Alison Arngrim as Nellie Oleson on Little House on the Prairie.

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‘Little House on the Prairie’: Nellie Oleson Star Alison Arngrim Recalls Taking LSD at 8 Years Old

Little House on the Prairie star Alison Arngrim says she once took LSD when she was 8 years old. Here's what she said about that day.

by Sheiresa Ngo

Published on September 3, 2022

2 min read

Alison Arngrim says her childhood wasn’t ideal

Alison Arngrim | NBCU Photo Bank

In her book, Confessions of a Prairie B****, Arngrim says her life wasn’t as charmed as her Nellie Oleson character. She describes moving a lot as a child. According to her, the family moved at least once a year. Arngrim jokes she kept track of her age according to where she lived.

Arngrim also says she was sexually and physically abused as a child. The Nellie Oleson actor says her brother, Stefan, abused her for years.

Alison Arngrim says she took LSD when she was 8 years old

Arngrim says her brother was having a party. When she walked into the kitchen, she noticed there was a “a great big chocolate cake” on the counter. She also saw frosting on the eggbeaters and spoons. Arngrim decided to lick them so she could see how the frosting tasted.

Arngrim says her brother and his friend walked into the kitchen while she was tasting her “second or third spoonful” of frosting. According to her, Stefan’s friend looked like he might start crying.

Arngrim says her brother told her to put her spoon down and stop eating the frosting. She soon learned why her brother’s friend was so upset. Stefan explained that they were having a party and they put LSD in the cake frosting. She accidentally ingested drugs.

Her brother told her they did some calculations and estimated there would be enough LSD to serve one person per slice. Since most of the LSD was in the frosting from the spoon and the eggbeaters, she received large doses of the drug. According to Arngrim, her brother told her she had ingested enough LSD to “f*** up all of West Hollywood.”

Arngrim says her brother told her to come to the party since she took drugs. According to her, their parents were in another part of the house, and they didn’t know what was going on.

Melissa Gilbert reveals she became addicted to alcohol

Arngrim’s co-star, Melissa Gilbert, reveals she became addicted to alcohol after Little House on the Prairie ended in 1983. In her book, Prairie Tale, she also admits to drinking and trying cocaine toward the end of her tenure on the show.

During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Gilbert explains what led her to turn to alcohol. “When I hit my late thirties, and my grandfather passed away and something in me just triggered, and I started having a hard time falling asleep,” says Gilbert.

Gilbert tells ET there was a time when she would drink two bottles of wine each night. The Laura Ingalls actor eventually got sober and began helping others through The Partnership at DrugFree.org.

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