We knew him best as Charles Ingalls in “Little House on the Prairie” or Little Joe Cartwright in “Bonanza,” but not everyone knows that Michael Landon was also a Collingswood resident.

Fans in Collingswood recently teamed up to pay homage to the late actor, writer, director and producer with a dedication plaque in Newton Lake Park, across the street from his childhood home. Landon, born Eugene Maurice Orowitz, moved to Collingswood with his family in 1941, when he was 4 years old. He attended Collingswood High School and Temple Beth Sholom, where he celebrated his bar mitzvah. His father, Eli Maurice Orowitz, ran the Westmont Theater. 

Organizers started a GoFundMe Page in 2021 that raised over $5,000 to fund the project. A bench with the memorial plaque was unveiled in May during a dedication ceremony, where an attorney for Landon’s estate read messages from Cindy Landon, 2 of Landon’s children and his co-workers.