Sound of Music star Heather Menzies-Urich dead

Actress Heather Menzies-Urich, famously known as Louisa von Trapp from the 1965 classic The Sound of Music, which continues to win hearts worldwide after more than half a century, died at 68.

Actress Heather Menzies-Urich, famously known as Louisa von Trapp from the 1965 classic The Sound of Music, which continues to win hearts worldwide after more than half a century, died at age 68, an industry source said Monday.

This file photo taken on March 25, 2015 shows (L-R) Heather Menzies-Urich, Debbie Turner and Kym Karath attending the 2015 TCM Classic Film Festival Opening Night Gala 50th anniversary screening of The Sound Of Music at TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX in Hollywood, California. (AFP)

Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization confirmed the news in a statement, saying, “Heather was part of ‘the family.’ There is really no other way to describe the members of the cast of the movie of THE SOUND OF MUSIC. And of ‘the kids,’ Heather was a cheerful and positive member of the group, always hoping for the next gathering. We are all lucky to have known her, and she will happily live on in that beautiful movie. We will miss her,” reports Entertainment Weekly.

“We... mourn the passing of Heather Menzies-Urich. We are all lucky to have known her, and she will happily live on in that beautiful movie. We will miss her,” the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization said on its website.

Menzies-Urich, then a teenager, had the role of Louisa von Trapp, one of the children of Captain von Trapp played by Canadian actor Christopher Plummer, who starred with English actress Julie Andrews. Menzies-Urich’s son, Ryan Urich, said she had been diagnosed with brain cancer and died on Christmas Eve surrounded by family.

“She was not in any pain but, nearly four weeks after her diagnosis of terminal brain cancer, she had enough and took her last breath on this earth at 7:22 pm,” Ryan was quoted as saying.

Menzies-Urich was born in Toronto, Canada.

Her husband Robert Urich died from cancer in 2002. He was a US television star who shot to fame in the 1970s through his series Vegas and Spenser: For Hire. After his death, Menzies-Urich founded The Robert Urich Foundation to support cancer research and patient care. On the group’s website, she wrote that she tried to live by her late husband’s motto: “Never give up -- never, ever give up.”

The Sound of Music opened on Broadway in 1959 and was made into a movie in 1965 with memorable hit songs including My Favorite Things, Edelweiss, and the title track itself.

Follow @htshowbiz for more