "Would you," he said, "come over and say hello to my mother?" Mike followed him to the far end of the restaurant and could be seen bowing gallantly over the hand of a beaming old lady.”

Set Shenanigans

Alison Arngrim (Nellie in Little House On the Prairie)

“Michael has a truly deranged sense of humor. When people visited the set, especially women who had a crush on him, he’d conceal a small lizard or frog in his cheek. He’d close his mouth and come up with a winning smile. He’d say, ‘Hi,’ and the lizard or frog would leap out. He did this dozens of times. They finally had to stop him because the children were starting to emulate him.”

Alex Sharp 

"They used these weights on cameras, for balance. They're about a foot and a half long and maybe a foot wide. They've got to weigh a hundred pounds or so. They have a handle on them, and in the morning Dan Blocker would use those things to do curls. So Mike had some blocks painted up and they were lead-colored. One morning he came in with Blocker. And he nudged him and said, 'Look at Pernell over there. What the hell is he doing?' There's Pernell and he had the ones that looked like those weights, and he's doing curls with one in each arm, he's doing them up and down. Blocker's standing there and you can see him counting in his mind. And back and forth it would go. Of course, Mike says, 'Geezuz Dan, he does about eight or ten more than you do, doesn't he?' And Dan is standing there: 'Well, I, uh...' Mike says, 'No, look at him - he's still doing it!' And Blocker never picked up another one!"

Dan (1961)

“When the Bonanza series first started, my co-stars came in one morning with a copy of "The Hollywood Reporter," a local paper for people in the entertainment business. They didn't tell me, of course, but they had gone to the trouble of having an edition specially printed. They casually mentioned that there was a story in there about me that I might be interested in. It was by-lined by Hank Grant, one of the "Reporter" columnists, and it said something about "That guy who plays Hoss on Bonanza is being investigated by the SPCA for pistol-whipping his horse on the Bonanza set." Naturally, I was pretty upset. I said, "This guy shouldn't be allowed to write such lies!" But those dirty guys, my co-stars, they nodded very serious-like. Well, it wasn't until I'd called this guy on the phone and told him off real good that my dear buddies finally told me it was a joke. Then they told me. I was mortified!”

TV Star Parade 1960

The quarrel broke like a summer squall. The visitors to the studio lot where NBC’s Bonanza was being filmed, stood gaping and horrified by the sudden violence. Only a minute before Michael Landon and his co-star, Dan Blocker, had been talking quietly and – to all appearances amiably. Now they were at each other’s throats. “He’s going to kill him,” a white faced lady visitor whispered as she saw Blocker – an immensely strong giant of a man – lunge at Landon who, instead of running, ducked and rammed his fist into the giant’s stomach. Then, as Dan doubled up in pain, Mike landed a left hook on his opponent’s chin with a smack that reverberated through the stage, straddled him and pummelled his face as Dan slowly crumpled to the floor, his face streaming with blood. At this point one of the lady visitors fainted, another one screamed at the top of her voice, and a third shouted for help – whereupon Mike casually got up from his perch atop Dan’s chest while Dan stood up grinning and wiping ketchup off his face. “That’s the kind of horseplay that goes on all the time,” the harassed unit manager explained to me. “The boys do their David and Goliath stunt so realistically; they’ve got me fooled at times.”

TV Star Parade 1960

Lorne and Dan not long ago pulled Mike’s leg by faking an Indian wrestling match, where you stand toe to toe, in which Dan allowed himself to be thrown by Lorne after what looked like a titanic struggle. Mike, who’d watched bug-eyed from afar, immediately challenged Dan to a match and became infuriated when Dan brushed the challenge aside saying that between them there just was no contest. Lorne, too, tried to stall Mike but had to take him on eventually. Though he’s considerably taller and heavier than Mike, it was all he could do to hold him to a draw. Mike then went back to Dan triumphantly, saying that with Dan’s loss as against his own stand-off, Blocker now had to give him a match, too. “All right, if you insist,” Dan shrugged, then proceeded to throw him with the nonchalance befitting the mismatch. “I thought he’d have a conniption,” drawls Dan, still chuckling. “Of course, he got wise pretty quickly and then laughed about it with the rest of us.”

TV Star Parade 1960

This is from an article where the writer spent a day on the set during the filming of “Silent Thunder.”

By: Joseph H. Conley, JR.

Mike called my attention to group of people just entering the sound stage. He whispered, “Blocker and I are going to pull a gag. Watch us; it should be fun!” The visitors were from Toronto , Lorne Greene’s home town. While someone went to get Lorne, Mike suddenly spoke quite sharply to Dan, “If you don’t cut it out, I’m gonna get sore!” Dan looked hurt, “Look Mike, I didn’t mean anything by it…” Mike glared at Dan and very calmly said, “I don’t want to talk about it any more!” Mike stalked away, Dan followed, pleading to be heard. The visitors watched open-mouthed as Mike suddenly turned and delivered two vicious belts to Dan’s midsection. He doubled over and then took a tremendous smash to the mouth. He went down in a heap as “Little Joe” sauntered away. You could have heard a pin drop as Dan, rubbing his jaw, slowly rose to his feet. He didn’t follow Mike and everybody sighed with relief. At this point Lorne Greene appeared on the set and met his Canadian visitors. I heard them mention the “fight” to him. He laughed heartily and then explained that it was just a gag – “Mike and Dan are always pulling that trick on visitors.” I saw Mike and Dan giggling in the background.

TV Guide ( July 1980)

Hal Burton has been Landon’s double for 15 years, appearing in stunts and long shots. ‘I’m an insurance policy,” he says. ‘They can replace me, but they can’t replace him.” Doubling depends on physical resemblance and except for a one-size disparity in shoes, Landon and Burton match. But, not long ago, Landon patted Burton on his belly, wondered aloud if the cowboy weren’t eating himself out of a job. Hell no, Burton insisted. And, at Landon’s secret request, the wardrobe department started taking in Burton ’s pants a quarter-inch a day.

By Sue Reilly (1978)

Landon often looks for ways to break on-set tensions. “He always has a joke, a story or a quip,” says makeup man Whitey Snider. “He won’t stand for hostility.” Though Landon is not above remembering a dead puppy to produce scripted tears from the two girls, he also uses ploys such as pretending to pick lice out of Melissa Gilbert’s hair at the end of an emotional scene to make sure she wouldn’t take it all too seriously. As for the boys, their mother, Frankie Laborteaux, laments with a smile, “Michael’s into bathroom jokes, the worst. They try to out gross one another. There’s a lot of kid mixed in with all that genius.”

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