Elke Sommer, Golden Globe Winner, Dies at 85

Elke Sommer, who won a Golden Globe for her early film work, died Wednesday, Oct. 28, at her home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. She was 85.

The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline reported her death, which followed an extended period of declining health.

Sommer was born Elke Schletz in Berlin in 1940, the daughter of a Lutheran minister. According to her Wikipedia biography, she worked as an au pair in England before acting in European films and moving to Hollywood.

Her 1963 film 'The Prize,' in which she appeared with Paul Newman and Edward G. Robinson, earned her the 1964 Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer Actress. She starred opposite Peter Sellers in the 1964 sequel 'A Shot in the Dark.' Her other roles included parts with Bob Hope in 'Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!' and with Dean Martin in 'The Wrecking Crew,' which also featured Sharon Tate.

Sommer also acted in Mario Bava's horror films 'Baron Blood' and 'Lisa and the Devil,' appeared in the British comedy 'Carry On Behind,' and reunited with Sellers in 'The Prisoner of Zenda' in 1979. Television audiences saw her on 'The Dean Martin Show' and as a panelist on 'Hollywood Squares.' Outside acting, she recorded albums and spent more time painting as her film career slowed.

Her husband, German hotelier Wolf Walther, died of cancer three months earlier. Family plans call for Sommer to be buried beside him in Marloffstein, Germany, where her parents are also buried.