‘Pink Panther’ Star Elke Sommer Dies at 85
Golden Globe-winning actress Elke Sommer, the Berlin-born star of “A Shot in the Dark” and a 1960s screen icon, has died. She was 85.
Sommer died of heart failure around 10 p.m. Wednesday at her home in Bel Air, according to Page Six. Her death comes one week before her 86th birthday on Nov. 5. Her stepson, Sebastian Walther, confirmed the news to the German outlet Bild.
Her death follows that of her husband of 32 years, Wolf Walther, who died of cancer three months ago. “Now she can finally be with her beloved husband again,” a family statement said.
Sommer won the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer in 1964 and is remembered for her on-screen affair with Peter Sellers’ Jacques Clouseau in the Pink Panther classic “A Shot in the Dark” (1964). Her career spanned 58 years, with her final credited role coming in 2017. She had been bed-bound in recent years.
Featured image: A.k.zehnnullzwo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons