Femail reveals the varied fates of the actors that played the von Trapp children

The cast of actors who played the beloved von Trapp children reunited this week to support their on-screen governess-turned stepmother Julie Andrews, who received the American Film Institute’s highest honour for a career in film at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles 

Julie Andrews, 86, is a three-time Academy Award nominee, which included Best Actress for The Sound Of Music; winning once for her role in Mary Poppins (1964).

But her role in the sound of music is arguably the most famous. The musical drama went on to become a bonafide hit, earning the distinction of being the first film to gross over $100 million. Adjusted for inflation, The Sound Of Music earned about $2.366 billion at today’s prices—placing it among the top ten highest-grossing films of all time.

And while Julie Andrew’s and Christopher Plummer, who played Captain von Trapp, went on to become some of the most succesful and acclaimed actor’s in Hollywood’s history the on-screen children had hugely varying careers.

The von Trapp children formed their own little family over the months of making the musical and became known as The SoM 7. 

Their parents befriended one another as the young performers travelled to Austria for filming, and the actors themselves have remained close for decades.

‘We’re beyond friends. We’re second family,’ said Kym Karath, who played the youngest von Trapp, Gretl once said. ‘As adults, we were deeply bonded, so our lives have really interwoven with each other.’ 

Five of the actors  – Duane Chase, Kym Karath, Angela Cartwright, Debbie Turner, and Nicholas Hammond – were at the gala last night, while sadly the remaining two child actors to play the von Trapp children passed away.

Charmian Carr, who had the role of Liesl, died in September 2016 at the age of 73. And the actress who played Louisa, Heather Menzies, was 68 when she passed away in December 2017.

Of the surviving ones careers varied,  Nicholas Hammond became a huge star known for his roles in Spider-Man and Once Upon A Time in Hollywood while his onscreen brother Duane Chase became a software engineer.

Here, FEMAIL reveals the very varied fortunes of the von Trapp actors… 

From left: Kym Karath, Debbie Turner, Angela Cartwright, Duane Chase, Heather Menzies, Nicholas Hammond, Charmian Carr, Christopher Plummer in the Sound of Music 

The von Trapp children formed their own little family over the months of making the musical and became known as The SoM 7. From left: Heather Menzies, Duane Chase, Debbie Turner, Julie Andrews, Nicholas Hammond, Kym Karath, Angela Cartwright & Charmian Carr

The von Trapp children formed their own little family over the months of making the musical and became known as The SoM 7. Pictured in 2005: Nicholas Hammond, Heather Menzies, Julie Andrews, Angela Cartwright and Duane Chase (front row) Charmian Carr, Debbie Turner and Kym Karath (back row)

Liesl, played by Charmian Carr: Actress and mother who died in 2016

Charmian Carr played Liesl, the eldest of the von Trapp children, who famously sung ’16 going on 17′ and had a romance with Rolf Gruber, who eventually joins the Nazi party and betrayed the von Trapps.

Charmian was studying speech therapy and philosophy at college when her mother arranged for her to audition for the Sound of Music.

Afterwards she worked with Van Johnson on a pilot of a TV show, Take Her, She’s Mine and went on to appear in Evening Primrose, a Stephen Sondheim musical.

She quit Hollywood after marrying a dentist, Jay Brent (whom she divorced in 1991), to focus on raising her two daughters Jennifer and Emily, before becoming a successful interior designer.  Later she became the grandmother of Emma and Derek

She died from complications related to dementia in September 2016, aged 73.  

Charmian Carr played Liesl, the eldest of the von Trapp children (pictured with Julie Andrews). She died from complications related to dementia in September 2016, aged 73

The hills are alive! The Sound Of Music cast are pictured while filming in Austria in 1065. From left:  Kym Karath, Debbie Turner, Angela Cartwright, Duane Chase, Heather Menzies, Nicholas Hammond, Charmian Carr and Julie Andrews

Charmian Carr died from complications related to dementia in September 2016, aged 73 (pictured in 2012)

Brigitta, played by Angela Cartwright: Photographer

British-born Angela was 13 when she played the role of 10-year-old Brigitta, but she already had a solid career as a child actress behind her. 

Aged three she appeared as Paul Newman’s daughter in the film Somebody Up There Likes Me, and starred in seven seasons of the US TV series Make Room for Daddy. 

After The Sound of Music, she continued her acting career and starred in the TV series Lost in Space and Make Room for Granddaddy.  

But after having her two children – Jesse and Rebecca Gullion – she swapped acting for other artistic pursuits. She has been a photographer for more than 30 years and her work is displayed at her studio in Studio City, Los Angeles. 

Now 69, Angela has published several tomes on photography techniques. 

In 2019 she made a cameo appearance as Dr. Smith’s mother, Sheila Harris, in the third episode of the second season of the 2018 Netflix re-imagined Lost In Space series.  Clearly acting talent runs in the family, her sister is X-files star Veronica Cartwright.

British-born Angela was 13 when she played the role of 10-year-old Brigitta, but she already had a solid career as a child actress behind her

Aged three she appeared as Paul Newman’s daughter in the film Somebody Up There Likes Me, and starred in seven seasons of the US TV series Make Room for Daddy. Angela Cartwright is pictured as she attends the 48th AFI Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute

Sisters for life! Angela Cartwright and Debbie Turner arrive at the 48th AFI Life Achievement Award Gala last night

Angela Cartwright (pictured in April 2018) made a cameo appearance as Dr. Smith’s mother, Sheila Harris, in the third episode of the second season of the Netflix reimagined Lost In Space series

Kurt, played by Duane Chase: Retired software engineer and forestry worker 

Duane was 15 years old when he took on the role of 11-year-old  Kurt von Trapp. He continued acting until his teens, including an appearance in the 1966 Kurt Russell film, Follow Me, Boys! as well as acting in Western TV series The Big Valley. 

Chase switched gears in college, earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree in geology and working as a software engineer.

Now 71, he lives in Washington and is returning to wildlife and forestry work. He is married to Petra Maria, who was born in Hamburg, Germany and is a registered nurse.  

Duane was 15 years old when he took on the role of Kurt von Trapp. He continued acting until his later teen years

Chase switched gears in college, earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree in geology and working as a software engineer.

From left: Debbie Turner, Angela Cartwright, Nicholas Hammond, Duane Chase, and Kym Karath speak onstage during the 48th AFI Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute celebrating Julie Andrews at Dolby Theatre 

Duane Chase (pictured with co-star Heather Menzies in 2005) now lives in Washington and is returning to wildlife and forestry work

Friedrich, played by Nicholas Hammond: Actor and television writer 

The Sound Of Music was just the beginning of a flourishing career in entertainment for Nicholas Hammond. 

His best known role is probably his performance as Peter Parker in the television series The Amazing Spider-Man but movie buffs will always remember him as 14-year-old Friedrich describes himself as ‘impossible’ on introduction to Maria.

After playing the eldest von Trapp son, he went on to play guest roles in popular shows such as The Love Boat, Magnum, P.I. and Murder, She Wrote as well as a recurring part in Dallas.  

In 2009, he made his directing debut with Lying Cheating Bastard, a play he co-wrote with magician James Galea.

Hammond, now 72,  lives in Australia with his partner, actress Robyn Nevin, and is a writer for Australian television. 

He also has an English degree from Princeton to his name.

In 2019 he portrayed director Sam Wanamaker in the Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

The Sound Of Music was just the beginning of a flourishing career in entertainment for Nicholas Hammond

After playing the eldest von Trapp son, he went on to play guest roles in popular shows such as The Love Boat, Magnum, P.I. and Murder, She Wrote as well as a recurring part in Dallas. He is pictured last night 

Hammond, now 72, lives in Australia with his partner, actress Robyn Nevin, and is a writer for Australian television. Pictured with Charmian Carr in 2005

In 2019 Hammond portrayed director Sam Wanamaker in the Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Gretl, played by Kym Karath: Disability activist 

Five-year-old Karath stole hearts when she played the youngest von Trapp child Gretl.

Roles in Lost In Space and The Brady Bunch followed, but after going to college at USC, she focused on parenting rather than performing when her son Eric was born with disabilities.

Along with other parents, Karath helped establish the Aurelia Foundation, which provides services for special-needs individuals once they finish high school.

She resumed her entertainment career as an actress and writer in 2005. Karath, now 63, has said she still is not fond of water after nearly drowning in the boat scene in Sound of Music, because she couldn’t swim. 

Five-year-old Karath stole hearts when she played the youngest von Trapp child Gretl. Roles in Lost In Space and The Brady Bunch followed, but after going to college at USC, she focused on parenting rather than performing when her son Eric was born with disabilities.

Along with other parents, Karath helped establish the Aurelia Foundation, which provides services for special-needs individuals once they finish high school. She is pictured now aged 63

From left: Nicholas Hammond, Carol Burnett (seated), Duane Chase, Kym Karath, honoree Julie Andrews, Debbie Turner, and Angela Cartwright attend the 48th Annual AFI Life Achievement Award Honoring Julie Andrews

From left: Sound Of Music, Debbie Turner, Angela Cartwright, Duane Chase, Kym Karath, Heather Menzies, Julie Andrews, Nicholas Hammond, Charmian Carr

Kym Karath (pictured in August 2016) helped establish the Aurelia Foundation, which provides services for special-needs individuals once they finish high school

Louisa, played by Heather Menzies-Urich: Charity head who died in 2017

The Sound Of Music was Heather Menzies-Urich’s first movie, and she continued to enjoy a successful acting career, appearing in films and TV shows such as Logan’s Run, S.W.A.T and The Love Boat.

She married John Cluett in 1969, but they divorced in 1973. She wed her second husband, actor Robert Urich, in 1975, and the couple adopted three children.

Menzie-Urich stepped away from the limelight after Robert’s death from a rare form of cancer in 2002.

She set up the non-profit organisation The Robert Urich Foundation, which provides funding for cancer research and to help families relocate for specialised treatment, and dedicated her later years to the project.

Menzies-Urich was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in November 2017 and died on December 24, 2017 – 21 days after her 68th birthday.  

The Sound Of Music was Heather Menzies-Urich’s first movie, and she continued to enjoy a successful acting career

Heather Menzies-Urich (pictured in March 2015) was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in November 2017 and died on December 24, 2017 – 21 days after her 68th birthday

Marta, played by Debbie Turner: Florist

Debbie was as much an athlete as an actress as a child, and she opted for sports after playing Marta von Trapp.

Before being cast as the cheeky six (almost seven!) year-old, she was already a seasoned commercial actress starring in ads promoting dolls, toys, cars, and food.

But she stopped acting and the keen skier and mother-of-four began a new career as an interior designer and now owns a floral-design business in Minnesota. 

She was called on to provide flowers for a wedding in Salzburg, Austria, at a palace that inspired the sets of The Sound Of Music.

Debbie was as much an athlete as an actress as a child, and she opted for sports after playing Marta von Trapp

Before being cast as the cheeky six (almost seven!) year-old, she was already a seasoned commercial actress starring in ads promoting dolls, toys, cars, and food. She is pictured last night

Debbie Turner began a new career as an interior designer and now owns a floral-design business in Minnesota

Don’t forget about the parents! How Maria & Captain Von Trapp became to of the biggest stars in Hollywood’s history 

Maria, played by Julie Andrews

In recent years Andrews has lent her voice to movies such as Despicable Me, Shrek 2 and Enchanted, and in 2020 she voiced the narrator Lady Whistledown in the Netflix series Bridgerton. Pictured in September 2019

The Sound of Music was just one element of a stellar film career for Julie Andrews, now 85, who won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for her role as the unruly nun and nanny. 

Some of her best-loved films include Thoroughly Modern Millie Millie, Star!, The Princess Diaries and Darling Lili, recently she’s become the voice of Lady Whistledown in the Netflix hit series Bridgerton

In recent years she’s lent her voice to movies such as Despicable Me, Shrek 2 and Enchanted too. 

She created a preschool television series with her daughter, featuring Jim Henson puppets, and is also an author of children’s books.

Andrews has published two autobiographies; Home: A Memoir of My Early Years (2008) and Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years (2019).

 Captain von Trapp, played by Christopher Plummer

The actor, who played the Von Trapp family patriarch in the 1965 musical flick, passed away peacefully at his home in Connecticut last year, with co-star Dame Julie Andrews calling him a ‘consummate actor’ and a ‘cherished friend’.

Plummer appeared in more than 100 films and was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Russian author Leo Tolstoy in 2009’s The Last Station. He went on to become the oldest actor to win an Academy Award in 2010 for his role in Beginners, playing a pensioner who comes out as gay following the death of his wife.

He was acting right up into his 90s, with one of his final roles in Knives Out winning an Oscar nomination.

But for many fans his career was defined by his performance as stern widower Captain von Trapp in The Sound Of Music – a role he once dubbed ‘a cardboard figure, humourless and one-dimensional’. 

Co-star Andrews, who played Maria Augusta von Trapp, the governess who won the captain’s heart in the film, was already a household name after making her feature film debut a year earlier in Mary Poppins in 1964.

For many Christopher Plummer fans his career was defined by his performance as an stern widower in The Sound Of Music – a role he called ‘a cardboard figure, humourless and one-dimensional’

Tributes flooded in yesterday following the sad news of Sound of Music star Christopher Plummer’s death at the age of 91

The Sound of Music was just one element of a stellar film career for Julie Andrews, now 85, who won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for her role as the unruly nun and nanny Maria