Heather Menzies-Urich, the actress best known for playing the second-oldest Von Trapp daughter Louisa in the Oscar-winning musical film “The Sound of Music,” has died at age 68.
Her son Ryan Urich told TMZ that she died on December 24 one month after receiving a diagnosis of terminal brain cancer.
“Of ‘the kids,’ Heather was a cheerful and positive member of the group, always hoping for the next gathering,” Ted Chapin, president of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, said Monday announcing the death. “We are all lucky to have known her, and she will happily live on in that beautiful movie. We will miss her.”
Born in Toronto, Menzies-Urich was 15 when she played the mischievous Louisa (pictured above, center) in the 1965 big-screen musical starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.
The film was a popular hit that won five Oscars, including Best Pictures.
She subsequently struggled as an actress despite recurring roles in TV shows such as “Dragnet 1967” and “Logan’s Run.”
In 1975, she married actor-producer Robert Urich, who was best known for playing private eye Dan Tanna in the hit TV series “Vega$” and “Spenser for Hire.” Urich died in 2002.
Tributes to Menzies-Urich quickly poured in. Kym Karath, who played Gretl, the youngest of the Von Trapps in the film, said she was “devastated” by the news.
I am filled with infinite sadness tonight. My precious friend and SOM sister Heather Menzies passed away this evening. Devastated.
— Kym Karath (@KymKarath) December 25, 2017