Working on the set of Little House on the Prairie wasn’t always the best experience, as Alison Arngrim reveals that the hot temperatures were unbearable. Filming in Simi Valley, Southern California, led guest star Sean Penn to be taken off set after collapsing from the heat.
Arngrim has previously spoken about having fainted multiple times while filming the series, and reveals more details about Penn on an episode of The Patrick LabyorSheaux podcast. She described Simi Valley as one of the “hottest locations in the world,” with staff coming up with tricks to cool them down.
“It was so hot that they would have these buckets of ice water and sea breeze so that you could dip some sort of cloth in and put around your neck,” she said.
She also added that it became so frequent during the summer months that she always expected to pass out at some point. The child actor strikingly remembers how the heat didn’t only affect her but Penn, who guest-starred as an extra in Season 1, Episode 11.
Penn appeared in the episode, “The Voice of Tinker Jones,” seeing as it was being directed by his father, Leo Penn. In the episode, the children work on creating a new church bell that requires them to film next to a forge.
“All of a sudden, I heard a noise and turned around and he went [down], and he didn’t wake up and come back to work,” she recalled. “That was it. He was done for the day.”
Arngrim remembers the incident well, but the incident of Penn passing out made the producers realize just how dangerous the heat was for the actors. She also recollected how on her first day on set, they ate “warm and rich” food that wasn’t the right decision considering the heat.
Penn has spoken openly about the incident, which marked his very first acting role when he made a guest appearance in 1974.
This story was originally published by Parade on Dec 25, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.