Pink Panther and Carry On actress Elke Sommer dies aged 85, just three months after the death of her husband
Elke Sommer in *The Pink Panther*, the film series she was known for, alongside a career spanning five languages and Hollywood co-stars including Paul Newman and Peter Sellers.
Elke Sommer, the Berlin-born golden Globe winner who became one of Hollywood's most recognisable blonde bombshells of the 1960s, died of heart failure at her Bel Air home on Wednesday night, a week before her 86th birthday. Her stepson Sebastian Walther told German outlet Bild she "passed away peacefully around 10 pm," adding: "Now she can finally be with her beloved husband again."
Sommer's health had deteriorated sharply in the three months since her husband of 32 years, Wolf Walther, died of cancer in July aged 77.
Spotted at an Italian beauty contest aged 17 by director Vittorio De Sica, she went on to star opposite Peter Sellers, Paul Newman and Sharon Tate across a career spanning nearly six decades.
Her Golden Globe came in 1964 for 'The Prize'; she had become bed-bound in her final months, with her last screen credit in 2017.
