Charmian Carr
Name - Charmian Carr (born Charmian Farnon) On getting the part of Liesl Wise (the director) told her that ‘Farnon’ was too long and gave her a list of one syllable surnames to choose from. She chose ‘Carr’.
Date Of Birth - 27th December 1942
Birthplace - Chicago, Illinois. (USA)
Parents - Vaudeville Actress - Rita Oehman and Musician - Briam Farnon. Charmian’s mother was a ‘pushy’ parent and didn’t even ask Charmian if she wanted to audition for ‘Liesl’ before she got her the audition. As the family was a show business family Carr knew that getting this part would be better than a college degree in her mothers eyes.
Childhood- Named after the Shakespeare character ‘Charmian’ from ‘Antony and Cleopatra’. She has one older sister and one younger sister.
Jobs - While working part time for a doctor and attending college part time Charmian’s mother got her the audition for ‘Liesl’ in ‘The Sound Of Music’ and she got the part.
She also appeared in ‘Evening Primrose’ and has written two books; ‘Forever Liesl’(read my book review here!) and ‘Letters to Liesl’. Carr now owns ‘Charmian Carr Designs’, her own interior design company. She has had clients including Michael Jackson and Ernest Lehman. Carr appeared on ‘Loose Woman’ in 2007 where she discussed her role of ‘Liesl’ and then had a ‘Sound of Music Reunion’ on the ‘Oprah Winfrey Show’ in October 2010 to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the movie.
Check out this interview with Carr!
Marriage - Jay Brent 1967 - 1991 (Divorced)
Children - Jennifer and Emily. She now also has grandchildren named Emma and Derek.
Interesting Facts - During filming in the gazebo Carr fell straight through the glass pain because the costume department forgot to put non-slip on her shoes. As this was the final scene of the movie she continued through the day filming with a bandage on her right ankle which is visible in the movie if you look closely.
Would you like a dress like the one Charmian Carr wore as ‘Liesl’? Why not check out Edelweiss Patterns - Edelweiss Patterns offers patterns for authentic Sound of Music costumes that are inspired by the original film costumes. Besides the designs for “Liesl’s Dancing Dress” and “Baroness Schraeder’s Party Dress”, Edelweiss Patterns will soon be releasing the pattern for “Maria’s Gazebo Dress” with many more to come!