# Elke Sommer has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [October 30, 2026, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elke-sommer-has-died/1034261 "2026-10-30T13:24:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elke-sommer-has-died/1034261/1 "2026-10-30T13:24:32Z")
German-born actress Elke Sommer has passed at the age of 85. If you don’t know who she is, you were never a teenage boy in the 1960s. She wasn’t much of an actress, but she played a starring role in many of my dreams. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elke-sommer-has-died/1034261/2 "2026-10-30T13:44:39Z")
I know her for her Pink Panther Movie, A Shot in the Dark and the weird Olympics movie with 4 stars of Hogan’s Heroes, _[The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063805/?ref_=nm_flmg_job_1_accord_1_cdt_t_66)_. I thought she was in a Bob Hope picture with Phyllis Diller also, but I can’t remember the name. Google’d it: [Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060186/?ref_=nm_flmg_job_1_accord_1_cdt_t_71) (1966) I wasn’t a teen until well after the 60s but I remember her. I do admit to often confusing her with Britt Ekland though. * * * * * * It has been a rough couple of weeks for old celebrities. So many just passed. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elke-sommer-has-died/1034261/3 "2026-10-30T13:53:39Z")
She was also a co-star in the much reviled movie _The Oscar_ with Stephen Boyd and Tony Bennett. I don’t remember much about her part except her odd characterization of herself as from a Chinese restaurant menu. “You take one from column A and two from column B. You get an eggroll either way.” Whoa. Eggroll, huh? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elke-sommer-has-died/1034261/4 "2026-10-30T14:11:15Z")
We Germans were proud of her, one of our rare Hollywood stars, although she rarely got out of B-movie territory. She was also kind of relaxed and even amused about her status as sex symbol, and once said “It’s funny that I’m considered a sex symbol, I only had four men in my life” (meaning her four husbands). Another point of trivia: she was the daughter of a Lutheran minister. Another funny story I read in one of her obituaries: she once successfully sued her colleague/rival(?) Zsa Zsa Gabor for falsely claiming that she was totally broke, getting more than $2 million in damages. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elke-sommer-has-died/1034261/5 "2026-10-30T14:26:02Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I only had four men in my life” (meaning her four husbands). Hm, she must have been like Elizabeth Taylor who would only sleep with men she married. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elke-sommer-has-died/1034261/6 "2026-10-30T14:26:40Z")
Both my older brother and I had the hots for Elke after seeing her in _ **A Shot in the Dark.** _ And I was only ten at the time! Drawing was one of her hobbies, and she had her own art show on PBS back in the '80s. My first daughter (now 45) loved to watch her draw and tried to copy her style. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elke-sommer-has-died/1034261/7 "2026-10-30T14:44:46Z")
Oh, and I forgot to mention that she was very polyglott and spoke six languages fluently. Spiegel Online where I got this from didn’t state which ones, but of course German and English, most probably Italian as she did a lot of work in Italy, probably also French and Spanish. Her sixth language, I can’t guess. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elke-sommer-has-died/1034261/8 "2026-10-30T15:06:44Z")
_A Shot in the Dark_ is one of my favourite comedies; the scene in the nudist camp was certainly memorable. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elke-sommer-has-died/1034261/9 "2026-10-30T15:07:17Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I do admit to often confusing her with Britt Ekland though. Same here. My first thought upon hearing of Elke Sommer’s death was-- oh, the innkeeper’s daughter in ‘The Wicker Man’? Checking IMDB-- nope, that was Britt Ekland. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elke-sommer-has-died/1034261/10 "2026-10-30T17:21:06Z")
Same here. I was wondering how _Wickerman_ hadn’t been mentioned when I know so many of us here love it 🤦 At least I know I’m correct in remembering her from many game shows in the '70s. Oh wait, it was mostly just _Hollywood Squares_. I could swear she was on all of them, especially _Match Game_. Regardless, I remember her fondly from my younger days. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elke-sommer-has-died/1034261/11 "2026-10-30T17:28:02Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Another funny story I read in one of her obituaries: she once successfully sued her colleague/rival(?) Zsa Zsa Gabor for falsely claiming that she was totally broke, getting more than $2 million in damages. Certainly ensured she wasn’t totally broke. 😀 ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elke-sommer-has-died/1034261/12 "2026-10-30T17:49:26Z")
I’d say she must’ve been like countless millions of women born around the same time as her.