Elke Sommer, star of A Shot in the Dark and The Prize, dies at 85
The German-born actor died at her Bel-Air home on October 28, Deadline reported, citing an announcement from her stepson to Bild.
Elke Sommer, the German-born actor known for the Pink Panther sequel A Shot in the Dark and the film The Prize, died on October 28 at her home in Bel-Air, California, aged 85, according to Deadline. Her death brings renewed attention to a screen career that stretched from 1960s Hollywood films into later television work.
Deadline reported that Sommer died of heart failure. It said her stepson, Sebastian Walther, announced her death through a spokesperson to the German newspaper Bild. In the statement reported by Deadline, Walther said she had died peacefully around 10 p.m. and could now be with her husband again. Sommer's husband, German hotelier Wolf Walther, died on July 22.
Elke Sommer's films and television career
Born Elke Schletz in Berlin on November 5, 1940, Sommer moved briefly to London in 1957. Deadline reported that director Vittorio De Sica noticed her while she was on holiday in Italy the following year and began casting her in films. She adopted the surname Sommer as her acting career began. Variety reported that she moved to Hollywood in the early 1960s.
Her breakthrough came with The Prize, the 1963 film starring Paul Newman. Deadline reported that the performance earned her the Golden Globe's Most Promising Newcomer Actress recognition. In 1964, she appeared opposite Peter Sellers in A Shot in the Dark, the second Pink Panther film.
Her other 1960s films included The Art of Love with James Garner and Dick Van Dyke, The Oscar with Stephen Boyd, and Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! with Bob Hope, according to Variety. She also appeared alongside Dean Martin and Sharon Tate in The Wrecking Crew, a Matt Helm spy film released in 1968.
Sommer's work in the 1970s included Zeppelin, the Agatha Christie adaptation Ten Little Indians, and the horror films Baron Blood and Lisa and the Devil, Variety reported. Those roles followed the run of Hollywood comedies and thrillers for which she became widely known.
As her film career slowed, Sommer moved into television in the 1980s and 1990s. Deadline reported that she played Joseph Goebbels's wife in the 1982 miniseries Inside the Third Reich and appeared on programmes including St. Elsewhere, The Love Boat and The Muppet Show. She also appeared on the variety show hosted by her former The Wrecking Crew co-star Dean Martin.
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Sources and context
- Elke Sommer Dead: 'A Shot In The Dark', 'The Wrecking Crew' Actor Was 85Deadline
- Elke Sommer, ‘Pink Panther’ and ‘The Prize’ Star, Dies at 85Variety
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