Elke Sommer
Actor
Born November 5, 1940 in Berlin, Germany
Elke Sommer, born Elke von Schletz, is a German actress, entertainer and artist, who has starred in many Hollywood films. She was spotted by film director Vittorio De Sica while on holiday in Italy, and began appearing in films there in 1958. Also that year, she changed her surname from Schletz to Sommer, which was easier to pronounce for a non-German audience. She quickly became a noted sex symbol and moved to Hollywood in the early 1960s. She also became one of the most popular pin-up girls of the time, and posed for several pictorials in Playboy magazine, including the September 1964 and December 1967 issues. Sommer became one of the top film actresses of the 1960s. She made just shy of 100 film and television appearances between 1959 and 2005, including A Shot in the Dark with Peter Sellers, The Art of Love with James Garner and Dick Van Dyke, The Oscar with Stephen Boyd, Boy Did I Get a Wrong Number! with Bob Hope, the Bulldog Drummond extravaganza Deadlier Than the Male, The Wrecking Crew with Dean Martin, and The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz. In 1964, she won a Golden Globe award as Most Promising Newcomer Actress for The Prize, a film in which she co-starred with Paul Newman and Edward G. Robinson. A frequent guest on television, Sommer sang and participated in comedy sketches on episodes of The Dean Martin Show and on Bob Hope specials, made 10 appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and was a panelist on the Hollywood Squares game show many times between 1973 and 1980, when Peter Marshall was its "Square-Master", or host. Sommer's films during the 1970s included the thriller Zeppelin, in which she co-starred with Michael York, and a remake of Agatha Christie's frequently filmed murder mystery Ten Little Indians. In 1972, she starred in two Italian horror films directed by Mario Bava: Baron Blood and Lisa and the Devil. The latter was subsequently re-edited (with 1975 footage inserted) to make a different film called House of Exorcism. Sommer went back to Italy to act in additional scenes for Lisa and the Devil, which its producer inserted into the film to convert it to House of Exorcism, against the wishes of the director.
Filmography
Albert Speer und der Traum von Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
Wer weiß denn sowas?
Self
Life Is Too Long
Alfis Mutter
Elke Sommer erzählt...
Self
Lafer! Lichter! Lecker!
Self
Mario Bava: Operazione paura
Self
The Curious Case of Inspector Clouseau
self
Flashback
Frau Lust
The Last Days of Sharon Tate
Gisbert
What's a Carry On?
Professor Anna Vooshka (archive footage) (uncredited)
Alles nur Tarnung
Jutta
Die Harald Schmidt Show
Self
alfredissimo! Kochen mit Bio
Self
Twisted Sex Vol. 5
(archive)
Happy Holiday
Isabella Scattini
Severed Ties
Helena Harrison
Schmidteinander
Training Your Best Friend
Self
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous: The World's Most Exotic Vacation Resorts
Self
Death Stone
Kris Patterson
Nachtcafé
Self
Anastasia - The Mystery of Anna
Isabel Von Hohenstauffen
ZDF-Fernsehgarten
Self
Peter the Great
Charlotte
Jenny's War
Eva Gruenberg
Jenny's War
Eva Gruenberg
Niemand weint für immer
Lou Parker
Lily in Love
Alicia Braun
St. Elsewhere
Natasha
Inside the Third Reich
Magda Goebbels
Der Mann im Pyjama
Frau Lachmann
Wetten, dass..?
Self
A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
Miss Pelham
Top of the Hill
Eva Heggener
Heut' abend
Self
Verstehen Sie Spaß?
Self
Jamaican Gold
Ursula
The Prisoner of Zenda
Countess Montparnasse
The Double McGuffin
Prime Minister Kura
The Fantastic Seven
Rebecca Wayne
NDR Talk Show
Self
I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses
Magdalene Kruschen
The Astral Factor
Chris Hartman
That's Carry On!
Professor Anna Vooshka (archive footage)
The Love Boat
Benita James
US Against the World
Self
Meet Him and Die
Perrone's Secretary
The Muppet Show
Self - Special Guest Star
The Swiss Conspiracy
Rita Jensen
One Away
Elsa
The Net
Christa Sonntag
Carry On Behind
Professor Anna Vooshka
The House of Exorcism
Lisa Reiner
Dinah!
Self
And Then There Were None
Vera Clyde
Percy's Progress
Clarissa
One or the Other of Us
Miezi
The Six Million Dollar Man
Dr. Ilse Martin
The Journey to Vienna
Toni Simon
Lisa and the Devil
Lisa Reiner
The Bobby Darin Show
Baron Blood
Eva Arnold
Probe
Heideline 'Uli' Ullman
Dalli Dalli
Self
Zeppelin
Erika Altschul
Percy
Helga
The Invincible Six
Zari
The Wrecking Crew
Linka Karensky
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest
They Came to Rob Las Vegas
Ann Bennett
The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz
Paula Schultz
Mondo Hollywood
Deadlier Than the Male
Irma Eckman
The Corrupt Ones
Lilly Mancini
The Venetian Affair
Sandra Fane
Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!
Didi
The Oscar
Kay Bergdahl
The Jack Benny Hour
Elke Sommer / Maria Poppenini
Tausend Takte Übermut
Herself
The Money Trap
Lisa Baron
The Art of Love
Nikki Dunnay
Hotel der toten Gäste
Herself
The Dolls
Ulla (segment "Il Trattato di Eugenetica")
Frontier Hellcat
Annie Dillman
A Shot in the Dark
Maria Gambrelli
The Prize
Inger Lisa Andersson
… denn die Musik und die Liebe in Tirol
Singer
The Victors
Helga
The Danny Kaye Show
Self
Seduction by the Sea
Eva
Who Stole the Body?
Brigitte
Bahía de Palma
Olga
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
Un chien dans un jeu de quilles
Ariane
Le Chien
Elle
Das Mädchen und der Staatsanwalt
Renate Hecker
Sweet Ecstasy
Elke
Café Oriental
Sylvia
Auf Wiedersehen
Suzy Dalton
Geliebte Hochstaplerin
Barbara Shadwell
Don't Bother to Knock
Ingrid
Daniella by Night
Daniella
Und sowas nennt sich Leben
Britta
Love, the Italian Way
Greta
The Warrior Empress
Howlers of the Dock
Giulia Giommarelli
Lampenfieber
Evelyne
The Day the Rains Came
Ellen
Ship of the Dead
Mylène Loureau
The Jukebox Kids
Giulia Cesari
La Pica sul Pacifico
Rossana
Stars in the Ring
Self
Men and Noblemen
Caterina
L'amico del giaguaro
Greta
Cinépanorama
Self
Miss Universe
Host
Reflets de Cannes
Self
The Oscars
Self
Hallmark Hall of Fame
The Princess
The Bob Hope Show
Self
Bambi
Self