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Allison Balson

Allison Balson

Actor · Born November 19, 1969 (56) · Los Angeles, California, USA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Allison Balson (born November 19, 1969) is an American actress, who is also a published singer and songwriter. Her best known role was Nancy Oleson on the Little House on the Prairie series which she held between 1981 and 1983. She graduated valedictorian from her high school and went on to receive a Bachelor's from Princeton University and a Master's from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. In 1987 Allison's song "I Wonder" was featured in the soundrack for "Legend of the White Horse" (CBS/Warner Bros.). In 2005 Allison recorded and released a limited-edition CD. In 2008, she collaborated on writing, producing, engineering, and performing a full-length album through the label Organic Time Records as the duo Allison & Stone. Description above from the Wikipedia article Allison Balson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
November 19, 1969 (56)
From
Los Angeles, California, USA
Works as
Actor
Titles
9 on MovieCove · 14 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Official site (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 37 days to Oct 26Down 4% in 30 days

What are Allison Balson's films like?

Across a limited sample of 4 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Bonds.

Themes

share of theme weight
Society
31%
Bonds
21%
Morality
14%
Survival
14%
Ideas
11%
Self
8%

What they feel like to watch

their average across 4 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Serious: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their serious movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

A split, not a type: Light 1 · Serious 0 · Dark 3

Grounded: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their grounded movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 4 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 0

Charged: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their charged movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 0 · Charged 3 · Intense 1

Steady: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their steady movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 4 · Shifting 0 · Whiplash 0

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0

Even-paced: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their even-paced movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 1 · Even-paced 3 · Relentless 0

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 2 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 0

Heavy: How much it costs you emotionally; whether you need recovery time. Browse their heavy movies.
Demand · Emotional cost
easyheavy

Easy watch 0 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 2

Resolved: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their resolved movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 3 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0

Moods and endings

endings shown from 5 titles

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Tense
3
Melancholic
2
Cathartic
1
Bittersweet
1
Warm
1
Other
2

How their films linger

Bittersweet3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHopeful2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Allison Balson's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 7 of their 9 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.

Subscription and free streaming for Allison Balson's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

14 credits, 9 with a MovieCove page.

  • Best Seller(1987)

    as Holly Meechum

    Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films

  • Legend of the White Horse (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1987)

    as Jewel

  • A Desperate Exit (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1986)

    as Jed's Girlfriend

  • Little House: The Last Farewell(1984)

    as Nancy Oleson

    Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films

  • Little House: Bless All the Dear Children(1984)

    as Nancy Oleson

    Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films

  • Little House: Look Back to Yesterday(1983)

    as Nancy Oleson

    Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films

  • The Goosehill Gang and the Mystery of Howling Woods (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1981)

    as Beth

  • Looker(1981)

    as Daughter

    Midcredits score: 42nd percentile of all films

  • The Hearse(1980)

    as Alice

    Midcredits score: 11th percentile of all films

  • A Guide for the Married Woman(1978)

    as Debby

    Midcredits score: 18th percentile of all films

  • CHiPs(1977)

    Show 1 episode · Actor

    Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all shows

  • Quincy, M.E. (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1976)

    Show 1 episode · Actor

  • Little House on the Prairie(1974)

    Show 36 episodes · as Nancy Oleson

    Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all shows

  • ABC Afterschool Special (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1972)

    Show 1 episode · as Jed's Girlfriend

Career shape

Star power in the 75th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 14 titles from 1972 to 1987; peak year 1987.

Biggest box office

Best Seller (1987)

$4.3M worldwide

Highest rated

Little House: The Last Farewell (1984)

Midcredits 92nd

Most popular right now

Best Seller (1987)

Film career

19721987

Peak 1987 · steadily prominent in film for years. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting14 of 14: 14 only acting, 0 with another role · typical Midcredits score56th

By decade

1970s5 · acting1980s9 · acting

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.

How do Allison Balson's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 56th percentile, the median of all 7; across a limited sample of 4 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 80th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

80thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Approval · how many liked their films

88thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Reach · how many have seen their films

51stpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Midcredits score across 9 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up4
  • 50th to 74th1
  • 25th to 49th2
  • Below 25th2

Shape of the crowd

4 of their 9 titles are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Universally Loved1
  • Crowd Pleaser4
  • Broadly Agreed1
  • Mixed3

Most divisive · actor

A Guide for the Married Woman (1978)

78th percentile spread · 38% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · actor

Little House: The Last Farewell (1984)

Midcredits 92nd · 82% liked

Reviewers score the acting 68/100 in their films, across 4 reviewed titles; fans 73, detractors 54. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Who does Allison Balson work with?

People who share at least 2 of Allison Balson's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Victor French shares the most, 3.

Directors

Writers

Actors

Composers and editors

Producers