Golden Globe winner and international sex symbol Elke Sommer – who was known for her on-screen affair with Jacques Clouseau in the “Pink Panther” franchise – has died of heart failure – one week before her 86th birthday.
Sommer, 85, “passed away peacefully around 10 p.m” Wednesday at her home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel Air, her stepson Sebastian Walther told the German outlet Bild, and her death comes three months after her husband of 32 years Wolf Walther lost his battle with cancer.
“Now she can finally be with her beloved husband again,” Sebastian Walther added of the actress.
Berlin-born Sommer’s acting career spanned some 58 years – with her final credited acting role coming in 2017.
However, the actress stepped away from the spotlight in recent years and had become bed-bound in recent months before her death – which Bild reported as being from heart failure. She would’ve turned 86 on Nov. 5.
Sommer was born in the Nazi Reich in November 1940 – a year after World War II began in Europe – and initially she wasn’t thinking about pursuing a Hollywood career, according to Bild.
She wanted to become an interpreter and could speak six languages by the time she was in her teens.
However, her acting break would come after she won the Italian beauty contest Miss Viareggio age 17 while she was on vacation in the Mediterranean country in 1958.
She was spotted by the Italian director Vittorio De Sica before starring in Italian comedies – one of which was entitled “Men and Noblemen.”
Sommer starred in several Italian and German movies in the early 1960s before landing a role in the Mark Robson-directed movie “The Prize” – which starred Paul Newman and Edward G. Robinson.
She received a Golden Globe in 1964 where she was named Most Promising Newcomer.
But one of the actress’ most recognizable acting roles came in the 1964 comedy flick “A Shot in the Dark” – the second installment of the “Pink Panther” film franchise.
Sommer played the maid Maria Gambrelli who was framed for the murder of chauffeur Miguel Ostros before having a sexual affair with Inspector Jacques Clouseau – who was played by “Dr. Strangelove” star Peter Sellers.
She even declined to reprise her role in the 1993 movie “Son of the Pink Panther” because Sellers had already died, according to IMDB. Sellers died in 1980.
Sommer was also known for her roles in the Russell Rouse-directed movie “The Oscar” and the 1968 movie “The Wrecking Crew” – the latter featuring the “King of Cool” Dean Martin.
She didn’t just make her name on the big screen. She featured in three Playboy shoots in September 1964, December 1967 and September 1970.
During a July 1969 interview with the National Police Gazette, she admitted that she had painted naked on a hill outside her Beverly Hills home.
“It’s the best way to get a tan all over,” she quipped according to the article, which described her as “Hollywood’s No.1 nudie.”
Away from the screen, Sommer was married twice. She tied the knot to famed Hollywood columnist Joe Hyams in 1964 – before they divorced in 1981.
Hyams said his marriage was “the best 17 years of [his] life” and had “no regrets,” it was reported by UPI in December 1981.
“When we were married 17 years ago, no one thought our marriage would last long,” he added.
She met Wolf Walther, who would later become her husband of 32 years, in 1989 while she was being cast for the play “Tamara.”
“I was in New York City starring in “Tamara” and had to stay there for four months,” she told Classic Film TV Cafe, reflecting on how the couple met.
“So, I had to find an apartment but they were excruciatingly expensive, tiny and loud. As I knew the managing director of the Essex House, I wanted to talk to him about renting a room but the hotel had a new managing director, a man by the name of Wolf Walther. So we met. For him, it was love at first sight.
“For me, it took a little longer, but not much longer.”
Wolf Walther died in July following a cancer battle – and Sommer’s friend Erwin Schneider told Bild “She could never have imagined a life without her beloved ‘Papa Bear’”
“Now Elke has finally been able to join him,” Schneider, a Munich-based photographer, said.
