Melissa Gilbert paid tribute to her “Little House on the Prairie” co-star Jack Lilley in the wake of his death this week. The actor and stunt coordinator was 91.
In a post on her Instagram account, Gilbert – who played Laura Ingalls Wilder in the show – called Lilley one of her “favorite people on the planet.” Lilley appeared in over thirty episodes of the show between 1974 and 1983 while also serving as the stunt coordinator.
“He taught me how to ride a horse when I was just a wee little thing,” she wrote. “He was so patient with me. He never said no when I would bound up to him squealing, ‘Can we go ride? Please, please, please?’”
Gilbert also recalled in her lengthy tribute that her and Lilley ran into each other in 2002 unexpectedly while she was working on a western pilot for ABC. The two fell right back into a rhythm with each other.
“My first day on set was surreal, getting my hair and makeup done, getting dressed, laced into my corset, boots etc. Such a strange déjà vu,” she said. “Then I walked to the set itself and before I could even focus I heard a familiar voice holler, ‘Hey Halfpint, you old rat-ass!!!’ It was Jack. He was our wrangler for that pilot and by his side was Denny Allen, who had been our wrangler on ‘Little House.’ In that instant, I knew I was home.”
Lilley died on Wednesday at 91-years-old. His family posted the news on Instagram but chose not to reveal the cause of death. Along with his time on “Little House on the Prairie,” he also appeared in “Blazing Saddles.”
“The man who started it all. Figuratively and literally,” the family’s post read. “The card shark, the horse trader, the wrangler, the man with a story for everything, he always knew someone who could help if he couldn’t, known to many as friend, storyteller, joker, and a heck of a horseman.”
