SO LONG, FAREWELL
Louisa of the Sound of Music dies aged 68
CANADIAN actress Heather Menzies-Urich, who starred as Louisa von Trapp in The Sound Of Music, has died aged 68.
Her family announced yesterday that she was diagnosed with brain cancer less than a month before her death.
Her son Ryan told US magazine Variety she had died on Christmas Eve. He said: ‘She was an actress, a ballerina and loved living her life to the fullest. She was not in any pain but, nearly four weeks after her diagnosis of terminal brain cancer, she had enough and took her last breath on this earth at 7.22pm.’
She was 14 when she landed her role in the Christmas film favourite, playing the third-eldest of the seven von Trapp children. Julie Andrews, 82, played Maria, the governess who brought a love of music into the home of a widowed naval captain with seven children.
Among the tributes online last night was one from Dan Truhitte, who played Rolf Gruber, the love interest of Louisa’s older sister Liesl. Truhitte, 74, wrote: ‘It is such a great sorrow to lose Heather MenziesUrich. She was a joy during filming, such a warm smile, and such a talent and I know she is now with her husband, Robert Urich. My condolences to the family. Auf wiedersehen for now, Heather.’
Kym Karath, who played youngest child Gretl, said: ‘I am filled with infinite sadness tonight. My precious friend and [Sound Of Music] sister Heather Menzies passed away this evening. Devastated.’
Mrs Menzies-Urich got her start in the 1964 TV series The Farmer’s Daughter. Then, after The Sound Of Music, she appeared in the hit TV shows Dragnet and Bonanza. The actress also starred in the 1966 film Hawaii, and American TV show Logan’s Run.
She was 20 when she married her first husband, but the relationship fell apart within four years after she posed nude for Playboy.
In 1975 she married actor Robert Urich – best known for his role on the TV series Vegas – whom she met while filming a corned beef commercial. When he died from cancer in 2002 she set up a foundation in his name to raise money for research.
‘Auf wiedersehen for now’