Oldest Von Trapp Child In Sound Of Music Passed Away

Sound of music is classical, one of my favourite childhood musical drama! Rest in peace. Charmian Carr played the oldest von Trapp child, and in some ways she maintained that role in real life guiding, cheering, supporting and generally being there for the rest of her ‘sisters’ and ‘brothers’.

Carr was born in Chicago in 1942. Her mother was a vaudeville actress, and her father was a musician and orchestra leader. Her family moved to the San Fernando Valley when she was a child.

Charmian Carr, who played Liesl von Trapp in The Sound of Music, has died at the age of 73.

The actor’s spokesman said she died on Saturday in Los Angeles, of complications from a rare form of dementia.

Carr was best known for her role in the Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1965 film, in which she performed the song Sixteen Going On Seventeen. She was a college student when she auditioned for the film, which also starred Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

The actor fully embraced audiences’ reverence for the musical, frequently appearing at fan events commemorating the film, including sing-a-long performances at the Hollywood Bowl.

“I tell people that they should consider sing-a-long Sound Of Music like going to a therapist,” she told Associated Press before a 2005 appearance. “It’s just a kind of therapy. They can move around. They can dance and talk back to the screen. They can skip their appointment with the shrink that week.”

Carr later wrote a pair of books about her experiences, Forever Liesl and Letters To Liesl. She went on to star with Anthony Perkins in Evening Primrose, the Stephen Sondheim television musical.

Kym Karath, who played Gretl, the youngest of the Von Trapp children, wrote on Twitter: “It is with infinite sadness that I share the tragic news that the precious & exquisite Charmian Carr, beautiful Liesl, has passed away.”