Biography
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. 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.
Filmography
all 149
Movies 97
TV Shows 52
self 48
Albert Speer und der Traum von Hollywood (2021)
A Thousand Kisses (2017)
Wer weiß denn sowas? (2015)
Life Is Too Long (2010)
Elke Sommer erzählt... (2010)
Tietjen und Hirschhausen (2009)
Lafer! Lichter! Lecker! (2006)
Filmlegenden. Deutsch (2006)
Ewig rauschen die Gelder (2005)
Reblaus (2005)
Filmlegenden. Deutsch (2005)
The Curious Case of Inspector Clouseau (2002)
Die WIB-Schaukel (2001)
Menschen der Woche (2000)
Flashback (2000)
Nicht mit uns (2000)
Doppeltes Spiel mit Anne (1999)
The Last Days of Sharon Tate (1999)
Gisbert (1999)
Alles nur Tarnung (1996)
Die Harald Schmidt Show (1995)
alfredissimo! Kochen mit Bio (1994)
Florian III (1994)
Twisted Sex Vol. 5 (1993)
Happy Holiday (1993)
Destiny Ridge (1993)
Severed Ties (1992)
Schmidteinander (1990)
Training Your Best Friend (1989)
Himmelsheim (1989)
Na siehste! (1987)
Death Stone (1987)
Nachtcafé (1987)
Anastasia - The Mystery of Anna (1986)
Hollywood Ghost Stories (1986)
أخي وصديقي سأقتلك (1986)
Showgeschichten (1986)
ZDF-Fernsehgarten (1986)
Peter the Great (1986)
Jenny's War (1985)
Niemand weint für immer (1984)
Lily in Love (1984)
The Winds of War (1983)
St. Elsewhere (1982)
Inside the Third Reich (1982)
Krimistunde (1982)
Der Mann Im Pyjama (1981)
Wetten, dass..? (1981)
A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square (1980)
The Top of the Hill (1980)
Heut' abend (1980)
Verstehen Sie Spaß? (1980)
Jamaican Gold (1979)
The Prisoner of Zenda (1979)
The Double McGuffin (1979)
The Fantastic Seven (1979)
Die Pyramide (1979)
NDR Talk Show (1979)
I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses (1978)
Bio’s Bahnhof (1978)
The Astral Factor (1978)
The Love Boat (1977)
US Against the World (1977)
Nicht von gestern (1977)
That's Carry On! (1977)
Meet Him and Die (1976)
The Muppet Show (1976)
The Swiss Conspiracy (1976)
One Away (1976)
The Net (1975)
Carry On Behind (1975)
Schnick-Schnack (1975)
The House of Exorcism (1975)
And Then There Were None (1974)
Der große Preis (1974)
Percy's Progress (1974)
One or the Other of Us (1974)
The Six Million Dollar Man (1974)
Die Reise nach Wien (1973)
Lisa and the Devil (1973)
Je später der Abend (1973)
Baron Blood (1972)
Probe (1972)
Perlico - Perlaco (1971)
Dalli Dalli (1971)
Zeppelin (1971)
Percy (1971)
The Invincible Six (1970)
Münchner Bilderbogen (1970)
The Englebert Humperdink Show (1970)
Wünsch dir was (1969)
Unsere kleine Show (1969)
The Wrecking Crew (1968)
The Dick Cavett Show (1968)
They Came to Rob Las Vegas (1968)
The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz (1968)
Deadlier Than the Male (1967)
The Corrupt Ones (1967)
The Venetian Affair (1967)
Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966)
The Oscar (1966)
The Jack Benny Hour (1965)
Tausend Takte Übermut (1965)
The Money Trap (1965)
The Art of Love (1965)
Hotel der toten Gäste (1965)
The Dolls (1965)
Zwischenstation (1964)
Amongst Vultures (1964)
Der goldene Schuß (1964)
A Shot in the Dark (1964)
The Prize (1963)
… denn die Musik und die Liebe in Tirol (1963)
The Victors (1963)
The Danny Kaye Show (1963)
Seduction by the Sea (1963)
Who Stole the Body? (1963)
Nachts ging das Telefon (1962)
Bahía de Palma (1962)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962)
Un chien dans un jeu de quilles (1962)
Le Chien (1962)
Das Mädchen und der Staatsanwalt (1962)
Sweet Ecstasy (1962)
Café Oriental (1962)
Auf Wiedersehen (1961)
Beloved Con Artist (1961)
Musik aus Studio B (1961)
Don't Bother to Knock (1961)
Daniella by Night (1961)
Und sowas nennt sich Leben (1961)
Love, the Italian Way (1960)
The Warrior Empress (1960)
Himmel, Amor und Zwirn (1960)
Howlers of the Dock (1960)
Lampenfieber (1960)
The Day the Rains Came (1959)
Ship of the Dead (1959)
The Jukebox Kids (1959)
La Pica sul Pacifico (1959)
Stars in der Manege (1959)
Men and Noblemen (1959)
L'amico del giaguaro (1959)
Cinépanorama (1956)
Miss Universe (1955)
The Oscars (1953)
Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951)
The Bob Hope Show (1950)
Bambi Awards (1948)
Ratings
Gallery
Information
Known ForActing
GenderFemale
Birthday1940-11-05 (83 years old)
Birth PlaceBerlin, Germany
ReligionLutheranism
RelationshipsJoe Hyams (1964-01-01 - 1981-01-01)
CitizenshipsGermany
AwardsGolden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress, Bavarian Order of Merit
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