Inside The Final Season Of “Little House”: Stan Ivar And Pamela Roylance Share Heartfelt Memories Of The Carter Family

Stan: We haven’t seen each other a lot over the years, but we have stayed friends. We have a bond. Pam said it to me a long time ago — we really bonded when we had to interview for NBC. They weren’t sure about us newcomers coming onto Little House. Michael called us each at home and said, “You have to go over and do the interview again for the bigwigs at NBC. But I don’t care what they say, because I want you, so don’t worry.”

We just clicked, and we always supported each other. It was comfortable working with Pam, and the four of us together as the Carter family. Still to this day, it’s comfortable. You know, I don’t have a sister; I know Pamela has a brother, and I’ve met her brother. I love her, and the same with the boys. It’s never changed.

Pamela: I will second that. We really bonded during the audition process. Stan was just wonderful and made me feel so comfortable. When we did that NBC audition, Stan was the one who said, “Meet me in the park across from the studio, and we’ll just rehearse the scene and relax,” and that’s exactly what we did. There was always this wonderful chemistry between the two of us.

It’s been wonderful to be able to stay friends and keep in touch, however frequently or infrequently. We always pick up where we left off, and Stan is always loving and kind and generous and funny.

Here we are decades later, and we’re doing this play where these people meet as children, and then their lives are intertwined. We’re the same way; we always come back to each other, and we have that bond. I think that’s why Susan saw this was going to work, because it was our real life, and here we are now stepping into it.

Thank you, Pamela and Stan, for sharing your stories! Get tickets to Love Letters here, running at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks, CA, between August 21-31.

Can’t get enough Little House content? Check out our other interviews with the cast:

– Patrick Labyorteaux on Andy Garvey
– Susan McCray on casting, and Michael Landon
– Alison Arngrim/Dean Butler on Nellie/Almanzo
– Charlotte Stewart on Ms. Beadle
– Bonnie Bartlett on Grace Edwards
– Sherri Stoner on Rachel Oleson and The Little Mermaid