Where are they now?
A look at what the stars of TheSoundOf Music have been up to in the last five decades.
Christopher Plummer (Captain von Trapp)
HERE’S an actor who is more relevant than ever. In an interview with Vanity Fair (March 2015), Plummer said: “It’s nice to be discovered again at this exalted age.”
Plummer was 82 when he became the oldest person to win an Oscar in 2012 for Best Supporting Actor in the film Beginners. After he was handed the Oscar, Plummer looked at the statuette and said: “You’re only two years older than me darling, where have you been all of my life?”
While he has been steadily working over the years – in theatre and in films like A Beautiful Mind, Alexander, Syriana, Inside Man and The Lake House, on top of various voice work like the villanous Charles Muntz in Up – people truly started paying attention to Plummer once again after his performance as Tolstoy in 2009’s film The Last Station. The film earned him his first Oscar nomination (in the Best Supporting Actor category).
This year, he is 85 years old, and has the leading role in Atom Egoyan’s upcoming feature, titled Remember.
In another snippet of the Vanity Fair interview, the still-handsome actor said: “... I’m thrilled that I turned into a character actor quite early on. I hated being a poncey leading man. You really start to worry about your jawline. Please.”
Julie Andrews (Maria)
IN 1997 Andrews – who boasted a four-octave vocal range – underwent surgery to remove non-cancerous nodules from her throat, and she lost her singing voice. This left her devastated, and the subject is still something she isn’t willing to talk about.
Almost two years after that, Andrews and her daughter started a small book-publishing company, and the two have written 26 children’s books together.
“One of our books has been made into a musical, The Great American Mousical, which I directed at the Goodspeed Opera House, in Connecticut. And another, Simeon’s Gift, has been adapted for a symphony orchestra nad five performers. I’m also a very proud member of the board of the Los Angeles Philharmonic,” she told Vanity Fair.
While The Sound Of Music and Mary Poppins are two feature musicals that Andrews is most famous for, the 79-year-old has a string of other roles she is known for in films and theatre.
Andrews played the lead role in Victor Victoria, a 1982 film which was directed by her late husband Blake Edwards, and later turned into a musical.
In the new millenium, Andrews was seen in The Princess Diaries, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and Tooth Fairy. She was also a voice talent in Shrek 2, Shrek The Third, Shrek Forever After and Despicable Me.
Here’s a bit of trivia: in 2001, Andrews reunited with Plummer in the TV movie On Golden Pond.
Eleanor Parker (The Baroness)
PARKER passed away in 2013 at the age of 91.
After starring in The Sound Of Music, Parker had been more active in the small screen with appearances in a number of series – The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Hotel and Murder, She Wrote – and a few movies made for TV ( Once Upon A Spy and Dressed To Kill). Her last appearance was in 1991’s TV movie Dead On The Money.
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Charmian Carr (Liesl)
AFTER making The Sound Of Music, Carr toured the world to promote the movie. It was then she met Jay Brent, whom she married and settled down with, retiring from acting. While raising her two daughters, she started an interior design company, Charmian Carr Designs.
Besides running the business, Carr has written two books.
But appearance-wise, she has participated in a one-hour musical, Evening Primrose (1966) opposite Anthony Perkins, and two talk shows – Loose Women and The Oprah Winfrey Show – to talk about The Sound Of Music.
Nicholas Hammond (Friedrich)
AT one point in his acting career, Hammond played the part of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the TV series The Amazing Spider-Man, which ran for two seasons (1977-1979).
The Sound Of Music was actually Hammond’s fourth gig. He followed that hit film with a whole lot of other projects in both films and TV. Some of the more known shows he was involved in were Eight Is Enough, The Martian Chronicles, Falcon Crest, Dallas and Farscape.
His most recent role was in the 2014 film Turkey Shoot, which was headlined by Dominic Purcell.
Heather Menzies-Ulrich (Louisa)
THE Sound Of Music was Menzies’ film debut. Her biography section lists that on television, Menzies achieved her greatest fame as scantily-clad fugitive Jessica in 14 episodes of Logan’s Run (1977).
From 1960s to 1990, Menzies has done guest work on shows like The Farmer’s Daughter, Dragnet 1967, Marcus Welby, M.D., The Love Boat, T.J. Hooker, Bonanza, S.W.A.T. and Love, American Style.
In 1975, she married actor Robert
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Ulrich and together they have adopted three children. Today, Menzies – who is an ovarian cancer survivor – works for the Urich Fund for Sarcoma Research at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Centre.
Duane Chase (Kurt)
NOT counting commercials, Chase worked in three projects. He quit acting after high school and at one time fought fires with the forestry service.
Then he chose the career of a computer software analyst/designer.
Angela Cartwright (Brigitta)
SHE is the younger sister of actress Veronica Cartwright. Since The Sound Of Music, she joined the cast of Lost In Space as a regular – she played the part of Penny Robinson in the series for three seasons. After that, she starred in another series, Make Room For Granddaddy (1970).
Her last creative project was providing the voice of Miss Cow in the TV movie Elf Sparkle And The Special Red Dress (2010).
Debbie Turner (Marta)
ALTHOUGH Turner grew up in a showbiz family, her passion these days lies in floral designing under the establishment “Debbie Turner Originals”. On its Facebook page, this message was posted: “I just received notice from MyWedding. com that Debbie Turner Originals won ‘Best Florist 2015’! Thank you everyone for entrusting us with your special events!!!”
Kym Karath (Gretl)
THE youngest of von Trapp family, Karath has guest acted in projects like Dr Kildare, All My Children and The Brady Bunch, before pursuing her education at University of Southern California.
Later on, she moved to Paris, France to study Art History.
After marrying Philippe L’Equibec and giving birth to their son, she left acting for a while. It was reported she resumed the profession in 2005, but there’s no recording of any titles she has been in.
However, Karath is quite active on Twitter (@KymKarath); of late she posted some old pictures revolving around The Sound Of Music.