‘Little House on the Prairie’ Star Michael Landon Once Punched Anti-American Journo

“Little House on the Prairie” and “Bonanza” TV star Michael Landon had little affection for the corporate press, and once even slugged a journalist who repeatedly insulted the United States, according to newly resurfaced interviews and articles.

The actor known for portraying “Pa” Ingalls told Tonight Show host Johnny Carson in 1976 that he struck a Swedish reporter who kept disrespecting the United States of America while attempting to score an interview.

Landon recounted, “The guy sitting next to me from the afternoon newspaper, I turned to him, he wants the same story I gave to the guy from the morning newspaper.”

Michael Landon on “Bonanza” (Screen grab / Edited)

“He then goes into a tirade about the United States,” Landon explained, claiming that the journalist laid into “What’s wrong with our country and he’s going on and on and on and I’m so tired.”

“So now he jumps up and really does a number,” Landon said. “On what’s wrong with the [USA,] and I look at Bob and say, ‘I took his dinner, what do we do?’ He said hit him.”

“So,” Landon recollected, “I get up and I hit him.”

Watch the clip on Spreely.video:

Landon remembered, “The moment I hit him, all the cameras go right away,” as he made a clicking noise to simulate the flash of shutters.

The “Bonanza” and “Highway to Heaven” star also relayed his distaste for the corporate press to Carson.

“A lot of people like to write things that are not particularly nice,” he lamented.

Michael Landon attends the 42nd Emmy Awards (Photo by Alan Light / Flickr)

Landon noted that while he didn’t mind negative press coverage, “When they make up stuff, you know, just to write something nasty… and then you sit down and you pick up a TV Guide and you read an article, and it’s absolutely nothing to do with it,” it is “very sad.”

“I think that the general American public has a much better opinion of themselves,” Landon noted.

“Then, they have to sit and read magazine articles” where the media seeks to “degrade other people so that they can feel superior.”

Landon, who died in 1991 at age 54 following a short battle with pancreatic cancer, appeared on the cover of “TV Guide” an impressive 22 times. His record is only surpassed by actress Lucille Ball.