Ruth Leuwerik (23 April 1924 - 12 January 2016) was a German film actress, one of the most popular stars of German film during the 1950s. She appeared in 34 films between 1950 and 1977. Leuwerik is probably best known for her portrayal of Maria von Trapp in the films The Trapp Family and The Trapp Family in America.

Born in Essen as Ruth Leeuwerik, she grew up there and in Münster. She began her acting career with stage roles in the late 1940s. In the 1950s she and Dieter Borsche were considered as the ideal couple of the German film. In 1962 she starred in the Helmut Käutner film Redhead, which was entered in the 12th Berlin International Film Festival. She is a five-time Bambi Award winner. Leuwerik died in Munich on 12 January 2016.

Selected filmography

• Dreizehn unter einem Hut (de) (1950, her film debut)
• A Heart Plays False (1953)
• His Royal Highness (1953, after Thomas Mann's novel)
• Ludwig II: Glanz und Ende eines Königs (1955)
• Rosen im Herbst (de) (1955, after Theodor Fontane's novel Effi Briest)
• The Trapp Family (1956)
• Queen Louise (1957)
• Goodbye, Franziska (1957)
• The Trapp Family in America (1958)
• Dorothea Angermann (1959)
• Sweetheart of the Gods (1960)
• Redhead (1962)
• The House in Montevideo (1963)
• Eleven Years and One Day (1963)
• Ein Alibi zerbricht (de) (1963)
• Und Jimmy ging zum Regenbogen (1971)
• Unordnung und frühes Leid (de) (1976)
• Derrick - Season 5, episode 4: "Ein Hinterhalt" (1978) (TV)
• Die Buddenbrooks (de) (1979, TV miniseries, after Thomas Mann's novel)
• Derrick - Season 10, episode 4: "Der Täter schickte Blumen" (1983) (TV)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]