Dean Butler shared experiences with “Little House” fans

Dean Butler shared touching stories about the lasting impact of his role as Almanzo Wilder.

Dean Butler: The Little House Legacy That Never Ends

It sounds like Dean Butler is truly moved by how much people still love Little House on the Prairie and his character, Almanzo “Manly” Wilder! Even decades later, he continues to meet fans whose lives were profoundly touched by the show.

The Sweetest Compliment

There’s one thing women often tell him that he absolutely treasures:

“A woman would come up to the table with her husband, with her children… and tell me, ‘You are my first crush in the world.’“

Dean says it’s one of the sweetest things he hears because it’s so genuine and innocent. The best part?

This confession isn’t just from women who watched the show back in the 70s and 80s; it comes from teenage girls who discovered Little House on streaming!

That’s a true multi-generational crush that he finds “incredibly flattering.”

Frozen in Time

Dean finds it fascinating—and a little funny—that in the viewers’ minds, he and the cast are “frozen in time, 40 years ago.”

He points out that while the actors change and age, the characters they portray on screen remain the same.

His wife of over 20 years, Katherine Cannon, knows the drill perfectly.

Before he heads off to a fan event, she’ll playfully tell him, “Okay, go off and be adored again this weekend.” That’s a keeper! 😉

Sharing the Emotional Journey

For Dean, these fan meetings aren’t just about autographs; they’re deeply emotional.

He says he gets to witness a huge range of feelings, from laughter to tears, as people talk about what was going on in their own lives while they were watching the program.

It really highlights how the show became woven into the personal history of its audience, with different characters resonating with different people at different times.

The Journey Continues

To honor this legacy, Dean recently reunited with his former co-stars—including Karen Grassle, Alison Arngrim, Charlotte Stewart, and Wendi Lou Lee—for a new documentary called Little House Homecoming.

The film follows the cast as they travel to the actual, real-life locations that inspired Laura Ingalls Wilder’s original books.

For the man who played Laura’s husband, it sounds like a perfect, meaningful way to celebrate both the TV series and the historical figures it was based on!