Alison Angrim

It’s a play, It’s a book, It’s both … either way, audiences areflocking to see and hear more.

“The people kept arriving until we ran out of chairs,” declaredConnie Kalter of Alison Arngrim‘s book signing appearance at Vromanson July 2nd, adding “After hearing Ms. Arngrim, I know why. She
offers so much more than a book signing. It was a performance!” Theengagement marked the third for Ms. Arngrim, in one week in the LosAngeles area. Like Vromans, both Barnes & Noble at The Grove andLarry Edmunds on Hollywood Blvd, discovered that the audiences had atno shortage of questions for the former childhood star, who createdthe iconic character of Nellie Oleson on “Little House on thePrairie.” Among the friends and colleagues that showed for Alison’sLA launch were Gloria Allread, E.G. Daily,Romi Dames,Tippi Hedren,Kate Linder,Rose Marie,Cathy Silversand her Little House co-star,Rachel Greenbush (Baby Carrie) – All joined her later at TART onFairfax Avenue to celebrate.

As in her one woman show, Alison holds nothing back, while answeringquestions from the audience about her troubled and abusive youth,starring as America’s most hated TV character, how the death of fellowcast member and TV husband, Steve Tracy, led to her AIDS activism and
later how she became an influential voice in politics as thespokeswoman for PROTECT.org. She mentioned to one fan that playingNellie Oleson probably saved her life. It gave her a way to vent andunlike all of her poor contemporaries who played sweet and innocent,she wasn’t tethered to the same restrictions, giving her a freedom tobe mean … something that has come in handy when speaking up topoliticians on behalf of thousands of children with no voice.

Alison Arngrimgives audiences a reality check on “the facts of life”like no one else has ever done before, but sure as hell should have inCONFESSIONS OF A PRAIRIE BITCH. And you thought she was out spoken onthat damn Little House on the Prairie? Vanity Fair declared her “TVhistory’s #1 one bitch” and now after her successful run in New Yorkand Los Angeles, she’s taking her new memoirs and show on the roadreturning by popular demand. Additional scheduled appearances for thebook, “Confessions of a Prairie Bitch,” and her one woman show by thesame name are planned for San Francisco, Boston, St Louis, Chicago,and even Walnut Grove, before taking it back to Paris, where Ms.Arngrim enjoys a heightened cult status … as Alison claims, “TheFrench don’t think Nellie is mean, they think she’s French.”

Photo Credit:Bill Dow

TART Restaurant manager Terry Tolba with Bob Schoonover and Alison Arngrim