Nellie Oleson, played by actress Alison Arngrim, was a manipulative, witty, sharp-tongued character on the NBC television show, Little House on the Prairie. Her parents owned the general store in their small town set in post-Civil War Minnesota. Nellie had long blonde hair. She was prissy and spoiled, and had a vicious, manipulative personality. Her counterpart and nemesis was the tomboy Laura Ingalls, played by Melissa Gilbert. Later in the show, Nellie married Percival, and her character softened. The show featured dozens of fights between Nellie and Laura.
According to the author, "Nellie Oleson" is an amalgamation of two women. The name of the character is a slight changing of "Nellie Owens" who really was a shopkeeper's daughter and who really was as haughty as "Nellie Oleson".
