Posted on 10/29/2026 4:04:24 AM PDT by DFG
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.
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She was so beautiful back in the day.
I remember her well.
RIP
Hotter Than A $2 Pistol Back In Her Prime
She wanted to become an interpreter and could speak six languages by the time she was in her teens.
Yes she did she had it all brains and beauty
Wow Susan St.James, Barbara Barrie, a now Elke Sommer! Not a good week for women. May they RIP.
Wow Susan St.James, Barbara Barrie, a now Elke Sommer! Not a good week for women. May they RIP.
Wow Susan St.James, Barbara Barrie, a now Elke Sommer! Not a good week for women. May they RIP.
Wow Susan St.James, Barbara Barrie, a now Elke Sommer! Not a good week for women. May they RIP.
Wow Susan St.James, Barbara Barrie, a now Elke Sommer! Not a good week for women. May they RIP.
Wow Susan St.James, Barbara Barrie, a now Elke Sommer! Not a good week for women. May they RIP.
Wow Susan St.James, Barbara Barrie, a now Elke Sommer! Not a good week for women. May they RIP.
Wow Susan St.James, Barbara Barrie, a now Elke Sommer! Not a good week for women. May they RIP.
Wow Susan St.James, Barbara Barrie, a now Elke Sommer! Not a good week for women. May they RIP.
Wow Susan St.James, Barbara Barrie, a now Elke Sommer! Not a good week for women. May they RIP.
Wow Susan St.James, Barbara Barrie, a now Elke Sommer! Not a good week for women. May they RIP.
Wow Susan St.James, Barbara Barrie, a now Elke Sommer! Not a good week for women. May they RIP.
Wow Susan St.James, Barbara Barrie, a now Elke Sommer! Not a good week for women. May they RIP.
Wow Susan St.James, Barbara Barrie, a now Elke Sommer! Not a good week for women. May they RIP.
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