Charmian Carr was born in 1942 to parents who were performing artists (her mother was a vaudeville actress and her father was an orchestra leader) and she followed in their footsteps in her early life, landing the role of Liesl Von Trapp at 21 in Sound of Music in 1965.

Although Carr had a lauded role in the classic film and the promise of a good career as an actress – her only other film was with Anthony Perkins in 1966’s musical Evening Primrose – Carr made the choice to pursue a more private life.

She married, raised two daughters, and ran her own design business.

However, Carr happily embraced her role in the Sound of Music throughout her life, writing two books – Being Liesl and Letters to Liesl – about the lasting effect of her seminal character on her own life and participating in singalong performances of the Sound of Music soundtrack at the Hollywood Bowl.

Before a 2005 performance at the Hollywood Bowl, Carr
commented: “I tell people that they should consider singalong Sound of Music like going to a therapist. 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 died on September 19, 2016 at the age of 73 from an undisclosed rare form of dementia.