Charmian Carr
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| Charmian Carr | |
|---|---|
 Carr as Liesl von Trapp in The Sound of Music (1965) |
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| Born | Charmian Farnon December 27, 1942  Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Jay Brent (1967-1991) |
Charmian Carr (born Charmian Farnon December 27, 1942) is best known for her role as Liesl, the eldest Von Trapp daughter in The Sound of Music where she starred with Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Nicholas Hammond, Heather Menzies, Duane Chase, Angela Cartwright, Debbie Turner, and Kym Karath.
Carr is the second child of vaudeville actress Rita Oehman and musician Brian Farnon who named her Charmian after a character from Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra.[1][2] She has two sisters, one older and one younger. Her oldest sister is Sharon and her youngest sister is Darleen. While attending college part-time and working for a doctor, her mother got her an audition for a role in The Sound of Music. Charmian's mother never even asked her if she wanted to try out for the part, but she grew up in a show business family and she knew that for her getting a part in a film would be a much bigger deal for her mother than earning a college diploma. Director Robert Wise thought Farnon too long a surname for her, and after handing her a list of single syllable surnames she chose Carr. The film was on the whole a very happy experience for her, but during the filming of the gazebo scene she slid straight through a window and had to complete the scene in agony[3]. While publicising the film after release, she met and married Jay Brent in May of 1967 and had two daughters, Jennifer and Emily. The marriage lasted until 1991. She now has two grandchildren, Emma and Derek. She started an interior decorating company whose clients include Michael Jackson.
Carr also appeared in Evening Primrose, a one-hour musical written by Stephen Sondheim, which aired on Stage 67 on ABC TV in 1966. The male lead was Anthony Perkins.
She has written two books, Forever Liesl and Letters to Liesl.
On December 12th, 2007, Carr made a rare television appearance as a guest on Loose Women where she shared some of her memories of making The Sound of Music with the hosts.
[edit] References and notes
- ^ Carr, Charmian. Forever Liesl: A Memoir of The Sound of Music. 3 April 2001, pg. 205. ISBN 0-140-29840-1.
- ^ William Shakespeare's tragedy Antony and Cleopatra features Charmian, the servant to Cleopatra.
- ^ December 2007 interview
