Maria von Trapp, The Last of The Trapp Family That Inspired The Sound of Music, Dies at 99
The 99-year-old Maria von Trapp, the last of the Trapp family that inspired The Sound of Music, passes away in her sleep at her home in Vermont.
Austrian Times reported that Maria von Trapp, born Maria Franziska, was the last to survive the family of seven brothers and sisters, which was the same family that brought inspiration to the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical "The Sound of Music" that won the Tony Award for Best Musical.
"It was a surprise that she was the one in the family to live the longest because ever since she was a child she suffered from a weak heart," family friend Marianne Dorfer, who runs the von Trapp Villa Hotel in Salzburg, told the newspaper.
According to the newspaper, "The Sound of Music," which told the story of the musical family every year, attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to Salzburg even after almost 50 years after it was made.
In 1938, the Trapp family had to leave their home in Salzburg, Austria to escape the Nazis. The von Trapp estate was confiscated by the Nazis during World War II so the family was forced to settle in Stowe, Vermont.
In the summer of1950, the von Trapp family began accommodating guests to a rustic 27-room family home/lodge in Stowe. But after a tragic fire in 1980, the family had to replace the original structure with a 96-room alpine Lodge now called the Trapp Family Lodge.
In 2008, Maria went back to Salzburg for the first time since she and her family fled the Nazis in the 1930s.
The von Trapp family always sang and played instruments together. An opera singer heard the children sing in the park and entered them for a competition. Soon the von Trapps started to tour Europe and the United States as a family choir.
Baron von Trapp, Maria's father and an opponent of Adolf Hitler, believed that his singing family was what provided him and his family the escape ticket from the Nazi regime. After a concert in the U.S., the family did not return to Austria.
"Without the singing, we would have never made it to the United States," said von Trapp.
The von Trapp story greatly inspired The Sound of Music. In 1965, a film adaptation was made, starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Heather Menzies portrayed Louisa, Maria's character.
In December 2013, NBC made a special show entitled The Sound of Music Live! featuring Carrie Underwood and Stephen Moyer.
