Mary Ingalls Kendall
From Little House on the Prairie Wiki
 | |
| Mary Ingalls Kendall | |
| Played by | Melissa Sue Anderson |
| Gender | Female |
| Debut | Pilot Movie |
| Occupation | Teacher |
Mary Ingalls Kendall is the oldest daughter of Caroline and Charles Ingalls. She has eight siblings; Laura, Carrie, Charles Jr. (died shortly after birth), Grace, along with three adopted siblings: Albert, James, and Cassandra. At the time siblings James and Cassandra were adopted after their parents died in a tragic wagon crash, Mary was an adult and married to Adam Kendall, who she had originally met at a blind school in Iowa.
In her childhood growing up in Walnut Grove, Mary was an excellent student and used most of her free time studying. When she was fourteen years old, Mary went blind. It started out as a yearly checkup at the eye doctor in Mankato, after returning she couldn't tell a difference in her vision from her previous pair of glasses. Once returning to the doctor, the news was not good; the doctor told Charles that Mary would soon go blind.
Charles hesitated to tell her this, though he finally did and a few days later her sight was gone. Doctor Baker suggested that they send Mary to a blind school so she can make something of her life; Charles and Caroline agreed and set up plans for her to be taught at a blind school in Iowa.
After arriving at the school, Mary met her teacher, Adam Kendall. Originally she resented Adam, but began to change her opinion about him soon after. Later, Adam and Mary got married they had a son named Adam Kendall Jr., Mary miscarried her first child; Adam Kendall Jr. died along with Alice Garvey in a fire at the blind school started by Albert Ingalls and a friend. Mary went into a state of shock after this, and took sometime to come out of it.
Once her husband Adam regained his sight, they moved to New York where Adam became a lawyer. Her and Adam's final appearance on the show was in a Christmas episode, where they traveled into Walnut Grove just prior to a blizzard, and spent Christmas and Charles and Caroline's house.
Shortly after this, Charles, Caroline, Albert, Carrie, and their other children moved out of Walnut Grove. Laura and Almanzo Wilder were the few remaining citizens in the town, Charles and Albert continually visited though Adam and Mary remained in New York.
Contents |
[edit] Book Character
Mary's book character was pretty similar to the television show character. Just as in the show, Mary went blind from scarlet fever, although in real life it happened right away. Laura took a larger role in helping her sister get the money raised so that Mary could go to the blind school than in the television show (The Ingalls family weren't living in Walnut Grove at this time).
Mary went blind later in life in the books than she did in the show. The book description reads, "This book is about Laura becoming a schoolteacher so she can send her blind sister Mary to a school for the blind."
In real life, Mary attended school at the blind school for a number of years, then returned home and lived with her parents until their deaths in De Smet, SD. After that, Mary moved in with her sister Carrie, who lived in the Black Hills of SD, until Mary died in her 60's.
[edit] Blindness
Mary Ingalls went blind when she was 15 years old. This event was covered in the two part episode "I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away". This event started when the Ingalls were having dinner, and Mary remarked that her eyes were tired, probably from studying so much. Charles suggested that they go see the eye doctor, since it was time for her annual check-up anyway.
The doctor tells Charles that Mary needed a stronger prescription and that her eyes look fine. Once back in Walnut Grove, Mary says that this prescription isn't any different than the last one. They re-visit the doctor, and the news is not good; Mary will soon go blind. It was because she had scarlet fever when she was younger, which weakened the muscles in her eyes.
When Charles told Mary this she was very sad, and became bitter for a short time because she felt she was a burden to her parents. Later, they decided to send Mary to a blind school in Iowa. Mary became a teacher, just as she and her parents had always dreamed.
[edit] Marriage and Children
Mary Ingalls married Adam Kendell after meeting him a year before at the blind school in Iowa. This was covered in the episode "The Wedding". Mary later had a child, and they decided to name it Adam Kendell, Jr.. The baby later died in a fire at the Blind School (the school was located in Walnut Grove at the time) along with Alice Garvey.
The fire was caused by a lighted smoking pipe that was accidentally left in the basement by Mary's adopted brother, Albert, and his friend. After the fire was over, Mary was in shock for a good amount of time. After listening to a music box, given to her as a gift by Albert, Mary returned to normal after some help from Doctor Baker. Laura later found an old courthouse that was perfect for the blind school. A new character was added to the show, Houston.
When Mary originally met Adam, he seemed like a heartless teacher to her at the time. Of course, Mary's saddened attitude probably contributed to this greatly. Her opinion of him changed after accepting the fact she was blind, and she remarked that he was the best teacher in the school.
[edit] Behind the Scenes
Mary Ingalls was played by Melissa Sue Anderson throughout the series. When casting, there were about 100 girls who auditioned for the role. Melissa Sue Anderson remarked that one day she just read a script for Michael Landon, and they also paired her with Melissa Gilbert and saw that the two worked well together. When Anderson first saw the ad, it read that they were looking for parts in a western television show, she had no idea what character she was going to play at this time. The final appearance of Mary and Adam made on the show was a Christmas special, in which they traveled to Walnut Grove for Christmas and made it to town prior to a blizzard.
