Elke Sommer, the German-born actress who starred opposite Peter Sellers in A Shot in the Dark, Paul Newman in The Prize, and appeared in horror films including Mario Bava’s Baron Blood and Lisa and the Devil, has died at the age of 85. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sommer died of heart failure at her home in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, on October 28. Her stepson, Sebastian Walther, confirmed her death to the German newspaper Bild. Sommer would have celebrated her 86th birthday on November 5.
During her career, Sommer worked in Hollywood and European cinema, appearing in comedies, spy thrillers, horror movies, and television productions. She also recorded music, performed on stage, and developed a career as a painter.
Elke Sommer’s Hollywood Breakthrough in The Prize
Born Elke Schletz in Berlin on November 5, 1940, Sommer was discovered while vacationing with her mother in Viareggio, Italy. After winning a local beauty contest, she attracted the attention of filmmakers and began appearing in European productions in the late 1950s. She adopted the surname Sommer and worked in Italian, German, French, and British films before making her Hollywood breakthrough.
Her major American opportunity came with The Prize (1963), an espionage thriller directed by Mark Robson and written by Ernest Lehman. Starring Paul Newman as a Nobel Prize-winning novelist caught up in an international conspiracy, the film cast Sommer as Inger Lisa Andersson, a Swedish chaperone who helps thwart East German spies. Sommer’s performance earned her a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer – Female in 1964. She shared the award with Tippi Hedren, recognized for The Birds, and Ursula Andress, known for Dr. No.
The role established Sommer as an international screen presence and led to appearances alongside some of the biggest stars of the era.
A Shot in the Dark Made Elke Sommer a Pink Panther Favorite
One of Sommer’s best-known performances came in Blake Edwards’ A Shot in the Dark (1964), the second film to feature Peter Sellers as Inspector Jacques Clouseau. Sommer played Maria Gambrelli, a maid accused of murder who becomes the focus of Clouseau’s investigation. The film became a favorite among fans of the Pink Panther series, and Sommer remained fond of the role decades later. In a 2014 interview with Film Talk, she recalled how audiences continued to recognize her character:
“It has happened frequently that I am on a golf course, for example, with the regular crowd on Tuesdays, and from a distance, I hear someone yelling, ‘Hey, Maria Gambrelli! How are you!?’ It makes me feel very privileged — all of the Pink Panther films were very good, and I’m very happy that a lot of people say A Shot in the Dark is the best, which I think is very true.”
Sommer continued to appear in high-profile productions throughout the 1960s. Her credits included The Art of Love (1965), opposite James Garner and Dick Van Dyke; The Money Trap (1965), with Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth; The Oscar (1966), with Stephen Boyd; and Bob Hope’s comedy Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966).
She also appeared in the spy films The Corrupt Ones (1967), Deadlier Than the Male (1967), They Came to Rob Las Vegas (1968), and The Wrecking Crew (1968), the Matt Helm comedy starring Dean Martin and Sharon Tate.
Elke Sommer’s Horror Movies With Mario Bava
Horror fans will remember Sommer for her work with Italian filmmaker Mario Bava, one of the masters of Italian genre cinema.
In Baron Blood (1972), Sommer played Eva Arnold, a woman drawn into the legacy of a sadistic nobleman portrayed by Joseph Cotten. Sommer reunited with Bava for Lisa and the Devil (1973), in which she played an American tourist who becomes trapped in a disturbing series of events involving a mysterious man played by Telly Savalas and a haunted Spanish house. The film later received a heavily reworked release as The House of Exorcism (1975), with additional footage added against Bava’s wishes.
Other notable genre credits included the science fiction adventure The Invincible Six (1970), the aviation thriller Zeppelin (1971), and the 1974 Agatha Christie adaptation Ten Little Indians.
Elke Sommer’s Later Career in Film, Television, and Art
Although Sommer’s Hollywood film career slowed after the 1960s, she continued working in European cinema. Her later credits included the British comedy Carry On Behind (1975), the thriller The Swiss Conspiracy (1976), and Richard Quine’s The Prisoner of Zenda (1979), which reunited her with Peter Sellers.
She also had a television career, appearing on shows like The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and St. Elsewhere. In the 1982 television production Inside the Third Reich, she portrayed Magda Goebbels opposite Ian Holm as Joseph Goebbels.
Sommer was also a frequent guest on The Dean Martin Show and made multiple appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Beyond acting, she recorded several albums, performed in stage productions, and hosted television programs devoted to painting and automobiles. Painting became an increasingly important part of her life as her screen appearances became less frequent. She hosted the PBS program Painting With Elke Sommer.
In 1993, Sommer was awarded $3.3 million in libel damages by a Santa Monica jury following a lawsuit against Zsa Zsa Gabor and Gabor’s husband, Frederick von Anhalt, over defamatory statements published in German magazines.
Elke Sommer’s Personal Life and Legacy
Sommer married Hollywood columnist and author Joe Hyams in 1964. The marriage ended in divorce in 1981. In August 1993, she married German hotelier Wolf Walther, whom she had met while appearing in the stage production Tamara in New York. The couple remained together until Walther’s death from cancer in July 2026. Sommer had no children of her own.
Her career spanned several countries and multiple languages. Whether playing a murder suspect in a classic Pink Panther comedy, a glamorous figure in an espionage thriller, or a tourist caught in one of Mario Bava’s nightmares, Sommer brought an great screen presence to her roles. Our condolences go out to her family, friends, and fans.
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