Katie Hunter |
Charmian Carr, best known for playing Liesl von Trapp, the eldest of the seven von Trapp children in the 1965, five-Oscar-winning film The Sound of Music, has died at the age of 73.
The actress’ spokesman said she died in Los Angeles on Saturday of complications from a rare form of dementia.
Charmian was born on December 27, 1942, in Chicago, to her mother, a vaudeville actress (a theatrical genre of variety entertainment), and her father, a musician. However, she got the part of Liesl despite never having had any singing or acting lessons and was only 21 when she went on to sing the popular number ”Sixteen Going on Seventeen”.
After she left the movie business, Carr started an interior design company called Charmian Carr Design, which attracted Michael Jackson as a client.
Charmian co-authored two books: Forever Liesl (2000), which chronicled her experience filming Sound of Music, and Letters to Liesl (2001), which was inspired by the thousands of pieces of fan mail she received over the years.
Whether you liked raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, The Sound of Music is one of film fans’ favourite things, and it is evident that the work of Carmian and her co-stars in the film will never be forgotten.
She leaves behind her four siblings, her two children and four grandchildren and will be dearly missed by musical fans worldwide.
