Elke Sommer, a German actor who achieved prominence in Hollywood during the 1960s, passed away at 85. She emerged as part of a postwar wave of European performers who found success in American cinema, distinguished by her glamorous appeal and comedic timing in light entertainment features.
Sommer gained her most recognized role as Maria Gambrelli, a maid in the 1964 comedy A Shot in the Dark opposite Peter Sellers’ Inspector Clouseau. She collaborated with numerous comedy heavyweights throughout the decade, including Dick Van Dyke, Bob Hope, and Dean Martin. Beyond acting, she developed a reputation as an accomplished athlete, earning the nickname “the Brute” on the celebrity tennis circuit for her competitive backhand. Her physical prowess extended to her film work, performing precision driving in the 1966 spy-fi comedy Deadlier Than the Male, which featured her as one of two assassins and later became a formative cinema experience for director Quentin Tarantino.
Born in Berlin to a Lutheran pastor of aristocratic background, Sommer initially intended to pursue linguistics as an interpreter or language instructor. A beauty contest victory in Italy led to her film debut in 1959. Her linguistic fluency—she spoke seven languages—facilitated casting opportunities across multiple European film industries before MGM secured her Hollywood breakthrough opposite Paul Newman in The Prize (1963), earning her a Golden Globe for most promising newcomer.
As roles in Hollywood diminished, Sommer transitioned toward European productions, television, and theater during the 1970s and 1980s. She appeared in Italian horror films and British comedies, hosted a television painting program reflecting her longtime artistic pursuits, and presented a show about high-performance automobiles. Following her 1981 divorce from her first husband, gossip columnist Joe Hyams, she married German hotelier Wolf Walther in 1993. Sommer maintained a litigious streak, successfully suing socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor for libel in connection with public remarks about her career trajectory.
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