thumb|right|150px|Melissa Gilbert
'''Melissa Ellen Gilbert''' (born May 8 1964) is an American actress.
As a former child actor, the naturally red-headed Gilbert is best known for her role as Charles Ingalls' (played by Michael Landon) middle daughter, Laura Ingalls on the television series ''
Little House on the Prairie'' (1974-1983), originating the role of Barbara Gordon in ''Batman: The Animated Series'' and for her two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild.
Gilbert regularly keeps in contact with her friend Alison Arngrim, who played her nemesis "Nellie Oleson" on ''Little House''.
thumb|150px|Gilbert as Laura Ingalls in ''
Little House on the Prairie''|left
Family
Gilbert was born in Los Angeles, California to a Jewish family. She was adopted by a couple, actor Paul Gilbert (birthname of Paul MacMahon) and his wife Barbara Crane. Her younger brother Jonathan Gilbert (a NY stock broker) was also adopted. Melissa and Jonathan worked together when he portrayed Willie Oleson in ''
Little House on the Prairie'' (1974-1983) and in the movie ''The Miracle Worker''. When Melissa was eight, her adoptive parents divorced, and when she was eleven, her adoptive father died. Her adoptive mother had married Harold Abeles and gave birth in 1975 to Sara Abeles, who became an actress. In 1984 Sara Abeles changed her surname to Gilbert, becoming Sara Gilbert. Sara would later star on the American television series ''Roseanne''.
She won the Screen Actors Guild presidency in 2001 after a competitive election contest in which she ultimately beat her opponent Valerie Harper after a revote 21,351 votes to 12,613 votes. In July 2005, she announced that she would not seek a third term as president. She was succeeded by Alan Rosenberg who formally assumed the office of Guild president on September 25.
For her contribution to the television industry, Gilbert has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6429 Hollywood Blvd. In 1998, she was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Marriage & Children
Gilbert married Bo Brinkman in 1988 and the couple had a son, Dakota Paul, in 1989. Following a divorce, she then married actor Bruce Boxleitner in 1995, they had a son Michael Garrett in 1995.
Gilbert played Boxleitner's character's wife on ''Babylon 5'', she also played his wife in a 1995 Danielle Steel, TV drama,
