Almost everyone who remembers the TV series Little House on the Prairie will remember the Ingalls girls Laura and Mary. Most will even remember the younger sister Carrie, although her lines of dialogue were fleeting, even when she became older. But even I didn’t remember the fourth child Grace until I recently re-visited the series. She was of course based on the real-life Ingalls child, the fifth and youngest of the brood. (A brother was born between Carrie and Grace who died as an infant). Like the character of her older sister Carrie, Grace was actually portrayed by twin sisters, in this case Brenda and Wendi Turnbaugh.
At first the girls were uncredited participants in the series, coming into the show during season 5 as infants less than a year old. In fact they didn’t receive on-screen credit until season 8. Eventually they spoke now and then, but dialogue was limited. But they sure were cute.
And, as I found out when I met them at the Wilder Pageant in Walnut Grove, Minnesota on July 25, 2014, they still were…and quite nice at that. Although the autograph signing would prove disastrous at Walnut Grove that weekend (which you will read more about later), Carolyn and I got lucky enough to be seated right by them at the pageant itself. They, along with the other cast members, were instructed not to sign autographs for fear of causing a stampede, so I didn’t ask them.
The “Baby Grace” twins during their Q&A session. Wendi is on the left and Brenda is on the right.
But since there was just one person seated between me and them (who happened to be Charlotte Stewart, best known as Miss Beadle in the show), it was quite easy for us to get a photo with them.
They are both sweet ladies, very down to earth, devout Christians, and highly dedicated to their families. I saw a couple of their children (honestly I’m not sure which one’s), who were seated elsewhere at the pageant, come down and speak to them, ecstatic that their mother was getting the star treatment.
I was glad too. They may not be ‘stars’ in their everyday life, but it was very cool to see such nice young ladies get such a tremendous welcome from their fans during their Question & Answer Session that preceded the pageant. Perhaps I’ll send them the photo I bought that never got signed. I’m sure they’d be nice enough to autograph it.
Celebrity encounters from the 2014 Wilder Pageant will continue…
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