The fate of the family

1. Kym Karath (Gretl von Trapp): After melting hearts as the youngest von Trapp child when she was seven, Miss Karath appeared in TV dramas such as Lassie, The Brady Bunch, Lost In Space and All My Children. She is now 59 and still an actress.

2. Debbie Turner (Marta): Her part in the 1965 musical at the age of eight would be her only movie role. She later embarked on a career in interior design, and is now a 61-year-old mother-offour living in Minnesota.

3. Angela Cartwright (Brigitta): The Cheshire-born child actress had played Paul Newman’s daughter in a film at the age of three before winning her role in The Sound Of Music at 13. She starred in Lost In Space in the 1960s and the 65-yearold has since made a name for herself as a photographer.

4. Duane Chase (Kurt): Mr Chase, 67, appeared in just two films before leaving acting for university. He worked as a fireman for the US Forest Service before working in computer analysis.

5. Heather Menzies-Urich (Louisa): Picked for the role at 14, she went on to star in programmes such as Hawaii, Dragnet and Bonanza. She died on Christmas Eve.

6. Nicholas Hammond (Friedrich): Aged 15 when he appeared in The Sound Of Music, he went on to play the lead in TV series The Amazing Spider-Man in the late 1970s. Now 67, he still acts, most recently appearing in a mini-series on the First World War Gallipoli campaign.

7. Charmian Carr (Liesl): After playing the eldest von Trapp child, she ran an interior design firm with clients including Michael Jackson. The actress died in September last year, at 73, of complications from dementia.

8. Dame Julie Andrews (Maria): She was already a star before playing the nun-turned-governess Maria, having won an Oscar for Mary Poppins. She withdrew from singing after throat surgery damaged her vocal cords, but the 82-year-old enjoyed a revival and did voice acting in the Shrek and Despicable Me films.

9. Christopher Plummer (The Captain): He had a distinguished career on Broadway before playing the retired naval officer. Since The Sound of Music, he has since appeared in more than 50 films and TV shows, including A Beautiful Mind. The 88-year-old won an Oscar and a Bafta in 2011 for his role in romantic drama Beginners.