Actress Charmian Carr attends the 25th annual Professional Dances Society Gypsy Awards at The Beverly Hilton on March 27, 2011. Photo / Getty
Actress Charmian Carr attends the 25th annual Professional Dances Society Gypsy Awards at The Beverly Hilton on March 27, 2011. Photo / Getty
Charmian Carr has died.
The 73-year-old actress, who was best known for playing Liesl in The Sound of Music alongside Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, died of complications from a rare form of dementia on Saturday (17.09.16), according to a message on her official website.
Steve Hughes, whose company manages the website wrote: "My name is Steve Hughes, and my Company has been managing Charmian Carr's website for many, many years. Me and my family are so sad to have to post this message and will miss her dearly... We had the gracious opportunity to stay at Charmian Carr's house several times while we worked on different projects for her. And we traveled to New York with her on another occasion.
She was such a nice, cheerful person. We always LOVED, The Sound of Music, and still do.
Top left is Charmian Carr and the cast from the Sound of Music. Photo / Getty
"Carr was best known for her role as the eldest Von Trapp daughter, Liesl, in the academy award winning movie, "The Sound of Music." Carr was 21 at the time the movie was filmed, and is famous for singing the beloved song 'I Am Sixteen Going on Seventeen.'
After The Sound of Music, Carr also starred opposite Anthony Perkins in the Stephen Sondheim television musical Evening Primrose (sic)."
Mr Hughes went on to share some details about the life of the late star, who became a successful interior designer after leaving the film industry in order to raise her two children.
He wrote: "Carr was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1942. Her family moved to the San Fernando Valley when she was 13. She is the daughter of Rita Oehmen, a vaudeville actress, and Brian Farnon, a musician and orchestra leader.
"Carr was best known for acting, but much of her life revolved around her family and her interior design business. After acting in the Sound of Music, she married and then decided to leave the movie business and raise her two children, Jennifer & Emily.
The actors playing members of the Von Trapp family in a promotional portrait for 'The Sound Of Music.' Photo / Getty
It was a decision she never regretted. Once her children were older, Carr started her design business, Charmian Carr Design. Her most famous client was Michael Jackson, who was a huge fan of The Sound of Music. It was his favorite film and they shared a special friendship.
"Carr co-wrote 2 books - In 2000 she released Forever Liesl which details her experiences making the movie and living her life as "Liesl". In 2001 she released her second book, Letters to Lieslwhich was inspired by mail she'd received from thousands of her fans.
She also participated in "the Sound of Music Family Scrapbook" which contains personal photographs, home movies, and memorabilia from all of the actors who played the children in film. Through the years the actors who played the children in the movie all kept in touch and communicated often. Carr considered them her second family.
Julie Andrews as Maria von Trapp sits on a sofa with Charmian Carr as Liesl von Trapp in the film adaption of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. Photo / Getty
"In 2000, Carr started co-hosting Sound of Music Sing a Longs. She attended the gala performance of the first one which was held at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City and attended almost all of the shows at the Hollywood Bowl until 2012.
She appeared at various sing a longs throughout the U.S. over the years. She loved meeting fans and hearing stories about how The Sound of Music touched their lives (sic)."
Circa 1900: Charmian Carr stars in 'Sound of Music' role. Photo / Getty
The actress is survived by her sisters and brothers: Sharon, Darleen, Michael and Brian, her children, Jennifer & Emily, niece Julie, and her four grandchildren: Emma, Derek, William and Tucker.
