Charmian Carr (born Charmian Anne Farnon; December 27, 1942 – September 17, 2016) was an American actress best known for her role as Liesl, the eldest
von Trapp daughter in the 1965 film version of ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...
''.
Early life
Carr was born Charmian Anne Farnon in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, the second child of
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
actress Rita Oehmen and musician Brian Farnon. The couple divorced in 1957.
[ She had two sisters, both actresses ( Shannon Farnon and ]Darleen Carr
Darleen Carr (born Darlene Farnon) is an American actress, singer, and voice-over artist. She is also known as Darlene Carr or Darleen Drake. She has two sisters, both actresses ( Shannon Farnon and Charmian Carr).
Early years
Carr was born i ...
). Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was 10.San Fernando High School
San Fernando High School (SFHS) is a high school of the Los Angeles Unified School District. It is located in the Pacoima neighborhood of Los Angeles, in the northeastern San Fernando Valley, California. It is near and also serves the City of Sa ...
, graduating in 1960, Carr was a cheerleader and played basketball and volleyball. "She had never had a singing lesson and had never tried to act" before she was signed to be in ''The Sound of Music''.
''The Sound of Music''
Carr was attending San Fernando Valley State College, studying speech therapy and philosophy, and working for a doctor,[ when her mother arranged for her to audition for a role in ''The Sound of Music''. Rita Farnon had not asked Charmian if she wanted to audition for the part, but Charmian was sure her mother would consider getting a part in a film more important than earning a college degree.
In a newspaper article published November 9, 1964, Carr related the story behind the tryout as follows:
Director ]Robert Wise
Robert Earl Wise (September 10, 1914 – September 14, 2005) was an American film director, producer, and editor. He won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for his musical films ''West Side Story'' (1961) and ''The Sound of ...
thought Farnon was too long a surname paired with Charmian. After he had given her a list of single syllable surnames, she chose Carr. She won the role of Liesl over Geraldine Chaplin
Geraldine Leigh Chaplin (born July 31, 1944) is an American actress. She is the daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of eight children with his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill. After beginnings in dance and modeling, she turned her attention to act ...
, Kim Darby
Kim Darby (born Deborah Zerby; July 8, 1947) is an American actress best known for her role as Mattie Ross in the film '' True Grit'' (1969).
Early life and film career
Darby was born Deborah Zerby in Los Angeles, the daughter of professional d ...
, Patty Duke
Anna Marie "Patty" Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016) was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awa ...
, Shelley Fabares
Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (; born January 19, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom ''The Donna Reed Show'' (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitcom ...
, Teri Garr
Teri Ann Garr (born December 11, 1944) is an American former actress, dancer, and comedian. She frequently appeared in comedic roles throughout her career, which spans four decades and includes over 140 credits in film and television. Her accola ...
, Mia Farrow
Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera '' Peyton Place'' and gained further recognition for her subsequent ...
and Lesley Ann Warren
Lesley Ann Warren (born August 16, 1946) is an American actress and singer.
She made her Broadway debut in 1963, aged 17, in '' 110 in the Shade''. In 1965 she received wide recognition for playing the title role in the television musical prod ...
. The film was on the whole a very happy experience for her. However, during the filming of her dance scene with Rolf in the gazebo, the costumers had forgotten to put no-slip pads on her shoes. She slid through a window of the gazebo, and she "had to complete the scene in agony."
Later life
In 1965, Carr worked with Van Johnson
Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II.
Johnson was described as the embodiment o ...
on a pilot for a television program, ''Take Her, She's Mine''.[ Carr then appeared in '']Evening Primrose
''Oenothera'' is a genus of about 145 species of herbaceous flowering plants native to the Americas. It is the type genus of the family Onagraceae. Common names include evening primrose, suncups, and sundrops. They are not closely related to ...
'', a one-hour musical written by Stephen Sondheim, which aired on ''ABC Stage 67
''ABC Stage 67'' is the umbrella title for a series of 26 weekly American television shows that included dramas, variety shows, documentaries and original musicals.
It premiered on ABC on September 14, 1966, with Murray Schisgal's ''The Love ...
'' in 1966.Encino, California
Encino (Spanish for "oak") is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.
History
In 1769, the Spanish Portolá expedition, first Europeans to see inland areas of California, traveled north through Sepulveda ...
, and wrote two books, ''Forever Liesl'' and ''Letters to Liesl''. She reunited with many of her co-stars from ''The Sound of Music'' on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show
''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...
'' in October 2010 to celebrate the film's 45th anniversary. In 2014, Carr recorded "Edelweiss" with the great-grandchildren of the von Trapps on the album ''Dream a Little Dream'' by the von Trapps and Pink Martini.
Death
Carr died in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
on September 17, 2016, from complications related to frontotemporal dementia at the age of 73.
Filmography
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Charmian
1942 births
2016 deaths
20th-century American actresses
American film actresses
American television actresses
American businesspeople
Actresses from Chicago
Deaths from dementia in California
Deaths from frontotemporal dementia
21st-century American women
California State University, Northridge alumni