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September 20, 2007

'Almanzo' coming home to Wilder farm celebration

By DENISE A. RAYMO

BURKE -- Dean Butler is coming to Almanzo Wilder's 150th birthday party this weekend, but his gift won't arrive until spring.

The actor who played Almanzo for five years on "Little House on the Prairie" will be the special guest at the Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder Association farm on Saturday and Sunday.

While here, Butler and his documentary film crew from Peak Moore Enterprises will shoot footage for a project tentatively called "Life Before Laura."

"We'll try to demonstrate for those who will see it what life was like for a little boy in the Adirondacks," he said.

From his home near Los Angeles earlier this week, Butler said the DVD will be ready when the Wilder Farm opens in 2008.

"We are making a direct-to-DVD product for the people at the site to sell and share how they wish with the other Laura Ingalls Wilder sites.

"It's my way of giving something back to the people in Burke who have been so gracious to me, and I'm grateful to have the privilege of being part of the 150th-birthday celebration."

He and his wife, Katherine Cannon -- who played Felice Martin on "90210" -- will arrive today.

It will be her first trip to the North Country, but not his.

Butler filmed two 90-minute pieces for NBC Sports on the athletes being inducted into the U.S. Olympics Hall of Fame.

"I went to Lake Placid about two years ago, and it was absolutely spectacular. As we were driving back to New York, I remember thinking, It was an effort to get here, but it was worth the effort.' It's a beautiful, beautiful area.

"My wife doesn't usually come with me, but I wanted to bring her because I thought she'd enjoy seeing the leaves changing."

He is proud of his role as Almanzo Wilder and the loyal fans of "Little House."

"I'm always incredibly amazed and gratified by how much people still enjoy it," the 51-year-old said. "It reverberates in people's lives, particularly now with the DVD series and cable.

"It's just remarkable. I used to say to people, The show was never in fashion, so it never goes out of fashion.'

"It makes you feel so comfortable, you feel like you're sitting with an old friend.

"And it ages really well. It still brings a tear to your eye and makes you laugh, and you just appreciate it because the show has an essential human truth about it.

"It appeals to something real and something everybody wants: a good, happy life.

"In the work that I do now as a producer, it is largely built around that. I really am inspired by people who do things that touch me.

"I want to do that to other people. I want to touch them so they feel inspired and enlivened by an event and experience they didn't know about before.

"I believe there are heroes all around us, and not just the firemen who run into burning buildings. People live heroic lives every day."

IN THE BEGINNING

His work includes historical documentaries and corporate communications, but it was a winding path that finally got him there.

"I started off as a tech-oriented person, and as I got into my high-school years, I wanted to find something I could do and do it well.

"Everyone wants to be successful at something and to be respected and admired for doing something well.

"I was in a school play, and I loved the experience and the thrill of applause and the real affirmation from my peers and people I respected who were saying I did something and I was good at it.

"That really lit the switch for me and propelled me for the next 20 to 25 years of my life. Then about 10 years ago, I started turning back to my love of technology, so I kind of came full circle with this."

OTHER ROLES

In addition to "Little House," Butler sang in 320 Broadway performances of "Into the Woods," starred in the series "The New Gidget" and was the often-absent father on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

He has also been instrumental in creating the bonus footage included in DVD sets of the "Little House" series, some of which will be shown at the Wilder farm.

The project gave Butler the chance to see episodes he had not seen in years.

"There's a wonderful detached feeling you get seeing some of the shows from a different perspective from when you made them.

"It's been on continuously since 1974 somewhere in the world, all 210 episodes, and I can appreciate the great love that people have for the show."

LANDON'S LEADERSHIP

Butler credits creator, director, writer, producer and star Michael Landon for the show's quality and longevity.

Landon had "crystal clear" focus on how he wanted material written, portrayed and filmed and did not compromise when his vision was challenged.

"I'm not anywhere near as certain as he was, and I found his lack of hesitation remarkable. In my time with him, you learned to appreciate how tough he was and to have that drive.

"But I really need to rely on my collaborators. I just want to keep getting better. Each process is the same, but the outcome is always different.

"Michael gave me a great gift with Little House' because I will forever be associated with it, and it will always be a part of my life."

As will his role as Hank Summers on "Buffy."

"The two shows couldn't be more different, but were the same in some ways because (Buffy) was also about family and relationships.

"I've played the love interest, husband or father to three of the most iconic young American women in television -- Laura Ingalls, Gidget and Buffy -- and that's really cool to me," Butler said.

STRUGGLE

He prepared for his appearances in Burke by re-reading "Farmer Boy," the book Ingalls Wilder wrote from Almanzo's recollections of his early years in northern New York.

"What struck me was the hard work they had to go through just to survive. They knew every day when they got up what they were going to do.

"I was overwhelmed, when I read the book again, by their sense of purpose -- the day-to-day, hour-to-hour struggle. Every moment was used toward that purpose; to survive and, in some cases, flourish.

"The fact that his life was written about by his wife and the mythology expanded by our show and he is being celebrated 150 years after he was born shows how his life still impacts so many people.

"There is just a certain kind of decency and goodness that he represents."

E-mail Denise A. Raymo at:

draymo@pressrepublican.com

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