NEWSMAKERS: Real ‘Sound of Music’ family member dies

NEWSMAKERS

Real ‘Sound of Music’ family member dies

HAGERSTOWN, Md.

Agathe von Trapp, a member of the musical family whose escape from Nazi-occupied Austria was the basis for “The Sound of Music,” has died, a longtime friend said Wednesday. Von Trapp, 97, died Tuesday at a hospice in the Baltimore suburb of Towson after suffering congestive heart failure in November, said Mary Louise Kane. Kane and von Trapp lived together for five decades and ran a kindergarten at the Sacred Heart Catholic parish in nearby Glyndon until 1993.

Von Trapp was the oldest daughter of Austrian naval Capt. Georg Ritter von Trapp. His seven children by his first wife, Agathe Whitehead von Trapp, were the basis for the singing family in the 1959 play and 1965 film, which won the Oscar for best picture.

The widowed captain had three more children with his second wife, Maria Augusta Kutschera. They performed together as the Trapp Family Singers. Agathe, a guitarist, was represented in the film by 16-going-on-17 Liesl, played by Charmian Carr. But Agathe was far more reserved than the outgoing Liesl, Kane said.

Although Agathe admired the movie, she felt it misrepresented her father as too strict and not as the loving, caring parent he was, Kane said.

Agathe’s death leaves four surviving members of the Trapp Family Singers: Maria von Trapp, 96; Rosmarie von Trapp, 81; Elenore “Lorli” von Trapp Campbell, 79; and Johannes, 71.

3 men convicted of unnoticed art theft

STOCKHOLM

A Swedish court has convicted three men of stealing a valuable painting by Edvard Munch from a museum that didn’t realize it was missing. The Malmo District Court says the men, who were not identified, were guilty of stealing the Norwegian expressionist’s canvas and two works by Swedish artists with a total value of $1.5 million (10 million kronor).

Police found the stolen goods while investigating other crimes. The Malmo Art Museum had taken down the paintings, including Munch’s “Two Friends,” earlier this year and placed them in a storeroom. It was not clear when or how the thefts occurred.

Spider-Man actor exits ICU, enters rehab

NEW YORK

The father of a stunt actor who fell 30 feet while playing Spider-Man on Broadway says his son is out of the hospital’s intensive-care unit and has begun inpatient rehabilitation. Christopher Tierney suffered a skull fracture and cracked vertebrae in the Dec. 20 fall.

Tim Tierney says his son was able to walk with the help of a full-torso brace Tuesday before being discharged from the hospital and transferred to a New York City rehab facility.

Christopher Tierney fell during a performance of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” plunging from a ledge into a stage pit despite a safety harness that should have prevented the spill.

Model in campaign against anorexia dies

PARIS

Isabelle Caro, a French actress and model whose anorexic image appeared in a shock Italian ad campaign, has died at age 28. Her longtime acting instructor, Daniele Dubreuil-Prevot, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Caro died Nov. 17 after returning to France from a job in Tokyo.

Dubreuil-Prevot said she did not know the cause of death but that Caro “had been sick for a long time,” referring to her anorexia.

Caro featured in an ad campaign by Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani in 2007 for an Italian fashion house. Under the headline “No Anorexia,” images across newspapers and billboards showed Caro naked, vertebrae and facial bones protruding.

Box-office revenues approach record

LOS ANGELES

Domestic box-office revenues for 2010 won’t quite hit last year’s record-setting haul, but they’ll be awfully close.

Total movie-ticket sales will reach $10.556 billion, the tracking agency Hollywood.com said Tuesday. That’s a slight decrease from the $10.6 billion total from 2009, but it’s also only the second time that the annual box office has crossed the $10 billion mark.

At the same time, total attendance was down 5.36 percent from last year. That’s the biggest percentage drop year over year since 2005. This also will be the second-lowest attended year of the decade.