Free Republic

Music video by Julie Andrews performing My Favorite Things (Audio)

'The Sound of Music,' was based loosely on a 1949 book by Maria von Trapp. Georg von Trapp and his first wife, Agathe Whitehead von Trapp, had seven children.Rosmarie Trapp, whose Austrian family the von Trapps was made famous in the musical and beloved movie The Sound of Music, has died. She died Friday at the age of 93 at a nursing home in Morrisville, Vermont, Trapp Family Lodge announced. Her brother Johannes is president of the Stowe resort. Rosmarie was the first daughter of Austrian naval Capt. Georg von Trapp and Maria von Trapp, and a younger half-sibling to...

Whenever Christopher Plummer was asked about “The Sound of Music” – and he was asked about it so often it made him dyspeptic – he quoted the actor Doug McClure, who once cracked: “Watching ‘The Sound of Music’ is like being beaten to death by a Hallmark card.” If the movie popped up on television, Plummer, who died Friday at 91, “reached for the remote,” he once told me. “I avoid television at all costs around the holidays,” he added, with a laugh. Plummer became a movie star at age 36 playing Captain Von Trapp in “The Sound of Music.”...

Oscar-, Tony- and Emmy-winning actor Christopher Plummer has passed away. He was 91. The legendary actor passed peacefully at his home in Connecticut, with his wife Elaine Taylor, by his side, the Post confirmed on Friday. “Chris was an extraordinary man who deeply loved and respected his profession with great old fashion manners, self deprecating humor and the music of words,” his manager and friend Lou Pitt said. “He was a National Treasure who deeply relished his Canadian roots. Through his art and humanity, he touched all of our hearts and his legendary life will endure for all generations to...

The United States Supreme Court has now scheduled the Pennsylvania election case, Sidney Powell’s Michigan election case, and Lin Wood’s Georgia election case for its February 19 conference.

Particularly since the dawn of the 20th century, Judeo-Christian archetypes and imagery have stirred the American imagination, as reflected in these 10 films on Disney Plus. One can only speculate what British author C.S. Lewis, who spent his boyhood in rural Ireland a century ago, would think of today’s WiFi-enabled home entertainment revolution. Doubtless, the Christian apologist would be curious to see movie versions of “The Chronicles of Narnia” — his best-selling mythic allegories grounded in virtues and sacraments — on Disney Plus. The streaming service has two big-budget Narnia adaptations listed right between modern updates on Winnie the Pooh...

Members of the press were left reeling Thursday after the United States Marine Corps band played the song "Edelweiss" from the "Sound of Music" as reporters were being led into the White House for a presidential briefing on the Mueller report. The band, which plays at the White House for special events was, apparently, running through a classic movie themes medley, and played "Edelweiss," as part of a retrospective that included "The Sound of Music" — the theme song from the musical — "Over the Rainbow" from "The Wizard of Oz," and "When You Wish Upon A Star" from Disney's...

Heather Menzies-Urich, who played Louisa Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, has died aged 68. Her death was announced by the estate of the musical's creators, Rodgers & Hammerstein, on Monday. She was diagnosed with brain cancer four weeks ago and died on Christmas Eve, news site TMZ quoted her son Ryan as saying. "She was an actress, a ballerina and loved living her life to the fullest," he told TMZ. Born Heather Menzies in Toronto, she was 15 when the musical film was released in 1965. It went on to win 10 Oscars, including best picture. She played...

Actress Heather Menzies-Urich, best known for portraying Louisa von Trapp in the 1965 film “The Sound of Music,” died Sunday night. She was 68. Menzies-Urich, the widow of actor Robert Urich, had been recently diagnosed with cancer, according to her son Ryan Urich. Urich said his mother died on Christmas Eve, surrounded by her children and family members.

American actress Charmian Carr, who played the eldest von Trapp daughter Liesl in the film The Sound of Music, has died aged 73. Carr died in Los Angeles after complications from a rare form of dementia, her representative said. In her role in the 1965 film, she famously performed the song Sixteen Going on Seventeen. After leaving the film industry, Carr ran an interior design firm in California. Her mother had arranged for her to audition for the role, although she had had no singing or acting lessons. Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music was a massive hit, at...

The Sound of Music's Charmian Carr has died. The 73-year-old actress was best known for playing Liesl alongside Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer in the iconic movie. Carr died on Saturday of complications from a rare form of dementia, according to a message on her official website.

Around 2:05 of this 1973 TV show; unfortunately, a very prominent hum

When it was released 50 years ago, The Sound of Music became one of the most successful films of all time. It was based on the true story of the von Trapp family (above) - but what did they think of it and was their life really like it was portrayed in the movie? "Everyone thinks the Sound of Music was exactly the way things happened, and of course it wasn't because there had to be artistic licence," says Johannes von Trapp. He is the youngest son of Georg and Maria - the decorated naval commander and singing nun turned...

Earlier this year, an event happened that did not receive wide notice. The last of the Von Trapp Family Singers, the last of the children—the real ones—died. Her name was Maria—not to be confused with the lady played by Julie Andrews, Maria Augusta Trapp, who died in 1987. Maria Von Trapp’s death in February 2014 marks the end of an era. The Sound of Music deserves its accolades as the Movie of the Year (1965) and one of the finest films ever made. Even my one-year-old granddaughter is mesmerized by the puppet scene. As a film it is an icon....

Earlier this year, an event happened that did not receive wide notice. The last of the Von Trapp Family Singers, the last of the children---the real ones---died. Her name was Maria---not to be confused with the lady played by Julie Andrews, Maria Augusta Trapp, who died in 1987. Maria Von Trapp’s death in February 2014 marks the end of an era. The Sound of Music deserves its accolades as the Movie of the Year (1965) and one of the finest films ever made. Even my one-year-old granddaughter is mesmerized by the puppet scene. As a film it is an icon....

Eleanor Parker, who was nominated three times for a best-actress Oscar but whose best-known role was a supporting one, as the marriage-minded baroness in “The Sound of Music,” died on Monday in Palm Springs, Calif. She was 91. A family friend, Richard Gale, told The Associated Press that the cause was complications of pneumonia. Ms. Parker was an elegant, ladylike yet sensual film actress. Still, her most recognizable role, as the Baroness who loves Christopher Plummer’s character, Captain von Trapp, in “The Sound of Music” (1965), called for an icy demeanor. Uninterested in his houseful of children, she loses him...

When it comes to flushing billions down the toilet and relentlessly aggrandizing Washington's power, nothing, absolutely nothing, outshines "fixing" our supposedly woeful schools. This disorder conspicuously erupts every three years with the release of the international education performance data on reading, math, and science issued by the Program for International Student Achievement (PISA). PISA has been around since 2000 and the 2012 results are typical: U.S. students are generally mediocre, especially compared to our economic rivals in Asia. Though hardly unexpected given past outcomes, the findings always elicit a sky-is-falling as if economic doom is eminent. Education Secretary Arne Duncan...

The live production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein 1959 Broadway musical, also starred "True Bloods" star Stephen Moyer as Maria's employer and love interest, the strict Capt. Georg Von Trapp; Laura Benanti as the Captain's fiancée, Elsa Schrader; multiple Tony Award-winner and "Private Practice" star Audra McDonald as Mother Abbess and "Smash" alum Christian Borle as family friend Max Detweiler. Somehow, each supporting star outshined Underwood in a show fraught with numerous problems, which were promptly maligned on social media. ... Kym Karath, who played Gretl Von Trapp in the film, echoed the family's sentiments. "Love Carrie Underwood but this...

NBC’s big winter gamble paid off: The Sound of Music Live! delivered a massive audience Thursday night. The three-hour performance of the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein musical delivered 18.5 million viewers and a great 4.6 rating among adults 18-49. This is NBC’s biggest Thursday in the adult demo excluding sports since the ER finale in 2009. Obviously, it’s also far and away NBC’s strongest non-sports Thursday performance this season; the network has had all sorts of ratings headaches on this night given its troubled comedy block. Sound of Music was Thursday’s most-watched show and tied CBS’ Big Bang Theory in...

CNN) -- The oldest daughter of the Austrian family portrayed in the 1965 film "The Sound of Music" died of heart failure Tuesday, a friend confirmed. Agathe von Trapp, 97, was in a Gilchrist Hospice in Towson, Maryland, when she died, her friend Mary Louise Kane told CNN Thursday. She fell ill November 9 and was moved on December 2 to the Gilchrist Hospice, said Kane, who ran a kindergarten with von Trapp in Glyndon, Maryland. The 16-year-old Liesl von Trapp character in the movie was based on Agathe, but the writer and director took great artistic license with the...