R.I.P. Elke Sommer, A Shot In The Dark star

But it was her lone appearance in the Pink Panther franchise that truly launched Sommer’s American career, as she portrayed innocent murder suspect Maria Gambrelli opposite Peter Sellers’ Inspector Clouseau in 1964’s A Shot In The Dark, widely regarded as the best of the long-running series. The accident-prone Gambrelli matched perfectly with the bumbling Clouseau as they accidentally survived multiple murder attempts and memorably wound up trapped at a nude resort. 

Sommer became a sex symbol, appearing several times in Playboy and becoming a popular guest on TV shows from The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, multiple Bob Hope specials, and The Hollywood Squares. Her Hollywood career stalling, Sommer worked largely in Europe during the 1970s, appearing in Italian horror films Baron Blood and Lisa And The Devil, both directed by Italian horror maestro Mario Bava. (The latter was quickly retitled House Of Exorcism in an attempt to ride The Exorcist‘s popularity.) 

Sommer reunited with Sellers for 1979’s comedy The Prisoner Of Zenda before tapering off her acting career in favor of her passions for painting and for race cars, eventually hosting television series about both (PBS’ Painting With Elke Sommer and the syndicated Elke Sommer’s World Of Speed And Beauty) during the 1980s. She memorably appeared on The Muppet Show‘s third season, playing, among others, a singing Cleopatra. 

Sommer won a $3.3 million settlement against actor Zsa Zsa Gabor in 1993 for libel, the same year she married German hotelier Wolf Walther, who died in July of this year. In a statement following her death from heart failure at her Bel Air home, Sommer’s stepson Sebastian Walter said, “Elke passed away peacefully around 10 p.m. Now she can finally be with her beloved husband again.”