Heather Menzies-Urich, who played Louisa in 'The Sound of Music,' dies at 68

Heather Menzies-Urich, the actress best known for playing the second-oldest Von Trapp daughter Louisa in the Oscar-winning musical film “The Sound of Music,” has died at age 68.

Her son Ryan Urich told TMZ that she died on December 24 one month after receiving a diagnosis of terminal brain cancer.

“Of ‘the kids,’ Heather was a cheerful and positive member of the group, always hoping for the next gathering,” Ted Chapin, president of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, said Monday announcing the death. “We are all lucky to have known her, and she will happily live on in that beautiful movie. We will miss her.”

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Born in Toronto, Menzies-Urich was 15 when she played the mischievous Louisa (pictured above, center) in the 1965 big-screen musical starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

The film was a popular hit that won five Oscars, including Best Pictures.

She subsequently struggled as an actress despite recurring roles in TV shows such as “Dragnet 1967” and “Logan’s Run.”

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In 1975, she married actor-producer Robert Urich, who was best known for playing private eye Dan Tanna in the hit TV series “Vega$” and “Spenser for Hire.” Urich died in 2002.

Tributes to Menzies-Urich quickly poured in. Kym Karath, who played Gretl, the youngest of the Von Trapps in the film, said she was “devastated” by the news.

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