Heather Menzies-Urich Passes On

Heather Menzies-Urich, billed simply as Heather Menzies during her career, died on December 24 2017 at the age of 68. The cause was brain cancer.

Heather Menzies-Urich was born on December 3 1949 in Toronto, Ontario. When she was 11 years old her family moved to the United States. She attended Hollywood High School. She made her television debut in 1964 in an episode of The Farmer's Daughter, on which she briefly had a recurring role. She made her film debut playing Louisa, the second oldest daughter of the Von Trapps in The Sound of Music (1965). She guest starred on  such television shows as My Three Sons, the Sixties incarnation of Dragnet, Room 222, Marcus Welby M.D., The High Chaparral, To Rome with Love, and Bonanza. She appeared in the films Hawaii (1966), How Sweet It Is (1968), and Hail, Hero! (1969).

In the Seventies Mrs. Menzies-Urich starred as Jessica 6 in the short-lived, sci-fi series Logan's Run. She guest starred on such shows as The Smith Family; Alias Smith and Jones; Love, American Style; The Bob Newhart Show; Owen Marshall, Counsellor at Law; S.W.A.T.; Barnaby Jones; The Six Million Dollar Man; The Love Boat; and Vega$. She appeared in the films Outside In (1972), Sssssss (1973), and Piranha (1978).

In the Eighties she guest starred on such shows as Gavilan, T. J. Hooker, Spenser: For Hire, and American Dreamer. She appeared in the film Endangered Species (1982).

In 1975 Heather Menzies married fellow actor Robert Urich. The two had met while making a commercial in which they played a couple getting married. Following his death from synovial sarcoma in 2002 she founded the he Robert Urich Foundation, an organisation that raises money for cancer research and support for cancer patients.

Heather Menzies-Urich was a dependable performer, so there is little surprise that she made frequent guest appearances on television shows in the Sixties and Seventies. She guest starred on Dragnet no less than five times, playing a different character every time. While I have no doubt most people will remember her as Louisa in The Sound of Music or Jessica in Logan's Run, the fact is that she appeared in a number of shows and films throughout her career and played a wide variety of parts.