“Little House on the Prairie” star Melissa Gilbert shared an emotional tribute to her series co-star Jack Lilley, who died at the age of 91 at the Motion Picture & Television Fund retirement home on Wednesday.
Lilley played a stagecoach driver and other roles across several seasons on “Little House on the Prairie. Gilbert took to Instagram to honor her late friend and colleague.
“The little house family has lost one of our own,” Gilbert wrote. “He taught me how to ride a horse when I was just a wee little thing. He was so patient with me. He never said no when I would bound up to him squealing, ‘Can we go ride? Please, please, please?’”
In addition to looking back on “Little House” memories, Gilbert also chronicled Lilley’s long film and television career, including reuniting with Gilbert on a Western pilot called “Then Came Jones,” which also starred a then-unknown Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
“It was a joy to shoot and I was so bummed when it didn’t get picked up. It was all very synchronistic,” Gilbert shared. “Our first read though was at Paramount Studios, where we had shot Little House the first four years. I also found out we would be shooting at Big Sky Ranch, where we had shot ‘Little House’…I walked to the set itself and before I could even focus I heard a familiar voice holler, ‘Hey Halfpint, you old rat-ass!!!’ In that instant, I knew I was home.”
Gilbert ended her farewell with a Shakespeare quote and a nod to Lilley’s nickname for her. “Oh Jack…sweet prince….may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. Love always, Your Halfpint.”