Elke Sommer, ‘Pink Panther’ Star and Golden Globe Winner, Dies at 85
Elke Sommer, the German-born actress who became one of the best-known faces of 1960s Hollywood, has died at the age of 85. She died at her home in the Bel Air neighbourhood of Los Angeles on Wednesday 28 October, her stepson Sebastian Walther told the German outlet Bild, USA Today and Page Six reported.
A death a week before her birthday
USA Today reported that Sommer died of heart failure after an extended period of illness, passing away peacefully at around 10 p.m. She would have turned 86 on 5 November.
Her death came three months after the death of her husband, hotelier Wolf Walther, who died on 22 July aged 77 after a cancer diagnosis, according to Bild. The couple had been married since 1993. Walther told Bild that Sommer could now finally be with her beloved husband again, USA Today reported, while her friend Erwin Schneider told the outlet that her health had steadily declined since her husband’s death.
From Berlin to Hollywood
Sommer was born Elke Schletz in Berlin in 1940, USA Today reported. She had first hoped to become an interpreter and could speak six languages by her teens, Page Six reported, before a beauty contest during a holiday in Italy opened the door to acting. Page Six reported that she won the Miss Viareggio contest aged 17 in 1958 and was spotted by the Italian director Vittorio De Sica, going on to appear in Italian and German films in the early 1960s.
Her Hollywood breakthrough came in 1963 with The Prize, opposite Paul Newman and Edward G. Robinson. USA Today reported that her performance earned her a Golden Globe in 1964, listed by the awards organisation as new star of the year, actress. The following year she appeared in Blake Edwards’ A Shot in the Dark, the second film in the Pink Panther series, playing Maria Gambrelli, a maid suspected of murder whose innocence Peter Sellers’ Inspector Clouseau insists on proving.
A 1960s screen presence
USA Today reported that Sommer became one of Germany’s best-known Hollywood stars of the decade, building a career across film, television and theatre. Her other films included The Art of Love, The Oscar, The Wrecking Crew and The Prisoner of Zenda, the outlet reported.
Bild reported that Sommer wanted to be buried in her family’s grave in Marloffstein, Germany, where her parents are buried, and that her stepson was arranging for her and her husband to be laid to rest together there, USA Today reported.
Sources: USA Today, 29 October 2026; Page Six, 29 October 2026.