Sad to report Richard Bull passed away at age 89.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bull_(actor)

Richard Bull, passed away on the morning of February 3, 2014 at the Motion Picture Television Fund campus in Calabasas, CA. He was 89 years old.

so far, only Wikipedia is reporting this. I would be very suspicious.

Alison Arngrim tweeted about it. I hate using Twitter or Facebook for sources but if anyone would know it would be her.

Link (https://twitter.com/Arngrim/status/430544960576712705/photo/1)

Crap. Here is another site that confirms it.

http://highlighthollywood.com/2014/02/renowned-character-actor-richard-bull-little-house-on-the-prairies-nels-oleson-has-died-at-the-age-of-89-highlight-hollywood-news/

"In real life, he was just as kind, intelligent, thoughtful and reasonable as you’d expect Nels Oleson to be."

Farewell friend!

So sad to hear of Richard's passing... :(

Very dad to hear of his passing. He made a wonderful addition to LHOP. May he rest in peace.

I just heard about this, too. Another sad loss this year already.

R.I.P. Mr. Bull and Mr. Oleson; say hi to Charles, Mr. Edwards, Doc Baker, Reverend Alden and Mr. Hanson for me.

One of the most underrated character actors of all time. R.I.P. Nels. :(

Link (http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20783239,00.html)

Richard Bull, a character actor who played shopkeeper Nels Oleson on the 1974-83 TV favorite Little House on the Prairie, died Monday. He was 89.

"This man will be missed," the show's star, Melissa Gilbert, Tweeted. "Goodbye Richard working with you was such a joy but nearly as joyful as being your friend."

Bull was born in Zion, Ill., on June 26, 1924, and in 1948 married actress Barbara Collentine, according to a 2009 Yahoo biographical sketch.

On the NBC show about the Ingalls family in the American West of the 1800s, actress Scottie MacGregor played Bull's wife, Harriet Oleson, and Nels was known as her "long-suffering husband."

Bull's other roles included Doc on the 1964-68 ABC adventure program Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, as well as parts in 1985 and again in 1988 on Highway to Heaven, which, like Little House, starred Michael Landon.

Though in 1994 the Bulls moved from Los Angeles to Chicago – where as a young man Richard began his stage career at the Goodman Theatre – reports say he died in Calabasas, Calif.

He is survived by Collentine, whose own TV roles include those on Hotel, Newhart and St. Elsewhere – as well as a stint as the character Edna Mills on Little House.

He was married to his wife for 65 years at the time of his death. Alison Arngrim is tweeting a lot about it. Here is a link she posted to a nice article about them. He was very humble, modest and shared chores with his wife

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9RQsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CskEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1176%2C1765803&dq=little+house+on+the+prairie+and+richard+bull&hl=en

Nels was one of the best characters on that show. Never a bad moment. Kind and generous.

Richard Bull was great on LHOTP. Most actors would have got lost in the shuffle working with the likes of Katherine MacGregor and Alison Arngrim but Bull made Nels a memorable character in his own right. :rip: Richard Bull

RIP.

At least RB lived a long life, unlike most of his male co-stars.

I thought he was a good guy on Little House and my mother liked him as well. He will be missed. 89 yrs. old. Thats a pretty good life to me. RIP.

I just saw him a few days ago, on the "Highway to Heaven" Season 1 finale (Pt. 1 of 2), in which he played a doctor. A fine actor who will be missed.

I just heard about Mr. Bull's passing. So sad. I liked his character on Little House. He lived a long good life and being married for 65 years is awesome.

Am I mistaken, or was there an episode where Nels left his wife and had an affair with another woman? It doesn't sound like the character at all, but I seem to recall a plot like that.

Am I mistaken, or was there an episode where Nels left his wife and had an affair with another woman? It doesn't sound like the character at all, but I seem to recall a plot like that.

"Second Spring"

RIP.

At least RB lived a long life, unlike most of his male co-stars.

that sort of reminds me, how on the show, none of the male Ingalls (except for Charles) lived more than a few months (Charles Jr, Mary's sons, Laura's son).

I never understood why he stayed with Mrs. Oleson anyways. She was a first rate snob and so were his kids, Nellie and Willie and later on Nancy. He put up with way too much.

Speaking of Willie, whatever happened to him?

I never understood why he stayed with Mrs. Oleson anyways. She was a first rate snob and so were his kids, Nellie and Willie and later on Nancy. He put up with way too much.

The Olesons were the pinnacle of class in that crappy town. They were very kind and generous people. How many times did Harriet extend credit to Charles? The real brat was Laura, how many times did she physically assault the Olesons?

Speaking of Willie, whatever happened to him?

In the final regular episode, he married some girl named Rachel. It was shortly after his graduation. I think it was presumed that they would have ran the Mercantile when Nels and Harriet retired.

"Second Spring"

There was something else out of continuity with this episode. All of a sudden, Harriet was a lousy cook, so Nels had to do all the cooking. This is very much in contrast with earlier episodes where Harriet did the cooking and was pretty good at it, though it's surprising with how much she acted as though they did, Harriet & the Olesons didn't have a full complement of servants in their house.

To your other point about male children having short lives on LHoP, this seems to be the "Bonanza" curse in reverse. On Bonanza, any woman who was engaged to or married a Cartwright was doomed pretty soon. The same seemed to be true of any male child on LHoP related to the Ingalls, even Albert, who had a terminal illness in one of the post-series tv movies.