Las Vegas Weekly

The Bitch is back: ‘Little House on the Prairie’s‘ original mean girl

Alison Arngrim

Nellie Oleson was a mean little rich girl. She had heavy blonde curls and a cruel streak. On Little House on the Prairie, she was the character everybody loved to hate, namely because she did stuff like: 1) tease other girls for wearing homemade dresses, 2) tease a child born with one leg shorter than the other and 3) tease a girl for needing glasses.

From 1974 to 1982, Alison Arngrim played Nellie Oleson—a role that made her the object of contempt and scorn among TV-watching children everywhere. In the years since her role as a child villain, Arngrim has channeled that loathing into a book and a one-woman show—Confessions of a Prairie Bitch—about her life on and off screen. This month, Arngrim brings Confessions to the Onyx Theatre, a performance advertised as “an uproarious evening of storytelling, stand-up and multi media.” Also, on August 7, Arngrim signs copies of her book at the Town Square Borders.

Confessions of a Prairie Bitch August 5-7 & 12-14, 8 p.m. $25. Onyx Theatre, 953 E. Sahara Ave., 732-7225.

Alison Arngrim book signing August 7, 3 p.m., free. Borders, at Town Square, 383-6734.