Elke Sommer, the German-born actress who became one of the best-known stars of 1960s Hollywood, has died at 85. She died on October 28 at her home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, her stepson Sebastian Walther told the German outlet Bild.
Sommer died of heart failure after an extended period of illness, according to reports. She would have turned 86 on November 5.
Born Elke Schletz in Berlin in 1940, Sommer was spotted by Italian director Vittorio De Sica while on holiday in Italy, and went on to build a career across film, television and theatre. She won a Golden Globe as Most Promising Newcomer for her role opposite Paul Newman in The Prize in 1963.
Her best-known role came the following year, when she played Maria Gambrelli, a maid suspected of murder, opposite Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau in A Shot in the Dark, the second film in the Pink Panther series. She later appeared with Bob Hope in Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! and in Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.
Her death came three months after the death of her husband, hotelier Wolf Walther, who died in July at 77 following a cancer diagnosis. Bild reported that Sommer wanted to be buried in her family grave in Marloffstein, Germany, where her parents are buried.
Source: USA Today
