Eleanor Parker dies of pneumonia complications at 91

Eleanor Parker, who played the baroness in The Sound of Music, has died aged 91 in California.

Family friend Richard Gale said Eleanor Parker died on Monday due to complications from pneumonia in Palm Springs.

Eleanor Parker was Oscar-nominated three times, in 1951, 1952 and 1956.

Her co-star Christopher Plummer described her as “one of the most beautiful ladies I have ever known – 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,” he said.

Eleanor Parker was discovered at the Pasadena Playhouse and was signed to a contract at Warner Bros where she played minor roles until she was cast in the lead of 1946 film Of Human Bondage.

However, the film flopped and Eleanor Parker did not secure her real breakthrough performance until 1950 in Caged.

Her portrayal of an inmate in a brutal prison, who arrives as a young innocent but becomes a tough convict, brought her first best actress Oscar nomination.

Eleanor Parker’s second Academy nod came the following year as Kirk Douglas’s frustrated wife in Detective Story.

A string of successful films followed including Scaramouche with Stewart Granger and Valley of the Kings with Robert Taylor.

Eleanor Parker then scored her third Oscar nomination for her role as opera star Marjorie Lawrence in 1955’s Interrupted Melody, where she learnt to lip-sync nine arias in three languages.

Her last memorable role was in 1965’s The Sound of Music, starring opposite Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews.

Eleanor Parker’s last credit was the 1991 TV movie, Dead on the Money.