Michael Landon His Triumph and Tragedy Author:Aileen Joyce Handsome, full of life and energy, Michael Landon stole America's heart as Little Joe in the hit TV show "Bonanza"--and just never gave it back. Capturing millions of fans as the ideal father Charles Ingalls on "Little House on the Prairie," the first show he ever produced, he portrayed the virtues of hard work, honesty and family love to become... more » the best loved television star of his generation.
But his kind public image hid another side of Michael Landon. A man deeply scarred by his traumatic childhood. A man who conquered a terrible drug abuse and who endured the pain of two divorces. A man driven by his need to climb to the top of his profession at any price. And, when he'd finally found happiness in his work, and the love of Cindy, his third wife and their two children, he discovered his final challenge: a crippling cancer that ravaged his body and cut short his life.
Michael Landon: His Triumph and Tragedy tells the whole story for the first time. From his terrible childhood in New Jersey, his "lucky break" in Hollywood and glittering success as America's heart throb to his heroic fight against illness that served as an inspiration to us all.