Elke Sommer: German-born actress dies at 85
The star of 'A Shot in the Dark' and 'The Prize' passed away in Bel Air, Los Angeles, on Wednesday.
By Kofi Costa ·
Elke Sommer, the German-born actress known for her roles in 1960s Hollywood comedies and spy films, has died. She was 85 years old. Her stepson, Sebastian Walther, told the German news outlet Bild that Sommer died at her home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles on Wednesday.
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 on Wednesday night. Sommer was born Elke Schletz in Berlin on November 5, 1940, during World War II. Her father was a Protestant pastor who died when she was 14. The family evacuated to southern Germany in 1942.
Sommer began her career in 1958 after a trip to Italy with her mother, Renata, led to an invitation to appear in the film 'The Friend of the Jaguar.' She adopted the surname Sommer and worked throughout Europe in Italy, Spain, and England. Her breakthrough in Hollywood came when producer Pandro S. Berman cast her in 'The Prize,' opposite Paul Newman. The role earned her the Golden Globe for most promising newcomer.
She later appeared in Blake Edwards' 'A Shot in the Dark,' playing Maria Gambrelli, a maid framed for murder, alongside Peter Sellers. Other film credits include 'The Art of Love' with James Garner and Dick Van Dyke, 'Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!' with Bob Hope, and 'The Wrecking Crew' with Dean Martin and Sharon Tate. In the 1970s, she returned to Europe for roles in 'Zeppelin' and 'And Then There Were None.'
Sommer was involved in a public legal dispute with actress Zsa Zsa Gabor in the 1990s. Gabor and her husband, Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, made public comments regarding Sommer's finances and appearance. Sommer filed a defamation suit seeking $10 million. A jury awarded her $3.3 million in 1993. She married Joe Hyams in 1964; they divorced in 1981. She married Wolf Walther in 1993, and he died in July of this year at age 77.
In a 2014 interview with Film Talk, Sommer addressed her reputation as a sex symbol. She stated that she was always acting the part and bringing energy to her roles. 'I was always playing, and the only thing I could bring was my energy,' she said. She believed movie stars should be extraordinary and above average for the audience.
Sommer turned her focus to painting by the 1990s while making occasional appearances in film and television. She voiced the character Yzma in the German dub of 'The Emperor's New Groove.' Her death follows the passing of her second husband, Wolf Walther, earlier this year.
