One of the Trapp Family Daughters Dies at 90

Eleanor, or 'Lorli,' was in the family made famous by 'Sound of Music'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 21, 2021 6:00 PM CDT
Daughter in Trapp Family Singers Dies at 90
A 1946 photo of the Trapp Family Singers. From left to right: Eleonore, Agathe, young Maria, Georg von Trapp, Johanna, Martina, Hedwig, Maria, and Johannes (standing). Werner is playing the viola da gamba and Father Franz Wasner is on the spinet (seated).   (AP Photo/Courtesy Lindstrom Literary Management)

The second daughter of Maria von Trapp, whose Austrian family was famous for being depicted in the musical and beloved movie The Sound of Music, has died at age 90. Eleonore “Lorli” von Trapp Campbell died Sunday in Northfield, Vermont, per the AP. Campbell was born in Salzburg, Austria, the second daughter of Georg and Maria von Trapp and a younger stepsibling to the older von Trapp children who went on to be depicted in stage and film. The family escaped from Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938 and performed concert tours throughout Europe and America. The family settled in Vermont in the early 1940s and opened a ski lodge in Stowe.

The Austrian traditions her mother brought to Vermont from Europe played a big part in the family life, daughter Hope McAndrew, of East Hardwick, Vermont, said Thursday. While McAndrew said they all knew every word from The Sound of Music, they also knew the songs the family sang while touring North America, long before the musicals. “They did amazing Christmas concerts that she would describe to us. And they were really touching, they were,” McAndrew said. “She had very fond memories of those Christmas concerts.”

The Sound of Music was a musical play and movie based loosely on a 1949 book by Maria von Trapp, who died in 1987. It tells the story of an Austrian woman who married a widower with seven children and teaches them music. Campbell’s father, Austrian naval Capt. Georg von Trapp and his first wife, Agathe Whitehead von Trapp, had seven children who were the basis for the singing family in the musical and film. Maria married the captain after Whitehead von Trapp died and taught her new stepchildren music. They are all now deceased.

(More obituary stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X