Jennifer Landon and her famous father, Michael! Could be twins. ❤
Michael Landon's daughter is 'Yellowstone' star: What to know about Jennifer Landon
Jennifer Landon stars as Teeter on the hit western series ‘Yellowstone’
Michael Landon passed down his stellar television acting genes to his daughter.
Jennifer Landon first made her appearance as quick-witted, ranch hand Teeter on the hit Paramount+ series “Yellowstone” on season three.
Now, she has become a beloved cast regular, sporting her pink hair and chomping away on dipping tobacco on John Dutton’s Montana ranch.
With stardom running through Jennifer’s DNA, here are some things you may not have known about the 39-year-old actress.
‘Highway to Heaven’
Although “Yellowstone” might be Jennifer’s stand-out role, she made her acting debut decades ago alongside her television legend father.
Jennifer appeared on Michael’s show, “Highway to Heaven,” which first aired in 1984. In the series, which ran until 1989, Michael was an angel (Jonathan Smith) sent by God to help mankind.
According to IMDb, Jennifer appeared in season 5, episode 13, “Merry Christmas from Grandpa,” as the little girl in the White House.
In 1991, Michael passed away at the age of 54 from cancer. In addition to “Highway to Heaven,” Michael first gained notoriety as Little Joe Cartwright in the series “Bonanza” before he went on to star as the iconic frontier father Charles Ingalls on “Little House on the Prairie.”
In an interview with Closer Weekly in 2019, Jennifer said Michael’s favorite role was being a dad.
“He was always so present as a father,” she told the outlet. “He’d watch me jump around the pool for an hour straight. I think he genuinely enjoyed it. I felt admired by him – which is an amazing feeling to have as a child.”
Landon continued, “He was just the best! That doesn’t mean we had free rein. There was a tremendous amount of respect and discipline that was implanted in our house – but my dad always made things so fun, too. He had this ability to make you feel like something magical could happen or that you were on the edge of discovery.”
Jennifer’s mother, Cindy Landon, 66, was Michael’s third wife and widow. The couple shared Jennifer’s brother, Sean, 37, as well. Michael also has seven children from other relationships.
Making a name for herself
After her father’s death, Jennifer continued to pursue her acting career and reportedly studied at New York University.
Prior to landing her western gig, Jennifer won three Emmy Awards for her role on “As The World Turns.”
She also starred on “The Young and The Restless” and made appearances on “Days of Our Lives,” “Animal Kingdom,” “Chicago Med” and “House.”
Landon has a recurring role alongside YaYa Gosselin in “FBI: Most Wanted” as well.
Landing a dream role
In an interview with Decider in 2020, Landon explained how she landed the once-in-a-lifetime role that shook up the bunkhouse on the Dutton Ranch.
“I was familiar with the casting director, John Papsidera, who has set up such a streamlined and, in my experience, easy auditioning process,” she explained.
“Two of the most high-profile jobs that I have landed, this one and Jason Reitman’s ‘Front Runner,’ both came through John’s office, and both times I had one audition and was done. You go in, you audition, you book it, or you don’t, which is so different from other casting directors who string you along for eight auditions,” Jennifer noted.
When it came to her role for “Yellowstone,” the actress said she received two pages to read.
“It’s the first scene Teeter does in the show, and there was a character description along with it,” Jennifer recalled. “I can’t remember it exactly, but even separate from that, all of Teeter’s dialogue is written phonetically. My prep is always a little different for everything, but for that audition, I looked at a lot of photos of female cowgirls and female ranchers for two hours until I just sort of felt something in my body.”
Becoming Teeter
Landon quickly became a fan favorite after bringing her tough, ranch hand character to season three of “Yellowstone.”
Landon shared with Decider that she’s not sure if she’ll ever play a better role than Teeter.
