Elke Sommer, the German-born actress whose striking presence made her a prominent fixture of 1960s Hollywood comedies and thrillers, died Wednesday at her home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. She was 85.
Her stepson, Sebastian Walther, confirmed her death to the German outlet Bild, stating that she died peacefully around 10 p.m. Her family said she died of heart failure, Radar Online reported. The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to The Associated Press that officers responded to the death of an 85-year-old woman on Sommer’s street Wednesday night.
Sommer’s passing came three months after the death of her husband of 32 years, German hotelier Wolf Walther, who died in July at age 77 following a battle with cancer.
From Berlin to the Hollywood Screen
Born Elke Schletz in Berlin on Nov. 5, 1940, in the midst of World War II, Sommer was the daughter of a Protestant pastor who died when she was 14. Her family fled the German capital during the war to live in Niederndorf. Fluent in multiple languages as a teenager, Sommer originally hoped to work as an interpreter. In 1957, she traveled to London to work as an au pair.
Her life changed course during an Italian vacation in 1958, where she won a local beauty contest and caught the attention of Italian filmmaker Vittorio De Sica. Adopting the surname Sommer, she soon found steady acting work in Italy, Spain and Britain, appearing in European productions such as “Men and Noblemen” and “The Friend of the Jaguar.”
Sommer arrived in Hollywood in the early 1960s after producer Pandro S. Berman discovered her in a German drama. She was cast opposite Paul Newman in the 1963 Cold War thriller “The Prize,” playing the chaperone and romantic partner to Newman’s character. The performance earned her the Golden Globe for most promising newcomer in 1964.
Global Fame and Signature Roles
Also in 1964, Sommer played one of her most famous roles in director Blake Edwards’ “A Shot in the Dark,” the second film in the “Pink Panther” series. She portrayed Maria Gambrelli, a parlor maid accused of murder whose innocence is championed by Peter Sellers’ bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau.
Throughout the remainder of the decade and into the 1970s, Sommer maintained a prolific screen presence. Her film credits included “The Art of Love” with Dick Van Dyke and James Garner, “Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!” alongside Bob Hope, “The Oscar” with Stephen Boyd, and “The Wrecking Crew” alongside Dean Martin and Sharon Tate. Later projects included the Agatha Christie adaptation “Ten Little Indians,” “Zeppelin” with Michael York, and horror titles such as “Baron Blood.”
Alongside her film career, Sommer gained widespread notoriety as a 1960s pinup, appearing multiple times in Playboy magazine. Reflecting on her sex symbol status, Sommer told Film Talk in 2014 that she never took the label seriously, explaining that she saw it merely as an aspect of the roles she was hired to play. “I was always playing, and the only thing I could bring was my energy,” Sommer said in the interview.
Personal Life and Later Years
Sommer was married twice. In November 1964, she married Hollywood journalist Joe Hyams, who also photographed her pictorial spreads for Playboy. The couple divorced in 1981.
In 1989, while staying in New York City to perform in the stage play “Tamara,” Sommer met Wolf Walther, then the managing director of the Essex House hotel. The couple married in 1993 and remained together until his death last July.
Sommer’s screen acting career spanned nearly six decades, concluding with her final credited role in 2017. Bild reported that the actress had become bed-bound in her final months before passing away one week prior to what would have been her 86th birthday.
