Melissa Gilbert Jokes She's Asking Her Kids for More Grandkids: 'They're Just So Much Fun' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Melissa Gilbert with grandchild.Photo:Melissa Gilbert/ Instagram

Melissa Gilbert/ Instagram

Melissa Gilbertis reveling in a full family life.

Speaking with PEOPLE about starring in the off-Broadway playStill, the actress, 60, says that her time off of stage and screens is spent getting in quality time with her children and grandchildren.

Gilbert and husbandTimothy Busfieldmarried in 2013. She is a mother of two — son Dakota from her first marriage to Bo Brinkman and son Michael from her second marriage to Bruce Boxleitner. She is also a stepmother to five — Boxleinter’s two children, Sam and Lee, as well as Busfield’s three children: Samuel, Daisy and Wilson. The couple is grandparents to eight grandchildren through their blended family.

“All these babies. All these grandchildren. I mean, they’re so delicious and fun and funny,” Gilbert raves to PEOPLE.

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“We had a bunch of the kids with us this Christmas in Albuquerque where my husband’s been producingThe Cleaning Lady. And Lulabelle was with us and ended up having sleepovers in our room. We put a teepee in our room for her and she stayed with us. We had the best time with her.”

When she’s got prospective projects ahead of her, Gilbert admits, “Anything that takes me to a location that gets me near one of my kids' homes is good for me.”

“I don’t feel any added responsibility in choosing roles because I have grandchildren,” she explains. “I think I’m just more determined to continue to bring stories to light that affect the way people interact with one another. To try and temper the vitriol and the anger and the bitterness to try and smooth the way so that these kids can grow up in a more loving world than they are right now.”

WhenStill’s run completes in March, Gilbert jokes she plans on enjoying “a nice, long nap.”

source: people.com