Hersha Parady dead at 78: Little House on the Prairie actress dies after brain tumor fight that ‘robbed her of strength’
LITTLE House on the Prairie star Hersha Parady has died at age 78 after a brain tumor battle.
The actress appeared on the beloved show for three seasons as the Walnut Grove schoolteacher Alice Garvey.
Hersha died on Wednesday in Norfolk, Virginia after battling a brain tumor, her son Jonathan Peverall told The Hollywood Reporter.
Jonathan had set up a GoFundMe page to help with the cost of his mother’s condition, which he claimed had “robbed her of her strength, her memory, and sadly, her vibrant personality.”
He wrote: “Hersha, who has always been an active and outgoing woman, is battling a tough medical condition – a brain tumor known as meningioma.
“She has become largely bedridden, and it is very difficult to see my Mom, who was once full of life and energy, now struggling with basic daily activities.”
Jonathan thanked fans and friends for their support of the talented star.
Hersha was introduced on Little House of the Prairie in season 4’s opening episode alongside her on-screen husband Jonathan Garvey in September 1977.
Hersha was born Betty Sandhoff on May 25, 1945, in Berea, Ohio.
The TV star always knew she was destined to become an actress, telling the Cleveland Plain Dealer in 1975 that she was “always a child living in the world of pretend.
“Even when I was very little, I much preferred to make believe rather than play with dolls.”
After graduating from high school, Hersha debuted onscreen in an episode of Bearcats! before appearing on Mannix, The Waltons, and a pilot for a Gunsmoke spinoff.
The actress was slated for the part of Carolie Ingalls on Little House of the Prairie before Karen Grassle was hired, but she later debuted on the series in season 3 as Eliza, Charles Ingall’s sister-in-law.
By season 4, she was cast as Alice and appeared in 35 episodes.
Hersha’s film career began after her debut on Little House, and she starred in several films including Raw Courage and The Break.
The TV star was seen in several other series like Unsolved Mysteries and Kenan & Kel where she portrayed Principal Dimly.
During a Little House on the Prairie season 6 two-hour episode in 1980, Hersha’s character Alice was seen racing into a school for the blind that had caught on fire.
She attempted to save the children inside including Mary and Adam’s baby, but both ended up dying in the flames.
Hersha once spoke about the traumatic scene in which many fans accused her of using the baby doll as a “battering ram” to open the windows.
“They did not rig the windows to break easily and I’m not, as Michael Landon pointed out a lot, a meek, delicate woman, so when I try to bust something, I usually succeed,” Parady said in an interview for the Little House on the Prairie Memories tribute site.
“It was Michael himself who first mentioned that it looked like I was trying to use Mary’s baby as a battering ram to bust the window! So because they’d forgotten to ‘break away’ the windows, I was determined to get out whatever the cost! In spite of the impending doom it would bring, at least I went out with a roar and not a whimper!
“Working with the special effects guys and the L.A. fire department was a first for me, and to be surrounded by ‘controlled’ fire and readied fire extinguishers, I was ready to act up a storm. I loved every minute of it.”
More to follow…For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at Sun Online.The-sun.com is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheSunUS and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheUSSun.