Melissa Gilbert left Los Angeles for a simple cottage life in the Catskills: See inside her happy life now

It is truly amazing when child actors grow up in front of the eyes of the audience. We see them become stars and celebrate their every success as though it’s our own.I bet most of you remember the children of the Ingalls family from Little House on the Prairie. If you do, you must be wondering where they are today and what they are up to.The second oldest daughter of the family, Laura Ingalls, was played by actress Melissa Gilbert, who captured the hearts of the fans and became an acting sensation almost overnight. Well, more or less like the rest of the cast. Melissa was featured in commercials and had some minor roles before taking the part in Little House on the Prairie. During the run of the series, she played parts in other films including The Diary of Anne Frank and The Miracle Worker.

Born on on May 8, 1964, in Los Angeles, California, Melissa was given up for adoption by her parents who each had three children from their previous marriages and feared they couldn’t provide for another child. Melissa was lucky to be welcomed into the life of her adoptive parents, actor Paul Gilbert and actress/dancer Barbara Crane, from whom she learned all about the entertainment business.

In 2015, Melissa took a role in the short film One Smart Fellow, and played in Secret and Lies and The Night Shift some years before. She is also a writer. Her autobiography Prairie Tale: A Memoir speaks of the period of her life during the famous series.

As she goes back to the time of filming the series, she recalls she had a fun time with the rest of the crew.Portraying a girl living on a farm seemed exciting back then, and it looks like Melissa got to love that way of living so she and her husband, actor-director Timothy Busfield, moved from Michigan to new home in New York a few years ago and even bought a hunting cabin and considered getting chickens and building a barn for goats and horses, she revealed during a virtual Television Critics Association panel focusing on the PBS American Masters biography “Laura Ingalls Wilder.” However, the coronavirus pandemic forced them to put their plans on hold.

Today, however, they do live in the cabin and their days seem picture perfect. The place needed a full renovation, but despite the challenges, they were determined to turn the place into a comfortable home.

The first step was getting rid of the staff the previous owners left there. Next, they needed to get rid of the rodents and mildew and fix the plumbing.

They refurbished the cabinets, installed red vinyl chairs, and heated the house with a wood fire.

Gilbert and her husband grow their own fruits and vegetables.

The actress loves her peaceful home and the challenges that living at such a place brings. She copes with her responsibilities with a smile on her face and enjoys a cup of tea at the end of each day.

The world’s strongest boy. He is currently 24 years old

About 15 years ago, Richard Sandrak, who moved from Ukraine to the United States, was called the strongest boy in the world.

Richard started to exercise seriously when he was just a child. And at the age of 8 he could bench-press with more than 30 pounds! At 11 years of age he lifted 53 pounds!

Now he’s 24 years old and it’s hard to call him a jock.

Once he was given the nickname «Little Hercules», he was constantly invited to competitions, TV-shows, commercials, magazines and even movies. That’s why Richard’s family moved to California, so the son could fully realize himself.

Training, nutrition, regime — these points were monitored by the boy’s father — a former world champion in martial arts. Very often the man was criticized for abusing his son and putting a lot of pressure on him.

And when Richard was 11 years old, he called the police when his father assaulted his mother. The man was put in jail for domestic violence.

The boy stopped communicating with his father and no longer recognized him. For a while he was still practicing, but gradually it became less and less.

At the moment Richard says: «I am very proud of my achievements as a child, I am not ashamed of them and I do not try to hide this page of my life from anyone. And he adds: «I just don’t want to live like that anymore.» «They tried to make me look like some kind of abomination of nature.»

Now Richard continues to exercise, but not as fanatically. He runs every morning and also likes skateboarding. By profession, he is a stuntman at the show «Waterworld» in Los Angeles, where he is set on fire at least five times a day, and then he has to dive into the water from a great height.