Charmian Carr, the actress best known as Liesl von Trapp, the eldest of the von Trapp children in Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic, "The Sound of Music" passed away on Sept. 17, Saturday. She died from complications of dementia in Los Angeles, California at 73.
At age 21, Carr portrayed Liesl von Trapp in the 1965 film musical, famously performing the song "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" while romancing with telegram delivery boy, Rolfe (Daniel Truhitte). She then starred with Anthony Perkins in "Evening Primrose," a Stephen Sondheim television musical. In this only major Hollywood role she starred after "Sound of Music," she played a mysterious woman living in a department store.
Carr was born of a musician father and a vaudeville actress mother in 1942. Born in Chicago, her family moved to San Fernando Valley, California when she was a child. She is survived by her two children, four grandchildren and four siblings, USA Today reported.
The Liesl von Trapp actress authored two books, "Forever Liesl: A Memoir of the Sound of Music" and "Letters to Liesl," which were about her experiences in the 1965 classic film. She performed at the Hollywood Bowl's sing-a-long events, embracing the reverence of the audience for the musical. Carr became an interior designer in Southern California, where her clients included "Sound of Music" screenwriter Ernest Lehman and Michael Jackson.
Among those who paid tribute to the actress were her co-stars in the 1965 film. Kym Karath who played the youngest von Trapp child Gretl, called her a "sister."
The once-highest-grossing film of all time that tells the story of a widower left with seven children and a hired governess who took care of them is based on a true story of the von Trapp family. A captain of the Austrian navy during World War I, Georg von Trapp and his seven children was left by his wife Agatha who succumbed to scarlet fever.
In 1926, Maria arrived at the von Trapp home to tutor one of the children. She and Georg married the following year and they had three children together.
The von Trapp patriarch was described in the film as disapproving of music and cold-hearted, but he was in real life, a gentle parent who enjoyed music. The family fled to Switzerland and eventually settled in America, purchased a farm and run a hotel called Trapp Family Lodge.
Georg died in 1947 leaving Maria and his 10 children. It was then that Maria wrote the book which became a best-seller and on which the "Sound of Music" was based. Maria died in 1987 and was buried alongside Georg and his youngest daughter from first marriage, Martina who died in childbirth, according to Mirror.
Watch Liesl singing to Rolfe in the following clip: