Karen Grassle is an American actress born in 1942 in Berkeley, California. She is widely recognized for her portrayal of Caroline Ingalls, the mother of Laura Ingalls Wilder, in the long-running Western television series "Little House on the Prairie" from 1974 to 1983.
Karen Grassle's early life began in Berkeley, California, which was named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley in 1769. Her parents, Eugene Frederick "Gene" Grassle and Frae Ella Berry, were a realty business owner and a school teacher, respectively.
Grassle received ballet lessons as a child and developed an interest in acting, participating in several school plays and singing in a Baptist choir. During her senior year in high school, she was the vice president of the student body and received a "Girl of the Year" award.
After graduating from Ventura High School in 1959, Grassle started her college education at H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College in New Orleans before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley. She graduated in 1965 with Bachelor of Arts degrees in both English and Dramatic Art.
Grassle's professional acting career began with summer performances at the Stanford Contemporary Workshop and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. She later performed in various resident and stock theaters across the country, making her Broadway debut in 1968.
Grassle's notable roles include performances in the plays "The Gingham Dog" and "Butterflies Are Free". She also guest-starred in the television series "Gunsmoke" and made her film debut in the comedy-drama "Harry's War" in 1981.
Grassle left the cast of "Little House on the Prairie" in 1982 and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she served as the artistic director of the local Resource Theater Company. She later performed with the Actors Theatre of Louisville and continued to act in various theatrical productions throughout the 2000s.
In recent years, Grassle has appeared in the feature film "Not to Forget" in 2021 and published her memoir "Bright Lights, Prairie Dust: Reflections on Life, Loss, and Love by House's Ma" in the same year.
