Lauri Peters (born Patricia Peterson, July 2, 1943) is an American actress, dancer, singer, drama teacher and author.Peters created the role of Liesl Von Trapp in the original 1959 Broadway production of The Sound of Music. She received a Tony Award 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 messenger boy Rolfe, with whom Liesl has a song ("Sixteen Going on Seventeen") and a mutual attraction. She can be heard on the show's cast album, which has sold more than three million copies in the U.S.Her film roles found her romantically involved with teen idol singers Fabian and Cliff Richard, and acting alongside James Stewart and Sidney Poitier.She also appeared as Moll in the Howard Da Silva directed revival of Marc Blitztein's The Cradle Will Rock. She appeared on popular television shows of the 1960s and '70s, including Gunsmoke, but worked primarily in the theater, on Broadway and off, and in touring companies.With noted acting teacher Sanford Meisner, Peters founded the Meisner Extension at NYU in 1993, where she was Artistic Director and Master Teacher. Teaching the technique away from Manhattan, she has written a book on Meisner.
For Love of Ivy, Summer Holiday, Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation
Star Sign
Cancer
#
Fact
1
Created the role of Liesl Von Trapp in the original Broadway cast of "The Sound of Music" (1959); in the 1965 film adaptation, the part was played by Charmian Carr.
2
Founder with Sanford Meisner, in 1993, of the Meisner Extention at NYU (Undergraduate Drama, Tisch School of the Arts). Artistic Director and the Acting Teacher of the Extention for five years (where NYU named her Master Teacher), Lauri is now teaching the Meisner work outside of NYU. She is currently writing a series of books on Meisner and his methods. [June 2002]
3
Once married to actor Jon Voight in the 1960s, they appeared on stage together at the Old Globe in San Diego. He played Romeo to her Juliet, and he played Thurio and she Julia in "Two Gentlemen of Verona".