To understand why details about Griffin Sloan’s romantic life remain elusive, one must look at the conscious parenting choices made by Melissa Sue Anderson and Michael Sloan. Anderson, who rose to international fame playing Mary Ingalls on NBC’s Little House on the Prairie between 1974 and 1981, experienced the grueling pressures of child stardom firsthand. After marrying Sloan in 1990, the couple decided that their children would not grow up under the glare of industry flashbulbs.
In 2002, the family made a permanent move from Southern California to Montreal, Quebec. Both parents eventually became naturalized Canadian citizens in 2007. Removing their children from Los Angeles insulated Piper and Griffin from the competitive world of child auditions and industry casting calls. Former child stars frequently struggle to grant their offspring ordinary upbringings, but Anderson made that separation an absolute priority. As a result, Griffin grew up bilingual, attended local institutions, and developed a lifestyle unburdened by his mother’s historic television legacy.