Elke Sommer, German actress in Pink Panther films, dies aged 85

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 29 Oct, 17:40 · Archive

German actress Elke Sommer, known for 1960s Hollywood films including A Shot in the Dark, has died aged 85.

Elke Sommer, the German actress who became a fixture of 1960s Hollywood comedies and spy films, has died aged 85. Bild magazine reported that she died in Los Angeles of heart failure. The Independent World reports she died at her home in Bel Air on Wednesday.

Born Elke Schletz in Berlin in 1940, the daughter of a Protestant pastor, Sommer was evacuated to Bavaria during the Second World War. She intended to study languages but was spotted by Italian director Vittorio De Sica after winning a beauty contest during a trip to Italy in 1958. She began her film career in Italian comedies before making her first English-language film, the 1961 British comedy Don't Bother to Knock alongside Richard Todd.

Sommer became known for her roles in major Hollywood films of the 1960s and 70s, working with some of the era's biggest stars. She appeared alongside Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther film A Shot in the Dark, Paul Newman in The Prize, Dick Van Dyke in The Art of Love, and Bob Hope and Dean Martin in other comedies. She also appeared in the Agatha Christie adaptation And Then There Were None and the British sex comedy Carry On Behind.

How it is being reported

• Elke Sommer, German-born star of ‘A Shot in the Dark’ and ‘The Prize,’ dies at 85Elke Sommer, the German actor known for her roles in 1960s Hollywood comedies and espionage films, has died at 85Independent World · 29 Oct, 17:11
• Elke Sommer, prolific German star of A Shot in the Dark and And Then There Were None, dies aged 85The Berlin-born actress had a gift for languages that took her to Hollywood, landing roles alongside Peter Sellers, Dick Van Dyke and Paul Newman Elke Sommer, the prolific German star of the Pink Panther film A Shot in the Dark, early 70s Agatha Christie adaptation And Then there Were None, and British sex comedy Carry On Behind, has died aged 85. Bild magazine reported that Sommer had died in Los Angeles of heart failure. German-born Sommer, whose best-known film roles were in the 1960s and 70s, was one of the wave of European performers who crossed over to Hollywood and English-language…The Guardian · 29 Oct, 16:36

In this story: Elke Sommer · Berlin · Los Angeles · Peter Sellers · Paul Newman · Dick Van Dyke · Vittorio De Sica

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