Lauri Peters (born Patricia Peterson; July 2, 1943) is an American actress, dancer, singer, drama teacher, and author.

Career

Peters created the role of Liesl Von Trapp in the original 1959 Broadway production of ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...

''. She received a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

nomination for Best Supporting or Featured Actress in a Musical, which she shared with her sibling castmates. She was married to actor Jon Voight (1962–67), whom she met when he joined the cast as

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

messenger boy Rolfe, with whom Liesl shares a song ("

Sixteen Going on Seventeen "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''The Sound of Music''. Background The lyrics of the song state that Liesl is a young girl at the beginning of her womanhood, and that she can depend on R ...

") and an attraction. She can be heard on the show's cast album, which has sold more than three million copies in the US. In Britain, she is probably best known as

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million ...

's romantic lead in the 1963 film '' Summer Holiday''. On film, she also acted alongside Fabian,

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality ...

, and

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...

. She appeared as Moll in the revival of

Marc Blitzstein Marcus Samuel Blitzstein (March 2, 1905January 22, 1964), was an American composer, lyricist, and librettist. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro- union musical ''The Cradle Will Rock'', directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the W ...

's ''

The Cradle Will Rock ''The Cradle Will Rock'' is a 1937 play in music by Marc Blitzstein. Originally a part of the Federal Theatre Project, it was directed by Orson Welles and produced by John Houseman. A Brechtian allegory of corruption and corporate greed, it i ...

'' directed by

Howard Da Silva Howard Da Silva (born Howard Silverblatt, May 4, 1909 – February 16, 1986) was an American actor, director and musical performer on stage, film, television and radio. He was cast in dozens of productions on the New York stage, appeared in mo ...

. Although she worked primarily in the theater, on and off Broadway, and in touring companies, she also appeared on popular television shows of the 1960s and '70s, including ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central chara ...

'', where she was featured as “Allie”, an innocent girl stuck in a poor family of eight (with a father and brother who were future-less lazy, whiners), yet she somehow remained kind and caring, as well as falling hard for her heartthrob, Marshall Dillon in the episode “Take Her, She’s Cheap” (S10E6). That was after her first starring role on ''

'' in 1964 (S9E20) as the title character “Mayblossom”, portraying Festus’s cousin (who was promised to him for marriage), but who also falls prey to being violated by a townsman. With acting teacher

Sanford Meisner Sanford Meisner (August 31, 1905 – February 2, 1997) was an American actor and acting teacher who developed an approach to acting instruction that is now known as the Meisner technique. While Meisner was exposed to method acting at the Grou ...

, Peters founded the Meisner Extension at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

in 1993, where she was artistic director and master teacher. Teaching the technique away from Manhattan, she has written a book on Meisner.

Musical theatre

*1959 '' First Impressions'' *1959 ''

Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Set ...

'' as Liesl Von Trapp *1964 ''

'' as Moll

Film

*1962 ''

Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation ''Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation'' is a 1962 American comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring James Stewart and Maureen O'Hara. The film is based on the novel ''Mr. Hobbs' Vacation'', by Edward Streeter and features a popular singer of the ...

'' *1963 '' Summer Holiday'' *1968 '' For Love of Ivy''

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Lauri 1943 births Living people American stage actresses American film actresses American television actresses Drama teachers Actresses from Detroit 21st-century American women