Portrait of Melissa Sue Anderson

Birthday profile

Melissa Sue Anderson

Melissa Sue Anderson, American-Canadian actress

Born
September 26, 1962
Age in 2026
64
Zodiac sign
Libra
Birth year
1962

About Melissa Sue Anderson

Melissa Sue Anderson (born September 26, 1962) is an American-Canadian actress. She began her career as a child actress after appearing in several commercials in Los Angeles. Anderson is known for her role as Mary Ingalls in the NBC drama series Little House on the Prairie (1974–1983), for which she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She is also known for film roles that include Vivian in Midnight Offerings (1981), Ginny in the slasher film Happy Birthday to Me (1981), and Alex in the ABC Afterschool Special, Which Mother Is Mine? (1979). Anderson became a naturalized citizen of Canada in 2007. In 2010, she published The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House, an autobiographical account of her years acting in Little House on the Prairie. Anderson agreed to play Nancy Rizzi, the first girlfriend of John Curtis (based on Landon and played by Lance Kerwin), saying she was very thrilled to have been asked.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Melissa Sue Anderson timeline

  1. Anderson is known for her role as Mary Ingalls in the NBC drama series Little House on the Prairie (1974–1983), for which she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
  2. Anderson became a naturalized citizen of Canada in 2007.

The world when Melissa Sue Anderson was born

Melissa Sue Anderson was born in 1962. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1962

  • #1 song"I Can't Stop Loving You" – Ray Charles
  • Top movieLawrence of Arabia
  • Top TV showThe Beverly Hillbillies
  • Best-selling bookA Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentWilt Chamberlain scores 100 points in a single NBA game
  • Top headlineCuban Missile Crisis — world comes closest to nuclear war
  • Technology milestoneJohn Glenn orbits the Earth
  • Defining fadJames Bond mania (Dr. No released)
  • Notable inventionLED (light-emitting diode)
  • World population3.14 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderJohn F. Kennedy
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
  • U.S. population186.5M

1962 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Melissa Sue Anderson's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19622026
Gas$0.31$3.45/gal
Average home$12,800$435,000
Average income$7,900$67,500
Minimum wage$1.15$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.70$11.95
Postage stamp$0.04$0.73
Population186.5M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.