Actors Who Got Their Start on Little House on the Prairie

"Little House on the Prairie" was about children about as much as it was about adults. The only problem was that, throughout the 9 seasons, the children just kept growing up, creating a constant demand for even more children. And so the children came out of the woodwork - children born, children adopted, children picked up off the street, orphaned children whose parents die, and so forth. In addition, there were children who were new to town or had been in town for a long time but we're just now seeing them for the first time, somehow, and will never see them again, somehow.

Here are some of the actors who got their start on "Little House..."

Jason Bateman

Jason Bateman shows up in S07E21. His parents die in a wagon crash and he's adopted by Charles Ingalls, thereby making Jason a cast member for a few years. "Little House" was his first role.

Shannen Doherty

In S09E01 Shannen Doherty shows up as Jenny Wilder. Her father dies and she is left with her Aunt and Uncle, becoming a cast member for the next 2 seasons.

Peter Billingsly

Peter Billingsly arrives in S08E12 as a kid with a stutter who has trouble making friends. This is about a year before "A Christmas Story."

Sean Penn 

Sean Penn shows up in "The Voice of Tinker Jones" (S01E11 or S01E12 depending on the source) as just a random kid in the background. He was included in the show because his father directed the episode.

Robert Loggia

Robert Loggia.

And finally, not a child actor like the others, but I should include this somewhere... Jonathan Banks, who played Mike Ehrmantraut on "Breaking Bad," shows up in S06E16 as an outlaw.