Eleanor Parker, the 3-time Academy Award nominated actress who played the baroness in The Sound of Music, died on Monday. She was 91.

Eleanor Parker Dies

Parker’s death was announced by family friend Richard Gale, who said that the actress died from complications stemming from a bout of pneumonia. She passed away at a Palm Springs medical facility, surrounded by her children.

The 1950s were Parker’s heyday in Hollywood, in which she received Oscar nods for Caged (1950), Detective Story (1951) and Interrupted Melody (1955). During the decade, she also appeared in Escape from Fort Bravo, Valley of the Kings, The Man with the Golden Arm and A Hole in the Head.

To modern audiences, Parker is best known for playing The Baroness in The Sound of Music, who tries futilely to woo Christopher Plummer’s Captain Von Trapp – who ends up smitten with Julie Andrew’s Maria. Upon leaning of Parker’s death, Plummer spoke fondly of his former costar.

"Eleanor Parker was and is one of the most beautiful ladies I have ever known," said Plummer in a statement. "Both as a person and as a beauty. I hardly believe the sad news for I was sure she was enchanted and would live forever."

Parker is survived by her children – Susan, Sharon and Richard from her second marriage to Bert Friedlob and son Paul from her third marriage to painter Paul Clemens. Her fourth husband, Shubert Theater manager Raymond Hirsch whom she married in 1966, predeceased her in 2001.

– Chelsea Regan

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