LIFESTYLE
Coronado’s Cheryl Landon fulfills promise to her father, TV star Michael Landon
The island resident says she keeping a promise to her dad, who starred in “Bonanza” and “Little House on the Prairie.”
Sofie Fransen
May 23, 2023
“Fight, baby, fight!”
It was a desperate plea, a call to his 19-year-old daughter who was in a deep coma after being the sole-survivor of a car accident. More than a plea, it was a promise.
The doctors told Michael Landon, actor and filmmaker, that his cries were useless—his daughter Cheryl Landon would probably not make it through the night, let alone be able to hear his coaching.
But he persisted, holding a vigil and promising God that he would do something useful with his life to make the world a better place if she lived.
After three days, Cheryl came out of the coma. She said she had heard his voice. She could repeat the words he had told her.
Fulfilling father’s promise
Cheryl Landon, now Coronado resident of six years, says she has since dedicated her life to fulfilling her father’s promise.
Author of “I Promised my Dad: An Intimate Portrait of Michael Landon by his Eldest Daughter” and “Michael Landon’s Legacy: 7 Keys to Supercharging Your Life,” Cheryl Landon can testify to the incredible impact her father had in shows like “Bonanza” and “Little House on the Prairie.”
Since his promise, Michael Landon always incorporated a spiritual message into his productions, she said.
Cheryl Landon (above) made a promise to actor Michael Landon, her father, to honor and protect his name.. Staff photo by Willem Quigley.
In fact, he had just started “Little House on the Prairie” when Cheryl got in the accident. He stopped everything for a month to be by her side, she said.
“Family man”
“He was very much a family man,” Landon said. “I am so proud to have a father who had such an incredible effect on our people because he truly loved us.”
Landon said she was seven years old when Michael Landon came into her life and married her mother Lynn, pulling her from a young 20-year-old father with a hot Italian temper.
She said she considered Michael her rock from that moment on.
Since the accident in 1973, Landon has been faced with numerous surgeries.
She recalls being told by the doctors that she would end up in a wheelchair, have chronic pain and would never be able to have children.
Overcoming odds
Contrary to these predictions, Landon did not end up in a wheelchair and has a son, James Michael, who is currently living in Texas with his wife and their three boys.
Landon has, however, said she has dealt with excruciating pain since the accident.
She said that in order to make it through the pain, she had to find a purpose bigger than the pain.
For her, that purpose has been her dad’s promise, which she didn’t know existed until she was at the foot of his deathbed.
“And he squeezed my hand; he said: ‘We don’t know how to love each other; we’ve forgotten,’” she said.
Protecting legacy
Landon said she has been on a mission for 32 years, promising to protect her father’s legacy and mission.
She has been on talk shows and radio shows.
She has lectured internationally, published two books and written many articles.
Last year, Landon was a monthly contributor to the “Women’s Federation for World Peace International” newsletter.
After getting her masters in Curative Education at Emerson College in Sussex, England and Running Springs, California, she spent many years teaching through lectures.
Return to Coronado
Moving to the island in 2017, Landon said she loves that she is able to walk everywhere.
She is very involved with her church, Coronado Community Church, where the Rev. Eric Smith preaches.
She is also the chairwoman of the outreach program.
“My family is the church…I love the people in the church. I am just happy here.
-Cheryl Landon.
“My family is the church,” Landon said. “I love the people in the church. I am just happy here.”
Continuing her father’s promise, Landon strives to enrich communities.
Sitting at the foot of her father’s deathbed, she said she remembers thinking: “What could I give this man who has given me the world?”
So she made a promise to keep his message alive.
