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Photo of Elke Sommer

Elke Sommer

ActorBorn November 5, 1940 (84 years)
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.

In 1975, Peter Rogers cast her in the British comedy Carry On Behind as the Russian Professor Vrooshka.[2] She became the Carry On films' joint highest-paid performer, at £30,000; this was an honor that she shared with Phil Silvers (who starred in Follow That Camel).

Most of her movie work during the decade came in European films. After the 1979 comedy The Prisoner of Zenda, which reunited her with Sellers, the actress did virtually no more acting in Hollywood films, concentrating more on her artwork. She provided the voice for Yzma in the German release of The Emperor's New Groove.

Sommer also performed as a singer, recording and releasing several albums.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Elke Sommer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Movies & Shows on Plex

  • Lisa and the Devil
  • Baron Blood
  • Deadlier Than the Male
  • Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna
  • A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square

Known For

  • A Shot in the Dark
  • Carry on Behind
  • Lisa and the Devil
  • The Prize
  • Baron Blood
  • The Wrecking Crew
  • Ten Little Indians
  • Deadlier Than the Male
  • Zeppelin
  • The Oscar
  • Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!
  • Amongst Vultures
  • The Money Trap
  • The House of Exorcism
  • They Came to Rob Las Vegas
  • The Prisoner of Zenda
  • The Art of Love
  • The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz
  • I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses
  • Severed Ties
  • Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna
  • It's Not the Size That Counts
  • Percy
  • The Double McGuffin

Filmography

2010
Life Is Too Long · as Alfis Mutter
2008
Dreams with Sharp Teeth · as Kay Bergdahl In 'the Oscar'
2005
Ewig rauschen die Gelder · as Mrs. Von Korff
2000
Flashback · as Frau Lust
1998
What's a Carry On? · as Professor Anna Vooshka
1996
Alles nur Tarnung · as Jutta
1995
Für alle Fälle Stefanie (TV Series) · as Hedwig Leutner
1993
Happy Holiday (TV Series) · as Isabella Scattini
1992
Severed Ties · as Helena Harrison
1990
Schmidteinander (TV Series)
1990
Counterstrike (TV Series) · as Anita Duvalier
1988
Himmelsheim · as Helga Münzel
1987
Der Stein des Todes · as Kris Patterson
1986
Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (TV Series) · as Isabel Von Hohenstauffen
1986
Peter the Great (TV Series) · as Charlotte
1985
Jenny's War (TV Series) · as Eva Gruenberg
1984
Niemand weint für immer · as Lou Parker
1984
Lily in Love · as Alicia Braun
1983
The Winds of War (TV Series)
1982
St. Elsewhere (TV Series)
1982
Inside the Third Reich · as Magda Goebbels
1981
The Man in the Pajamas · as Frau Lachmann
1980
1980
Top of the Hill · as Eva Heggener
1979
1979
The Double McGuffin · as Prime Minister Kura
1979
The Fantastic Seven · as Rebecca Wayne
1979
The Prisoner of Zenda · as Countess Montparnasse
1978
I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses · as Magdalene Kruschen
1978
The Astral Factor · as Chris Hartman
1977
That's Carry On! · as Professor Anna Vooshka
1977
The Love Boat (TV Series) · as Benita James
1977
Fantasy Island (TV Series) · as Etain
1976
Risking · as Perrone's Secretary
1976
The Swiss Conspiracy · as Rita Jensen
1976
One Away · as Elsa
1975
The Net · as Christa Sonntag
1975
Carry on Behind · as Professor Anna Vooshka
1975
The House of Exorcism · as Lisa Reiner
1974
Ten Little Indians · as Vera Clyde
1974
1974
One or the Other · as Miezi
1974
The Six Million Dollar Man (TV Series) · as Dr. Ilse Martin
1973
Die Reise nach Wien · as Toni Simon
1973
Lisa and the Devil · as Lisa Reiner
1973
1972
Baron Blood · as Eva Arnold
1972
Probe · as Heideline 'uli' Ullman
1971
Zeppelin · as Erika Altschul
1971
Percy · as Helga
1970
1968
The Wrecking Crew · as Linka Karensky
1968
They Came to Rob Las Vegas · as Ann Bennett
1968
1967
1967
The Corrupt Ones · as Lilly Mancini
1966
The Venetian Affair · as Sandra Fane
1966
The Oscar · as Kay Bergdahl
1966
1965
The Jack Benny Hour · as Elke Sommer / Maria Poppenini
1965
The Money Trap · as Lisa Baron
1965
The Art of Love · as Nikki Dunnay
1965
The Dolls · as Ulla (segment "il Trattato Di Eugenetica")
1964
Amongst Vultures · as Annie Dillman
1964
A Shot in the Dark · as Maria Gambrelli
1963
The Prize · as Inger Lisa Andersson
1963
1963
The Victors · as Helga
1963
1963
Who Stole the Body? · as Brigitte
1962
1962
Bahía de Palma · as Olga
1962
Café Oriental · as Sylvia
1962
Le chien · as Elle
1962
Sweet Violence · as Elke
1961
Auf Wiedersehen · as Suzy Dalton
1961
Geliebte Hochstaplerin · as Barbara Shadwell
1961
Daniella by Night · as Daniella
1961
Why Bother to Knock · as Ingrid
1961
1960
1960
1960
Howlers of the Dock · as Giulia Giommarelli
1959
The Day It Rained · as Ellen
1959
Ship of the Dead · as Mylène Loureau
1959
Ragazzi del Juke-Box · as Giulia Cesari
1959
Men and Noblemen · as Caterina
1955
Miss Universe (TV Series) · as Host
1951
Hallmark Hall Of Fame (TV Series) · as The Princess

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