Heather Menzies

Canadian actress (1949–2017)

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Heather Margaret Brotherston Menzies Urich (December 3, 1949 – December 24, 2017) was a Canadian actress known for her roles as Louisa von Trapp in the 1965 film The Sound of Music and Jessica 6 in the TV series Logan's Run.

Early life

Heather Margaret Brotherston Menzies was born in Toronto on December 3, 1949, to Scottish parents who had left the United Kingdom for Canada after the war. Her father was a struggling artist. By Menzies' 14th birthday, she had lived in Vancouver, Miami, London, and Southern California. Menzies had a younger sister, Sheila, and an older brother, Neil, who died in 2019.

Menzies was a graduate of John Burroughs High School in Burbank, California, in 1967, and she studied at Falcon Studio's University of the Arts.

Career

Menzies' first appearance on-screen was in 1964, when she appeared in the TV series The Farmer's Daughter. Menzies was then cast in The Sound of Music as Louisa, the third oldest of the von Trapp children, at age 14. She sang "So Long, Farewell" and "The Lonely Goatherd" in the film. In the rowboat scene, Heather rescued Kym Karath, who played Gretl and could not swim.

Menzies went on to appear in a number of television series such as Alias Smith and Jones, T. J. Hooker, Dragnet 1967, Room 222, Bonanza, Marcus Welby, M.D., Vega$, and The Bob Newhart Show. She starred as Jessica 6 in the short-lived TV series Logan's Run. In addition, Menzies appeared in Hawaii, How Sweet It Is!, Hail, Hero!, Piranha, and Endangered Species.

Menzies was featured in Playboy magazine during 1973 in a pictorial titled "Tender Trapp," in reference to her The Sound of Music role. She was later cast in four television films: The Keegans, James Dean, Tail Gunner Joe, and Captain America.

Personal life

Menzies married John Cluett in 1969 and divorced him in 1973. She married Robert Urich in 1975. Urich and Menzies first met in 1974 while filming a commercial in which they "got married." They adopted three children. After Urich's death in 2002 of a rare form of cancer, Menzies established the Robert Urich Foundation and spent most of her time in her last years devoted to the organization, which raises money for cancer research and support for cancer patients.

Death

Menzies-Urich was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in November 2017. She died at age 68 on December 24, 2017, surrounded by her children and family members. According to Menzies-Urich's son Ryan Urich, "She was an actress, a ballerina and loved living her life to the fullest. 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."