During the run of Little House, Gilbert appeared in several television films, including The Diary of Anne Frank (1980), and The Miracle Worker (1979).

Gilbert was born in Los Angeles, California, on May 8, 1964, to a newly engaged couple, Kathy Wood and David Darlington, and placed for adoption immediately after birth.

[4] According to her biography, Gilbert was raised in her adoptive mother's Jewish religion,[5] but did not have any formal religious education or conversion ceremony.

It was Leslie who informed her that she had won the role of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the second oldest daughter, on Little House on the Prairie, beating out over 500 child actresses for the part.

Seven years later, she was contacted by Landon's family and upon news of his condition, paid him a heartfelt visit following his May 9, 1991, appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson where he discussed his pancreatic cancer.

She starred as Jean Donovan in the biopic Choices of the Heart (1983), and as Anna Sheridan in three episodes of Babylon 5 with then-husband Boxleitner in 1996.

In 2006, Gilbert appeared as Shari Noble, a patient looking to reconstruct her nipples after committing zoophilia with her dog in a season four episode of Nip/Tuck.

This world premiere production at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis was directed by Francesca Zambello and also starred Kara Lindsay as Laura.

In March and April 2018, Gilbert starred in an Off-Off-Broadway, limited-run production of Geraldine Aron's 2001 one-woman play 2001 My Brilliant Divorce.

During week four's show, while dancing the Paso Doble, she fell and hit her head on Maksim's leg and suffered a mild concussion and was taken to a hospital.

Gilbert was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild in 2001 after a contentious candidacy, in which she ultimately beat her opponent, Rhoda actress Valerie Harper.

[17] On August 10, 2015, Gilbert announced her campaign for Michigan's 8th congressional district in the 2016 elections to the United States House of Representatives.

[30] Gilbert responded by stating that this is not true, that the tax debt was an outgrowth of a stalled acting career, the economy, and divorce.

[32] While playing the role of Caroline "Ma" Ingalls in the touring musical Little House on the Prairie, a visit to the doctor revealed that Gilbert had been working with a broken back for months.