Fox News: How did you get your start in show business at age 3?
Angela Cartwright: I was born in England and my sister Veronica, we came with our parents to America. They dreamed of coming to America… Our next door neighbor in Los Angeles had children who were in show business… Well, my parents knew nothing about show business. I mean, my mother was a nurse, my dad was a technical artist.
But my mom looked into it and we started working right away. I got a movie with Paul Newman as his daughter in “Somebody Up There Likes Me.” And it never stopped. Then I did “Something of Value” with Rock Hudson. There were also commercials and modeling. And then I did “The Danny Thomas Show” for seven years.
Fox News: How did you end up in “The Sound of Music”?
Cartwright: After “The Danny Thomas Show,” my agent put me up for this movie called “The Sound of Music.” I don’t think anybody had a clue it was going to be a hit. It was at a time when the studios were just trying to make good movies. And Robert Wise was such a brilliant director.
It all just fell into place… Robert Wise who cast me with Paul Newman didn’t realize I was the same girl. I mean, I was 3. But at that time, he gave me a stuffed mouse. So I took it to the set one day while we were filming “The Sound of Music.” He looked at it and gasp. “I don’t believe it!” You’re the same girl!” So I think Bob and I just developed a connection from that. And I guessed he liked me because he cast me twice!
Fox News: How was it working on “The Sound of Music”?
Cartwright: It was heaven. When I was on the television show, I really didn’t have other kids around me. I had Rusty Hamer, who played my brother, but he used to pull my hair a lot! So it was great to be in something where I could sing and dance, two things I loved to do, and just be around kids.
The film was just an amazing journey. And filming in Salzburg was so wonderful. It really was a magical time. It took a year, but we were given plenty of rehearsal time. We knew those songs and dances inside and out.
Fox News: What was Julie Andrews like?
Cartwright: I loved her. We all did. You can kind of tell in the movie. We totally enjoyed her. She embraced us right from the very beginning. She sang to us in between takes and we would dance. She just did “Mary Poppins” so she would sing all these songs from that film. I mean, you can really tell that we adored her. She’s such a talent. She has such an amazing voice and it really was a great experience.
Fox News: It’s been said Christopher Plummer isn’t a fan of children. Is that true?
Cartwright: To tell you the truth, I believe that’s probably true. However, I think he used it to his advantage for the role of Captain von Trapp. All the kids were a little wary. I always really liked Chris, though. He was very sweet to me. It’s not like he was hateful or anything like that on set. He wasn’t. But I do think he was a lot more standoffish perhaps than Julie was.
And I’m not sure if that was an acting choice… Some of the kids didn’t have acting experience, so they weren’t sure what to expect. But you gotta admit, he was so lovable in that film, even though he’s very brisk and stern, I think. Now that I look at the movie as an adult, I can appreciate his acting style… And remember, this was a serious actor who’s done Shakespeare. I knew he had a lot of fear that this movie was going to be schmaltzy. And I think it’s that aim to not make this movie so sweet that really made it so popular.