The world famous star of Bonanza and Little House on the Prairie, Michael Landon has won the hearts of millions.
Playing the charming and strong Charles Ingalls on the set, he turned out to be an absolute opposite with his real-life family.
What devastating story hides behind the broken childhoods of Michael Landon's kids?
The unbelievable family struggles are revealed in our video
In the 1970's Michael Landon was living in Beverly Hills in a mansion on seven acres with his second wife and three children.
His kids had everything they could dream of.
They even had a chance to play on screen together with Landon in the TV show, The Little House on the Prairie
But the fortune and happiness turned into ashes the day Michael Landon left the family.
It turned out that Landon had an affair with a makeup artist while playing on the show, whom he later married.
In fact, Michael Landon was married three times and had nine children.
His kids, Michael Jr. and Leslie Landon, were devastated. The perfect image they had of their father was now shattered, leaving a life-long scar.
Leslie Landon suffered from bulimia
His daughter Leslie, who was 18 at that time,
suffered severely from her parents’ divorce. All the stress, confusion and sorrow turned into an illness
It resulted in Leslie suffering from bulimia eating disorder.
She was desperately hoping that changing herself and losing weight would win back her father’s attention.
Her later career choice as a clinical psychologist may have been the result of her overcoming her challenges
and now wanting to help others.
Michael Landon Jr. found rescue in church
Leslie’s younger brother Michael Jr. suffered during that time as well.
The then sixteen-year-old Michel Jr. was absolutely broken and full of bitterness, anger and sorrow
He turned to drugs and alcohol to reduce the pressure and dull the pain
Their mother, who was left alone had to cope with the mess in her family, saving her children
She found her remedy in church and tried to retain her son’s life.
After a long time of excuses and denial, Michael Jr. finally came to church with her one day
Michael is cast only Christian films, and picks movies that have a strong message to the public
rather than movies that chase only high ratings.
While he was still battling alcohol abuse his mother cut him off from money
and made him live his own life outside of her house.
He recalls the days when he had to work in a restaurant
whose owner would emphasize to his customers that Michael Landon’s son cleans up his floors.
However, Michael Jr. claims he had finally forgiven his father after all these years
In 1990 Michael Landon was diagnosed with a deadly disease.
He was 54 when pancreatic cancer struck him
Michael Landon was focused on battling his disease, saying it opened his eyes to life
On July 1, 1991 Michael died in his Malibu house in the presence of his third wife and their children.
As it turns out, our idols off the screen are not the same characters we are used to seeing in movies.
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