Elke Sommer, 'Pink Panther' actress, dead at 85
Page Six • • entertainment
Key Points:
- Golden Globe-winning actress Elke Sommer, known for her role as Maria Gambrelli in the “Pink Panther” franchise, has died of heart failure at age 85, just one week before her 86th birthday.
- Sommer passed away peacefully at her Bel Air home, three months after the death of her husband of 32 years, Wolf Walther, from cancer.
- Born in Berlin in 1940, Sommer’s career spanned 58 years, beginning after she won an Italian beauty contest at 17 and later earning a Golden Globe in 1964 as Most Promising Newcomer.
- She gained international fame for her role alongside Peter Sellers in “A Shot in the Dark” and appeared in notable films such as “The Oscar” and “The Wrecking Crew,” also featuring in multiple Playboy shoots during the 1960s and 1970s.
- Sommer was married twice, first to Hollywood columnist Joe Hyams and later to Wolf Walther, whom she met in 1989; her close friends noted she cherished her late husband deeply and is now reunited with him.
