Charmian Carr, the actress who played Liesl Von Trapp in the classic 1965 film The Sound of Music, died of complications from a rare form dementia on Saturday, September 17, according to a statement on her official website. She was 73.
Carr was best known for her role as the eldest Von Trapp daughter in the Academy Award–winning film, in which she starred alongside Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The iconic movie, which also received two Golden Globe Awards, was an adaptation of the 1959 Broadway musical of the same name, with songs composed by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.
Carr, who was 21 at the time The Sound of Music was filmed, famously sang “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” in a gazebo with her onscreen boyfriend, Rolfe, played by Daniel Truhitte.
Years after starring in The Sound of Music, Carr started her own interior design business, Charmian Carr Design. Her most famous client was the late Michael Jackson, whom she “shared a special friendship with,” according to an obituary on her website.
In 2000, Carr released her first book, Forever Liesl, in which she detailed her time making The Sound of Music. A year later, she released a second book, Letters to Liesl, which she started working on after fans praised her first memoir.
According to Carr’s website, she kept in touch with the actors who played the six other Von Trapp children over the years and “considered them her second family.”
Nicholas Hammond, who played her brother Friedrich, tweeted about Carr’s death on Sunday, writing, “May she rest in peace. And forever dance around the gazebo.”
Kym Karath, who played little Gretl, also posted about the loss of her friend and costar, tweeting, “It is with infinite sadness that I share the tragic news that the precious & exquisite Charmian Carr, beautiful Liesl, has passed away.” She also shared a photo of herself with Carr, who she described as being “like a sister throughout my life.”
Carr is survived by her sisters and brothers (Sharon, Darleen, Michael and Brian), her children (Jennifer and Emily), her niece Julie and four grandchildren (Emma, Derek, William and Tucker).
