# Charmian Carr
**Charmian Carr** (born Charmian Anne Farnon; 1942 – September 17, 2016) was an American actress and interior designer best known for playing Liesl von Trapp, the eldest von Trapp daughter, in the 1965 film *The Sound of Music*.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/20/charmian-carr-obituary) She appeared in only one feature film, but its lasting popularity made her a permanent ambassador for the movie, which she promoted at reunions and sing-along screenings for decades.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/20/charmian-carr-obituary)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | Charmian Anne Farnon, 1942, Chicago, Illinois[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/charmian-carr-actress-who-played-liesl-in-the-sound-of-music-dies-at-73/2016/09/19/acdd2104-7e71-11e6-8d13-d7c704ef9fd9_story.html) |
| Signature role | Liesl von Trapp in *The Sound of Music* (1965), cast at age 21 playing a 16-year-old[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/20/charmian-carr-obituary) • [3](https://www.sound-of-music.com/sound-of-music/the-movie/charmian-carr/) |
| Other screen work | *Evening Primrose* (1966), a Stephen Sondheim television musical co-starring Anthony Perkins[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/charmian-carr-actress-who-played-liesl-in-the-sound-of-music-dies-at-73/2016/09/19/acdd2104-7e71-11e6-8d13-d7c704ef9fd9_story.html) |
| Later career | Interior design firm Charmian Carr Designs in Encino, California; clients included Michael Jackson[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/20/charmian-carr-obituary) |
| Books | *Forever Liesl* (2000) and *Letters to Liesl* (2001), co-written with Jean Strauss[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/20/charmian-carr-obituary) |
| Marriage | Jay Brent, a dentist, married 1967, divorced 1991; two daughters, Jennifer and Emily[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/20/charmian-carr-obituary) |
| Died | September 17, 2016, Woodland Hills, California, of complications from a rare form of dementia, aged 73[4](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-charmian-carr-20160918-snap-story.html) |
## Early life
Carr was born in Chicago to Rita Oehmen, a vaudeville performer, and Brian Farnon, a musician and orchestra leader. She was the second of three daughters; her sisters Shannon Farnon and [Darleen Carr](https://www.edgepedia.org/darleen-carr) also entered show business. The family moved to California's San Fernando Valley when she was 13, and her parents separated a few years later.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0139642/bio)
She was studying speech therapy and philosophy at San Fernando Valley State College, modeling in department-store fashion shows, and working in a doctor's office when a friend sent her photograph, without her knowledge, to director [Robert Wise](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-wise), who had been searching for four months for an actress to play Liesl.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/20/charmian-carr-obituary) • [6](https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/charmian-carr-memorial?pid=181453172) She had never sung or danced professionally and had no formal acting training, but she did not look her age, which was the main qualification for playing a 16-year-old.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/20/charmian-carr-obituary) • [2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/charmian-carr-actress-who-played-liesl-in-the-sound-of-music-dies-at-73/2016/09/19/acdd2104-7e71-11e6-8d13-d7c704ef9fd9_story.html) Wise chose her over other beginners including [Mia Farrow](https://www.edgepedia.org/mia-farrow), Patty Duke, Geraldine Chaplin, and [Teri Garr](https://www.edgepedia.org/teri-garr).[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/20/charmian-carr-obituary) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0139642/bio)
Wise also decided that Farnon was too long a surname to pair with Charmian. He handed her a list of one-syllable last names and told her to pick one; she chose Carr.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0139642/bio)
## The Sound of Music
*The Sound of Music*, adapted from the [Rodgers and Hammerstein](https://www.edgepedia.org/rodgers-and-hammerstein) stage musical, was released in March 1965, starred [Julie Andrews](https://www.edgepedia.org/julie-andrews) as Maria and [Christopher Plummer](https://www.edgepedia.org/christopher-plummer) as Captain von Trapp, and won five Academy Awards, including best picture.[4](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-charmian-carr-20160918-snap-story.html) It grossed $200 million worldwide on its first release.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/20/charmian-carr-obituary)
Carr did her own singing in the film, although her sister Darleen was among the singers who provided high notes for the actors.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/charmian-carr-actress-who-played-liesl-in-the-sound-of-music-dies-at-73/2016/09/19/acdd2104-7e71-11e6-8d13-d7c704ef9fd9_story.html) Her biggest number was "Sixteen Going on Seventeen," a duet with [Daniel Truhitte](https://www.edgepedia.org/daniel-truhitte) as the telegram boy Rolfe, danced in a gazebo during a storm. During filming she slipped through the gazebo's glass window and sprained her ankle, and the bandage was visible in earlier versions of the movie.[3](https://www.sound-of-music.com/sound-of-music/the-movie/charmian-carr/) • [2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/charmian-carr-actress-who-played-liesl-in-the-sound-of-music-dies-at-73/2016/09/19/acdd2104-7e71-11e6-8d13-d7c704ef9fd9_story.html)
She spent about two years with the cast promoting the film around the world.[4](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-charmian-carr-20160918-snap-story.html) In her memoir she wrote that the identification with Liesl was at first a burden: "It was hard to have your first role as the high spot of your career. I felt smothered by Liesl. She began to feel like my evil twin, the perfect one that everyone loved."[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/charmian-carr-actress-who-played-liesl-in-the-sound-of-music-dies-at-73/2016/09/19/acdd2104-7e71-11e6-8d13-d7c704ef9fd9_story.html) In later life she came to accept it, hosting sing-along screenings, including at the [Hollywood Bowl](https://www.edgepedia.org/hollywood-bowl) until 2012, and writing that when fans looked at her they were "looking into a mirror."[4](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-charmian-carr-20160918-snap-story.html) • [2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/charmian-carr-actress-who-played-liesl-in-the-sound-of-music-dies-at-73/2016/09/19/acdd2104-7e71-11e6-8d13-d7c704ef9fd9_story.html)
## Later career
Carr's only other significant screen role was in *Evening Primrose* (1966), a one-hour television musical with music by [Stephen Sondheim](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-sondheim), in which she co-starred with [Anthony Perkins](https://www.edgepedia.org/anthony-perkins) as a young woman who has lived hidden in a department store since childhood. Her performance included the songs "Take Me to the World" and "I Remember."[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/20/charmian-carr-obituary) • [2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/charmian-carr-actress-who-played-liesl-in-the-sound-of-music-dies-at-73/2016/09/19/acdd2104-7e71-11e6-8d13-d7c704ef9fd9_story.html) She was offered a part in the television soap opera *[Peyton Place](https://www.edgepedia.org/peyton-place-tv-series)*, but studio officials, concerned that the role would damage Liesl's image, forbade her to accept it.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/charmian-carr-actress-who-played-liesl-in-the-sound-of-music-dies-at-73/2016/09/19/acdd2104-7e71-11e6-8d13-d7c704ef9fd9_story.html)
She left acting after marrying Jay Brent in 1967, saying she had married a man who "didn't want an actress for a wife," and raised their two daughters.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/charmian-carr-actress-who-played-liesl-in-the-sound-of-music-dies-at-73/2016/09/19/acdd2104-7e71-11e6-8d13-d7c704ef9fd9_story.html) After her children were grown she founded an interior design firm, Charmian Carr Designs, in Encino, California. Her clients included [Michael Jackson](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-jackson), a devoted fan of *The Sound of Music* for whom she worked for eight years decorating his estate, as well as her former co-star [Heather Menzies](https://www.edgepedia.org/heather-menzies) and her husband [Robert Urich](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-urich), and the film's screenwriter Ernest Lehman.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/20/charmian-carr-obituary) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0139642/bio) • [7](https://chicago.suntimes.com/2016/9/19/18335626/charmian-carr-reflects-on-sound-of-music-life)
She co-wrote two books with Jean Strauss: *Forever Liesl* (2000), a memoir of the filming, and *Letters to Liesl* (2001), built from the fan mail she had received over the years.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/20/charmian-carr-obituary) In the memoirs she revealed that she had a "huge crush" on Christopher Plummer, 13 years her senior, who played her on-screen father.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/20/charmian-carr-obituary)
## Death
Carr died on September 17, 2016, at a private care facility in Woodland Hills, California, at age 73, of complications from a rare form of dementia. She was survived by her daughters Jennifer and Emily, four siblings, and four grandchildren.[4](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-charmian-carr-20160918-snap-story.html) • [2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/charmian-carr-actress-who-played-liesl-in-the-sound-of-music-dies-at-73/2016/09/19/acdd2104-7e71-11e6-8d13-d7c704ef9fd9_story.html)
## References
1. [Charmian Carr obituary, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/20/charmian-carr-obituary)
2. [Charmian Carr, actress who played Liesl in 'The Sound of Music,' dies at 73, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/charmian-carr-actress-who-played-liesl-in-the-sound-of-music-dies-at-73/2016/09/19/acdd2104-7e71-11e6-8d13-d7c704ef9fd9_story.html)
3. [Charmian Carr is Liesl in the movie The Sound of Music, sound-of-music.com](https://www.sound-of-music.com/sound-of-music/the-movie/charmian-carr/)
4. ['Sound of Music' actress Charmian Carr, who played Liesl von Trapp, dies at 73, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-charmian-carr-20160918-snap-story.html)
5. [Charmian Carr Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0139642/bio)
6. [Charmian Carr Obituary and Online Memorial, Legacy.com](https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/charmian-carr-memorial?pid=181453172)
7. [Charmian Carr reflects on 'Sound of Music,' life, Chicago Sun-Times](https://chicago.suntimes.com/2016/9/19/18335626/charmian-carr-reflects-on-sound-of-music-life)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1940s to 1960s › Surnames Br to C*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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