Charmian Carr played the part of "Liesl" in the Oscar winning film "The Sound of Music." She sadly passed away a few years ago. Today would have been her birthday. In honor of that, I'm re-posting this story about her from my radio days.
When I was growing up, The Sound of
Music was a very important film in our house. My father came
from Austria and he forced us to watch it so many times that we knew the film
by heart. After he died, The
Sound of Music reminded us of Dad even more.
When I produced the morning show at WJMK in the
90s, I made the mistake of telling John Landecker about this, and he thought it
was hilarious that a 30-something straight male loved that movie. He brought me
along to an interview with Julie Andrews to embarrass me. He thought I was in
love with her--but I confessed after the interview that I was actually in love
with the girl who played Liesl, Charmian Carr.
As it turns out, telling that to John was an even bigger mistake.
I figured the odds of running into her were minimal,
but wouldn't you know it, she came to Chicago just a few years later to promote
a sing-a-long version of The Sound of Music. When John heard she was coming, he insisted that I book her
to appear on the show.
I did. But I knew I was in for it.
He wouldn't tell me what was going on in the days
before the interview, but I heard a lot of whispering between John and the
other members of the show. Whenever I walked into the room, they shut up. Or
they laughed. I was bracing for the worst.
On the morning of the interview, I was
unbelievably nervous. John had even been warning the audience about my
childhood love of Liesl, and that something truly memorable was about to occur.
She arrived at the studio about fifteen minutes
early, so I met her at the door and brought her to the green room. I must say,
she was still quite beautiful. I know she's easily fifteen years older than me,
and I know how ridiculous this sounds, but I couldn't even bring myself to
shake her hand. I had sweaty palms.
I tried to warn her that something was going to
happen. I told her that John had been teasing me about my love of the movie,
and described our Julie Andrews experience to her. She seemed amused by it all,
but I must admit...I had a difficult time maintaining eye contact.
Take a look at those eyes.
When I brought her into the studio, John was
nearly bouncing off his seat with excitement. Within seconds, he was handing
each of us a script, and explaining to the audience what was about to occur.
He had transcribed the love scene between Liesl
and Rolf, and wanted to know if Charmian would recreate that scene live on the
air, with me playing the part of Rolf. I don't think I've ever been more
embarrassed in my life.
She was obviously a little taken aback by this,
but after looking at me, shrugged her shoulders and said "Sure, what the
heck."
John cued the music, and boom, we were acting out
the scene. I was sitting five feet away from the real Liesl, and she was
calling me "Rolf" with love in her voice. I stammered through my
first line, which sent John into convulsions, and onto the floor, but it didn't
stop Charmian. She was such a good sport about it.
We did the entire scene. For those two or three
minutes, she was sixteen going on seventeen, and I was the blond-haired
Austrian teenager she was in love with.
Can I confess it now?
It was probably one of my all-time favorite
moments in my radio career because it was such a unique and personal experience.
Don't tell that to John, though. It would ruin the
moment for him.
How many people have both of these autographs on their "Sound of Music" soundtrack?
