Page Six<\/a>.<\/p>\nBerlin-born Sommer\u2019s acting career spanned some 58 years \u2013 with her final credited acting role coming in 2017. <\/p>\n
However, the actor stepped away from the spotlight in recent years and had become bed-bound in recent months before her death \u2013 which Bild reported as being from heart failure. She would\u2019ve turned 86 on November 5.<\/p>\n
Sommer was born in the Nazi Reich in November 1940 \u2013 a year after World War II began in Europe \u2013 and initially she wasn\u2019t thinking about pursuing a Hollywood career, according to Bild.<\/p>\n
She wanted to become an interpreter and could speak six languages by the time she was in her teens. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
She was spotted by the Italian director Vittorio De Sica before starring in Italian comedies \u2013 one of which was entitled Men and Noblemen.<\/p>\n
Sommer starred in several Italian and German movies in the early 1960s before landing a role in the Mark Robson-directed movie The Prize \u2013 which starred Paul Newman and Edward G. Robinson.<\/p>\n
She received a Golden Globe in 1964 where she was named Most Promising Newcomer. <\/p>\n
But one of the actor\u2019 most recognisable acting roles came in the 1964 comedy flick A Shot in the Dark \u2013 the second instalment of the Pink Panther film franchise. <\/p>\n
Sommer played the maid Maria Gambrelli who was framed for the murder of chauffeur Miguel Ostros before having a sexual affair with Inspector Jacques Clouseau \u2013 who was played by Dr. Strangelove star Peter Sellers. <\/p>\n
She even declined to reprise her role in the 1993 movie Son of the Pink Panther because Sellers had already died, according to IMDB. Sellers died in 1980. <\/p>\n
Sommer was also known for her roles in the Russell Rouse-directed movie The Oscar and the 1968 movie The Wrecking Crew \u2013 the latter featuring the \u201cKing of Cool\u201d Dean Martin.<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t just make her name on the big screen. She featured in three Playboy shoots in September 1964, December 1967 and September 1970.<\/p>\n
During a July 1969 interview with the National Police Gazette, she admitted that she had painted naked on a hill outside her Beverly Hills home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the best way to get a tan all over,\u201d she quipped according to the article, which described her as \u201cHollywood\u2019s No. 1 nudie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Away from the screen, Sommer was married twice. She tied the knot to famed Hollywood columnist Joe Hyams in 1964 \u2013 before they divorced in 1981.<\/p>\n
Hyams said his marriage was \u201cthe best 17 years of [his] life\u201d and had \u201cno regrets,\u201d it was reported by UPI in December 1981.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we were married 17 years ago, no one thought our marriage would last long,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
She met Wolf Walther, who would later become her husband of 32 years, in 1989 while she was being cast for the play \u201cTamara.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in New York City starring in \u201cTamara\u201d and had to stay there for four months,\u201d she told Classic Film TV Cafe, reflecting on how the couple met. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I had to find an apartment but they were excruciatingly expensive, tiny and loud. As I knew the managing director of the Essex House, I wanted to talk to him about renting a room but the hotel had a new managing director, a man by the name of Wolf Walther. So we met. For him, it was love at first sight. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, it took a little longer, but not much longer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wolf Walther died in July following a cancer battle \u2013 and Sommer\u2019s friend Erwin Schneider told Bild \u201cShe could never have imagined a life without her beloved \u2018Papa Bear\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow Elke has finally been able to join him,\u201d Schneider, a Munich-based photographer, said.<\/p>\n
This article originally appeared in Page Six<\/a> and was reproduced with permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Golden Globe winner and international sex symbol Elke Sommer \u2013 who was known for her on-screen affair 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