The youngest child actor in "The Sound of Music" couldn't swim.
Dame Julie Andrews has revealed that the youngest child actor in "The Sound of Music" nearly drowned during filming of the rowboat scene in the beloved and famous 1965 film.
Kym Karath, who was only 5 at the time she played Gretl, couldn't swim, Andrews said on Britain's Friday installment of "The Graham Norton Show."
But Andrews didn't know that until seconds before the cameras started to roll.
"We were filming on the water in a row boat," the actress recounted. "I was supposed to stand up and we would all fall out."
Then, "at the very last minute, just before the scene, the assistant director said, 'The little one can't swim, so when you fall out of the boat, can you get to her quickly?'''
Andrews said there was no time to object. When it came for the boat to flip over, she fell in the wrong direction.
"Well, of course, I fell back instead of forward and I had to swim like mad to get to her, the poor kid. I could see her flailing away. She went under at least twice, came up and then threw up!" Andrews said.
Thankfully, little Karath came out of the water just fine.
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