Basic Information
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name (as requested) | Dodie Levy-fraser |
| Known for | First wife of Michael Landon; mother and private steward of a complicated family story |
| Born | (reported, not publicly documented) |
| Died | July 5, 1994 (reported) |
| Marriages | Michael Landon (m. 1956 — div. 1962); later married Dr. Peter Lake (reported) |
| Children | Two sons — Mark (adopted by Michael Landon) and Josh (adopted as an infant after Dodie and Michael married) |
| Occupation (reported) | Legal secretary / administrative assistant (reported in biographical write-ups) |
| Public profile | Mostly known through association with Michael Landon and family memoir-style accounts |
The Story I Found — a cinematic sketch
I like to think of Dodie Levy-fraser the way a supporting player is imagined in slow-motion close-ups: she isn’t always the name on the marquee, but the camera lingers on her at the key emotional beats. She appears in the pages of celebrity biography not as a headline-grabbing starlet, but as the person who rooted, raised, and steered a family that later lived large on television screens — Bonanza dust, Little House on the Prairie warmth, Highway to Heaven optimism.
She married Michael Landon in 1956, a union that lasted until 1962. Those six years sit like a crucial chapter in an otherwise larger screenplay: it’s where lives entwined, a child already present became part of a new household, and the small, private decisions were made that would echo for decades. Dodie brought to that marriage an older son from before the wedding, who was adopted by Landon; she and Michael later had — and/or raised — a younger child together as well. Names most closely associated with her in public records are Mark and Josh, two sons who carried a complicated legacy: bright eyes, private grief, public curiosity.
If Hollywood had a way of filming lives backward, Dodie’s scenes would be intimate, interior — legal files on her desk (she’s often described as a legal secretary), holiday photos on a mantle, quiet car rides where parenting negotiations happen in the seat between two people chasing careers and calm. After her divorce from Landon in the early ’60s, she remarried later in life to a Dr. Peter Lake, according to memorial records; that marriage, too, became part of the patchwork of a life that moved out of the gossip pages and into the quieter columns of remembrance.
Dates, numbers, and family ledger
| Item | Date / Number |
|---|---|
| Marriage to Michael Landon | 1956 — 1962 |
| Reported later marriage to Dr. Peter Lake | circa 1975 (reported in biographical summaries) |
| Son — Josh (reported birth) | February 11, 1960 (reported in film/bio listings) |
| Death | July 5, 1994 (reported) |
| Son — Mark (publicly notable event) | Died May 2009 (widely reported) |
Those numbers anchor the story: two marriages, at least two children who were woven into public life by association with their father, and a small catalogue of dates that fans and family historians keep returning to — births, marriages, the slow mathematics of a life measured by relationships.
Family introductions — the cast list (brief)
| Name | Relationship | Who they are, in a line |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Landon | Ex-husband | The actor/director whose career created a large public stage for family lore. Dodie was his first wife. |
| Mark (Fraser / Landon) | Son | The older son who grew up in the shadow of a famous father and whose death in 2009 was covered in the press. |
| Josh (Fraser / Landon) | Son | The younger son who is frequently listed in family genealogies and film-bio entries. |
| Dr. Peter Lake | Later husband (reported) | The man Dodie reportedly married after her divorce from Landon; appears in memorial records. |
| Parents / Siblings | Extended family (reported) | Family names appear in memorial and genealogical write-ups that round out her origins. |
When I read those rows, I don’t just see boxes on a page — I see a living family album, the kind you flip through on slow afternoons: sepia photographs, Polaroids, a small smudge where a child’s thumb once rested.
Career & the quieter work that mattered
Dodie’s public life is marked less by credits and more by workaday competence. Biographical sketches frequently list her occupation as a legal secretary or administrative assistant — the invisible backbone work that keeps families and small businesses afloat. There’s something cinematic in that image: the woman who files the papers that keep legacies in order, who knows which box holds which certificate, who understands the quiet ledger of life.
Net-worth figures show up in the rumor columns now and then — small, speculative estimates that offer a dollar amount where the real measure is often the intangible: influence, presence, parental labor. Those numbers are best read as the tabloid’s shorthand for “life had value,” not as a ledger that charts every deed.
The social pulse — what people say, what remains
Most of the material you’ll find about Dodie is retrospective: short biographies, listicle-style “untold stories,” fan posts that repurpose old family photos. There are no scandal sheets, no front-page exposes. Instead, there are memories — secondhand, affectionate, sometimes contradictory — and a few hard moments that made news, like the 2009 death of her son Mark, which turned private grief into a public note.
In other words, Dodie’s presence on the internet reads like a well-placed melody in a film score: sometimes you hear it swell, sometimes it retreats into the background, but it never really leaves the soundtrack.
FAQ
Who was Dodie Levy-fraser?
Dodie Levy-fraser was best known as the first wife of actor Michael Landon and as the mother of two sons who figured into the Landon family story.
When did she marry Michael Landon and what happened?
She married Michael Landon in 1956; the marriage ended in divorce in 1962.
Who were her children?
Her two sons commonly listed are Mark (the older son adopted by Landon) and Josh (reported as born in 1960 and adopted into the family).
Did she remarry after Michael Landon?
Yes — biographical and memorial listings report that she later married a Dr. Peter Lake.
What was Dodie’s occupation?
Biographical write-ups most often describe her as a legal secretary or administrative assistant.
When did Dodie die?
Reportedly, she died on July 5, 1994.
Was Dodie involved in Hollywood professionally?
Most public records do not list a Hollywood acting career for her — her public presence was primarily through family connections and later biographical profiles.
Is there widely reported gossip about her?
No major scandal follows her name; most online material is retrospective biography, family notes, and fan recollections rather than sensational headlines.
