The hills are alive with the sound of grizzlies! Debbie Turner, who played Marta von Trapp in the iconic film The Sound of Music was a guest this week on Mama Grizzly Radio. The actress is a big fan of Governor Sarah Palin and it turns out the admiration is mutual.
While speaking on The Palin Update radio program, Turner talked about the time she met Palin at a book signing in Minnesota. After waiting in line for hours to see the first woman to ever appear on a national Republican ticket, Turner was surprised to learn that Palin was just as excited to meet her. Palin is a huge fan of The Sound Of Music, so when the woman in front of Turner notified Palin that the actress who played Marta was coming up next, the fun ensued.
“She (Palin) nearly jumped over the table,” Turner recalled. “She goes ‘Oh my gosh I’m such a fan, I’m so in awe right now, I’m star struck’—She said that to me with ten thousand people behind me waiting to get her signature.”
Typical Sarah Palin. Caring more about the person she is engaged with over herself.
After talking to Palin, Turner even got to meet the governor’s family, the Heaths, during the book signing.
“She told me I want you to go meet my folks, they’re in the green room,” Turner said. “We got to visit with them for about forty-five minutes and they invited us to come to Wasilla.” Turner did just that. She headed to Alaska with her daughter and her friend Jacquie Emmer, wife of future Palin-powered Congressman Tom Emmer.
“We hung out with the Heath family for a couple of days actually,” said Turner. “It was a lot of fun.”
Turner now runs a successful floral company and she’s been very instrumental in politics in Minnesota as well as nationally. Turner provided flowers at the 2008 Republican National Convention. She helped get Tom Emmer elected to the House of Representatives and she worked hard for Donald Trump’s run for the White House.
As for her memories of The Sound Of Music, Turner speaks fondly of those days. She is grateful the film is still wildly popular and she understands on a personal level the true impact the movie has had on people. “Every once in awhile I’ll come upon somebody that has named their daughter Marta after my character which is very endearing for me to know that,” Turner said.
Fifty-two years later and The Sound Of Music is still going strong. There’s little doubt as to why. Solid people like Debbie Turner were the driving force behind this true American classic.
To hear Debbie Turner’s interview on Mama Grizzly Radio, click here.
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Follow Kevin Scholla on Twitter @kevinscholla