Question: Gretel was 5 years old and the mother died seven years ago. Who is Gretel's mom?
Bishop73
30th Nov 2013
The Sound of Music (1965)
Answer: However when Captain Von Trapp gets the children to step forward and introduce themselves to Maria he states that their mother died 7 years ago.
Not in the 1965 film, perhaps in another version. In the 1965 film the only thing he says about his late wife when he first meets Maria is "you'll be the 12th governess...since their mother died." When he has the children introduce themselves, he only advises Maria to pay attention to their signals and names. Later after he leaves and the children say how old they are, Marta says "I'll be 7 on Tuesday."
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Answer: In the film, the Mother Abess explains to Maria that the Captain Von Trapp's wife died "several years" ago. This is commonly misheard by viewers as "seven years." In reality, the actual mother of the Von Trapp children was Agathe Whitehead, who died of scarlet fever in 1922, just four years before Maria came to the Von Trapp home, initially as a tutor (not a governess) in 1926.
Michael Albert