List of Little House on the Prairie characters
There are many Little House on the Prairie characters, appearing in various forms of media in the Little House on the Prairie media franchise.
Television series characters
Cast timeline
;Cast notesThe Ingalls family
| Name | Seasons | No. of episodes | Portrayer | Character summary |
| Charles Ingalls | 1–9 | 161 | Michael Landon | Farmer; husband, father and grandfather |
| Caroline Ingalls | 1–8 | 172 | Karen Grassle | Wife, mother, teacher and grandmother |
| Laura Ingalls Wilder | 1–9 | 190 | Melissa Gilbert | Daughter; became teacher, later Almanzo's wife and Rose's mother; nicknamed "Half-Pint" by Charles and "Beth" by Almanzo |
| Mary Ingalls | 1–8 | 133 | Melissa Sue Anderson | Daughter, eldest child; later Adam's wife and Adam Jr.'s mother |
| Carrie Ingalls | 1–8 | 164 | Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush | Daughter, youngest child at the beginning of the series |
| Charles Ingalls Jr. | 1 | 2 | Unknown | Son, died as an infant |
| Grace Ingalls | 5–8 | 60 | Wendi and Brenda Turnbaugh | Daughter, youngest child |
| Albert Ingalls | 5–9 | 89 | Matthew Labyorteaux | Son, adopted after spending many years in orphanages and on the streets |
| Jack | The dog of the family | |||
| James Ingalls | 7–8 | 21 | Jason Bateman | Son, adopted after birth parents were killed in a wagon accident |
| Cassandra Ingalls | 7–8 | 21 | Missy Francis | Daughter, adopted after birth parents were killed in a wagon accident |
| Rose Wilder | 8–9 | 17 | Sarah and Jennifer Coleman | Granddaughter, daughter of Laura and Almanzo |
| Bandit | The dog of the family |
The in-laws
| Name | Seasons | No. of episodes | Portrayer | Character summary |
| Almanzo Wilder | 6–9 | 65 | Dean Butler | Farmer; Laura's husband ; Rose's father; his friends called him Manly. |
| Jenny Wilder | 9 | 18 | Shannen Doherty | Almanzo's niece, whom he gets custody of after his brother/her father Royal dies |
| Eliza Jane Wilder | 6–8 | 14 | Lucy Lee Flippin | Teacher; Almanzo's older sister |
| Perley Day Wilder | 6 | 1 | Charles Bloom | Almanzo and Eliza Jane's youngest brother; gambler |
| Adam Kendall | 4–8 | 35 | Linwood Boomer | Teacher/Lawyer; Mary's husband |
Townsfolk
| Name | Seasons | No. of episodes | Portrayer | Character summary |
| Nels Oleson | 1–9 | 147 | Richard Bull | Mercantile proprietor; husband and father |
| Harriet Oleson | 1–9 | 153 | Katherine MacGregor | Mercantile proprietor; wife and mother |
| Nellie Oleson | 1–7, 9 | 104 | Alison Arngrim | Oldest child of Nels and Harriet |
| Willie Oleson | 1–9 | 140 | Jonathan Gilbert | Son of Nels and Harriet |
| Nancy Oleson | 8–9 | 33 | Allison Balson | Daughter of Nels and Harriet, adopted from orphanage |
| Percival Dalton/Isaac Cohen | 6–7 | 11 | Steve Tracy | Nellie's husband |
| Rachel Brown Oleson | 9 | 2 | Sherri Stoner | Willie's wife |
| Dr. Hiram Baker | 1–9 | 113 | Kevin Hagen | Town physician |
| Reverend Robert Alden | 1–9 | 76 | Dabbs Greer | Church minister |
| Melinda Foster | 1–9 | 61 | Ruth Foster | Post office manager |
| Isaiah Edwards | 1–3, 6, 8–9 | 52 | Victor French | Charles's best friend |
| Grace Snider Edwards | 1–3, 6, 8 | 23 | Bonnie Bartlett / Corinne Camacho | Wife of Isaiah Edwards |
| John Sanderson Edwards | 2–4 | 8 | Radames Pera | Oldest child of Isaiah & Grace Edwards, adopted after first mother died |
| Alicia Sanderson Edwards | 2–3, 6, 8 | 19 | Kyle Richards | Youngest child of Isaiah & Grace Edwards, adopted after first mother died |
| Carl Sanderson Edwards | 2–3, 8 | 19 | Brian Part / David R. Kaufman | Middle child of Isaiah & Grace Edwards, adopted after first mother died |
| Matthew Rogers | 9 | 5 | Jonathan Hall Kovacs | Young boy that is taken care of by Isaiah Edwards |
| Jonathan Garvey | 4–7 | 51 | Merlin Olsen | Farmer; husband and father |
| Alice Garvey | 4–6 | 33 | Hersha Parady | Wife and mother; teacher; dies in fire with Adam Kendall Jr. |
| Andy Garvey | 4–7 | 43 | Patrick Labyorteaux | Son of Jonathan and Alice |
| Eva Beadle Simms | 1–4 | 45 | Charlotte Stewart | School teacher |
| Adam Simms | 4 | 2 | Joshua Bryant | Miss Beadle's husband |
| Lars Hanson | 1–5 | 41 | Karl Swenson | Lumber mill owner; a founder of Walnut Grove |
| Hester-Sue Terhune | 5–9 | 40 | Ketty Lester | Head of the school for the blind |
| John Carter | 9 | 19 | Stan Ivar | Blacksmith; husband and father |
| Sarah Carter | 9 | 15 | Pamela Roylance | Starts a newspaper; wife and mother |
| Jeb Carter | 9 | 18 | Lindsay Kennedy | Older son of John and Sarah |
| Jason Carter | 9 | 18 | David Friedman | Younger son of John and Sarah |
| Susan Goodspeed | 4–7 | 16 | Michelle Downey | Student at the school for the blind |
| Etta Plum | 9 | 15 | Leslie Landon | School teacher |
| Christy Kennedy | 1–2 | 10 | Tracie Savage | Schoolgirl |
| Sandy Kennedy | 1 | 4 | Robert Hoffman | Schoolboy; Christy's brother |
| Hans Dorfler | 1–4, 6 | 9 | James Jeter | Resident of Walnut Grove; a stable-owner |
| Bill Anderson | 6–9 | 6 | Sam Edwards | Banker of Walnut Grove |
| Joe Kagan | 4–5, 7 | 5 | Moses Gunn | Aging boxer who retires to farm life in Walnut Grove |
| Judd Larrabee | 4–5 | 5 | Don "Red" Barry | Resident of Walnut Grove |
| Mrs. Amanda "May" Whipple | 1–4 | 5 | Queenie Smith | Resident of Walnut Grove; local seamstress |
| Mr. Kennedy | 1 | 4 | Wayne Heffley | Resident of Walnut Grove; father of Christy and Sandy |
| Mrs. Kennedy | 1–2 | 3 | Eileen Ryan, Janice Carroll | Resident of Walnut Grove; mother of Christy and Sandy |
| Ebenezer Sprague | 2–3 | 4 | Ted Gehring | Banker of Walnut Grove |
| Houston Lamb | 6–7 | 4 | Dub Taylor | Works and lives at the school for the blind in Sleepy Eye |
| Henry Riley | 4–9 | 15 | Dan McBride | recurring role - customer in Nellie's Restaurant arguing |
| Kezia Horn | 4–5 | 3 | Hermione Baddeley | Resident of Walnut Grove and friend of Laura and Albert |
| Johnny Johnson | 1 | 2 | Mitch Vogel | Schoolboy love interest of Laura |
One-shot characters
Season one
- Episode 6
- *Miss Amy Hearn
- Episode 7
- *Olga Nordstrom
- Episode 9
- *Abel Makay
- Episode 11
- *Tinker Jones
- Episode 14
- *Jonathan
- Episode 17
- *Kate Thorvald
- Episode 19
- *Willie O'Hara
- Episode 20
- *Graham Stewart
- *John Stewart
- Episode 21
- *Trudy Coulter
- *Joseph Coulter
- Episode 22
- *Jack Lame Horse
- *Marshal Anders
- Episode 23
- *Hiram Johnson
- *Mimi
- Episode 24
- *Jim Tyler
- *Helen Tyler
Season two
- Episode 4
- *Jebediah Mumfort
- *Margaret Mumfort
- *Slick McBurney
- Episode 5
- *Amos Pike
- Episode 7
- *Julia Sanderson
- Episode 10
- *Jonah
- Episode 17
- *Hannibal Applewood
- Episode 18
- *Henry Hill
- Episode 19
- *Elizabeth Thurman
- Episode 20
- *Yuli Pyatakov
- *Viktor Pyatakov
- *Fanya Pyatakov
- Episode 21
- *Granville Whipple
Season three
- Episode 1
- *Caleb Hodgekiss
- *Mattie Hodgekiss
- Episode 4
- *Wendell Loudy
- Episode 6
- *Young Charles Ingalls
- *Lansford Ingalls
- *Laura Colby Ingalls
- *Eliza Ann Ingalls
- *Peter Ingalls
- Episode 9
- *Bubba Galinder
- *George Galinder
- *Sam Galinder
- Episode 10
- *Sam Shelby
- *Ben Shelby
- Episode 14
- *Ginny Clark
- *Harold Mayfield
- *Della Clark
- Episode 15
- *Joseph Spotted Eagle Stokes
- *Seth
- *Jeremy Stokes
- Episode 18
- *Solomon Henry
- *Mrs. Henry
- *Jackson Henry
- *Kramer
- *Dr. Tane
- Episode 19
- *Anna Gillberg
- Episode 20
- *Elmer Dobkins
- *Sam Dobkins
- *Ellen Dobkins
- Episode 21
- *Zachariah
- *Rev. Phillips
- *Ben Griffin