Little House On The Prairie: Alison Arngrim aka Nellie Oleson
Program Titles
- Provides AIDS education
- Children & families affected by HIV and AIDS
- Child abuse & molestation
- Sexual abuse of kid actors
Alison Arngrim, known to viewers world-wide for her portrayal of the incredibly nasty “Nellie Oleson” on the much loved, long running hit television series “Little House On The Prairie,” continues to amuse audiences through her many film, television and stage appearances.
She discusses fame at an early age into a family of successful entertainers and how the role of Nellie Oleson, in fact, saved her life by removing her from a home where she was living as a victim of incest.
How her childhood experiences caused her to accept the role of activist on behalf of abused childen before Congress later in life.
She can be seen in the independent films “For the Love of May” with Ru Paul and Patricia Neal, and “The Last Place On Earth” with Billy Dee Williams and Phyllis Diller.
She began her foray into French cinema with the role of “Edith” in the French detective comedy, Jean Pierre Mocky¹s “Le Deal”.
In addition to her seven years on “Little House,” Alison guested on such cult classics as: “The Love Boat,” “Fantasy Island” and the NBC movie of the week, “I Married Wyatt Earp,” starring Marie Osmond.
She mocked her own status as an “ex-child star” on Jay Leno¹s Tonight Show, during their month long parody, “Hollywood Survivor” and continues to be a frequent interview subject on everything from “A&E”, “E! Entertainment”, “TV Land” and “VH-1”, to CNN and the Travel Channel.
Alison¹s stage work includes, “Sirena: Queen of the Tango”, “Butterflies Are Free,” “Hidden In The Laughter”, “Dear Brutus,” “The Wool Gatherer,” “Cry Of Players”, the French bedroom farce, “In One Bed And Out The Other,” Michael Kearns¹ “AIDS/US II,” and the role of “Rita” in the 2005 GLAAD Award nominated production of “Last Summer At Bluefish Cove.” Most recently she starred at the ACME Comedy Theatre in the Ovation Award Nominated musical-drama, “Flirting with Morty” as the abusive, trashy and tragic Ray Lee.
As a stand-up comedian, Alison has headlined at nightclubs such as the Laugh Factory, the Comedy Store and the Improv in Los Angeles; as well as the Cutting Room in New York and assorted comedy venues all across the United States and Canada.
Her one woman show “Confessions of a Prairie Bitch”, which started at Club Fez, has now become a world-wide phenomenon, having been performed to packed houses in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Maui and the south of France, where Alison performed entirely in French to a standing room only crowd at the “Palais des Congres” in her all French version titled: “Confessions d¹une Garce de La Prairie”!
When her friend and “Little House husband” co-star, Steve Tracy, passed away due to complications of HIV/AIDS, Alison immediately began volunteering at AIDS Project.
Her duties have ranged from working on the AIDS Hotline and the APLA food bank, (APLA’s Necessities of Life Program) to chairing the steering committee of the volunteer speakers bureau and developing “Safer Sex” workshops.
She has provided AIDS education to doctors, nurses, prison inmates, service clubs, churches, department stores and schools, and spent seven years hosting the APLA educational cable television show, “AIDS Vision”.
She served as Program Manager at Tuesday’s Child, an organization assisting children and families affected by HIV and AIDS. She served as both hostess and producer for the comedy stage at the AIDS Project Annual Summer Party, (on the backlot of Universal Studios), where through an evening of raucous entertainment, featuring name comedians, she helped to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for people living with HIV.
Fighting to give children a legal and political voice in the war against child abuse. As an activist for the improvement of child protection laws, she has spoken before the California Senate and worked on legislative and political campaigns in several states, including Virginia and New York.
She has appeared on numerous television news programs discussing the legal and political issues surrounding child abuse and molestation, including Larry King Live, Nancy Grace, CNN¹s Showbiz Tonight, The Insider, Court TV and Bill O¹Reilly¹s The Factor.
Alison currently lives in the wilds of Tujunga with her husband of thirteen years, musician Bob Schoonover, (from the rock and roll band “Catahoula”) and their two cats, Hannibal and Clarice. She takes pride in the fact that so many people enjoyed hating her as a girl and is more than happy to give them the opportunity to do so in the future.
FILM
The Last Place On Earth: Lead – (Winner, Best Film, Houston Film Festival)
For the Love of May – Lead (“Jude”)
TELEVISION
Little House On The Prairie: Seven years as Nellie Oleson
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Guest
Fantasy Island: Guest Starring Role
Love Boat: Guest Starring Role
“I Married Wyatt Earp”: NBC Movie Starring Role
“Special Olympics”: KCBS Co-Host
“Comedy Break”: Guest – Stand Up Comedy
“Just For Laughs: NBC Special -Stand Up Comedy
“AIDS Vision”: Talk Show – Host
STAGE
Last Summer At Bluefish Cove: Davidson/Valentini Theatre, Los Angeles
Confessions of A Prairie Bitch: Renberg Theatre, Los Angeles
Confessions of A Prairie Bitch: New York, NY
Sirena, Queen of the Tango: Los Angeles, CA
Butterflies are Free: San Antonio, Texas
In One Bed & Out The Other: Edmonton, Canada
The Wool Gatherer: Vancouver, Canada
Cry of Players: Theatricum Botanicum
Hidden In The Laughter: Company of Angels, Hollywood
AIDS/US II: The Skylight Theater, Hollywood and Highways Performance Space, Los Angeles
Books by Alison Arngrim
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