Charmian Carr, who has died aged 73, was an American actress best known for her role as Liesl, the eldest of the seven von Trapp children in the 1965 five-Oscar-winning film, The Sound of Music; she was also the singer Michael Jackson’s interior designer for seven years and the author of two books inspired by her role in the film.
It was Charmian Carr’s mother, a former vaudevillian, who recommended her to a casting agent – “She’s 21, but she could pass for 16” – and who pushed her into taking the part of Liesl, despite the fact that her daughter had no previous professional singing or acting experience. At the time, she was studying at college part-time as well as testing urine samples for a doctor (“an old flirt who literally chased me around his office”) and had no serious acting ambitions.
Dancing was the only skill which Charmian Carr brought to the audition: she had had ballet lessons from the age of four. Yet she was picked for the part from among dozens of hopefuls – including Mia Farrow, Lesley Anne Warren, Teri Garr and Geraldine Chaplin. The casting team had only one, minor, reservation: it was feared that her startlingly bright blue eyes would look odd on film. She was hired without contract, and with the caution that she should not get too comfortable with Liesl; her role would not be confirmed until a screen test further down the line.
