Elke Sommer, ‘A Shot in the Dark,’ ‘The Prize’ star, dies at 85

Actress Elke Sommer, who starred in the second “Pink Panther” film “A Shot in the Dark” and also excelled in “The Prize,” “The Art of Love” and “Deadlier Than the Male,” died on Wednesday, her stepson said. She was 85.

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Sommer died in her home, located in the Bel-Air niehgborhood of Los Angeles, Sebastian Walther told the German newspaper Bild, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Elke passed away peacefully around 10 p.m. Now she can finally be with her beloved husband again (German hotelier Wolf Walther),” he said.

Elke Sommer, the German-born actress who starred in several major 1960s films like “The Prize” with Paul Newman and the “Pink Pnther” sequel “A Shot in the Dark” with Peter Seller, has died. She was 85. She died just three months after her husband, Wolf Walther, died of cancer. https://t.co/sZiRRgFtbW

— Variety (@Variety) October 29, 2026

Sommer passed away three months after her husband died of cancer, Variety reported.

Sommer was born in Berlin on Nov. 5, 1940, while it was under Nazi occupation, the entertainment news website reported. Her family fled the capital during World War II and relocated to the town of Niederndorf. In 1957, Sommer moved to London, Variety reported.

While vacationing with her mother in Italy, someone pinned a ribbon on Sommer while they were sitting in a cafe and declared her the winner of a beauty contest, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Her photograph the next day in a local newspaper caught the eye of a movie producer.

The photogenic Sommer would go on to have a productive movie career, particularly during the 1960s.

In 1964, Sommer posed for Playboy for the first time and spent some time in the buff as a maid who was rescued -- and romanced -- by Peter Sellers’ bumbling Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers), in “A Shot in the Dark,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“It has happened frequently that I am on a golf course, for example, with the regular crowd on Tuesdays, and from a distance, I hear someone yelling, ‘Hey, Maria Gambrelli! How are you!?’” Sommer said in a 2014 interview for the website Film Talk. “It makes me feel very privileged — all of the Pink Panther films were very good, and I’m very happy that a lot of people say ‘A Shot in the Dark’ is the best, which I think is very true.”

Sommer also appeared with Paul Newman in “The Prize” (1963) and with James Garner and Dick Van Dyke in “The Art of Love” (1965). She also starred as one of two beautiful assassins in 1967’s satirical film, “Deadlier Than the Male.”

In 1964, Sommer won a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer Actress for “The Prize,” Variety reported.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sommer appeared in several films during the 1970s. They included “Percy” (1971), “Zeppelin” (1971), “It’s Not the Size That Counts” (1974), “One or the Other” (1974), “Ten Little Indians” (1975) and “Carry on Behind” (1975).