Elke Sommer
Date of birth: 1940-11-05
Place of birth: Berlin, Germany
Known for: Acting
Also known as:
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.[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.
Movie Credits
A Shot in the Dark
1964-06-23
Inspector Jacques Clouseau, smitten with the accused maid Maria Gambrelli, unwittingly turns a strai
Alles nur Tarnung
1996-11-14
After trying to smuggle a package into prison for his father Willi, Harry and his girlfriend Marlies
The Victors
1963-11-22
Intercutting dramatic vignettes with newsreel footage, the story follows the characters from an infa
The Wrecking Crew
1968-12-30
When Count Contini attempts to destroy the world's economy by masterminding the theft of $1 billion
The Prisoner of Zenda
1979-08-17
Anthony Hope's classic tale gets a decidedly 'un-classic' treatment at the hands of Peter Sellers. F
The Prize
1963-12-25
A group of Nobel laureates descends on Stockholm to accept their awards. Among them is American nove
And Then There Were None
1974-09-24
Ten people are invited to a hotel in the Iranian desert, only to find that an unseen person is killi
Baron Blood
1972-02-25
A young man, Peter, returns to Austria in search of his heritage. There he visits the castle of an a
Lisa and the Devil
1973-05-08
Lisa is a tourist in an ancient city. When she gets lost, she finds an old mansion in which to shelt
Deadlier Than the Male
1967-02-12
British agent Bulldog Drummond is assigned to stop a master criminal who uses beautiful women to do
Niemand weint für immer
1984-11-01
Frontier Hellcat
1964-12-08
Outlaws disguised as Indians commit crimes against settlers but Winnetou and Old Surehand are determ
Elke Sommer erzählt...
2010-01-01
Elke Sommer talks about her career in the film and music business.
The Swiss Conspiracy
1976-03-01
A Swiss bank discovers some of its clients are becoming the victim of a brilliant blackmailer. The b
The Money Trap
1965-09-07
When half a million dollars disappears from a doctor office's safe, the cops assigned to the burglar
Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!
1966-06-08
Tom Meade mistakenly dials the gorgeous European film star Didi at her Oregon hotel. Didi, who has e
That's Carry On!
1977-11-10
Celebrating twenty years of classic Carry On films, two of the films’ best-loved stars, Kenneth Will
Zeppelin
1971-04-08
The outbreak of World War I places Scots officer Geoffrey Richter-Douglas in an uncomfortable positi
The Dolls
1965-01-27
This semi-amusing sex (romance) comedy has four separate stories: "The Telephone Call", written by R
Carry On Behind
1975-06-10
Professors Vooshka and Crump decide to visit an archaeological site to study the artifacts there. Lo
The Fantastic Seven
1979-05-30
An intrepid team of stunt experts stage a daring air, sea and land rescue of a kidnapped movie star
The Oscar
1966-03-04
An amoral lowlife accidentally stumbles into an acting career that sets him on a trajectory to Holly
Percy
1971-02-18
Edwin Antony (Hywel Bennett) is emasculated in an accident which kills a young philanderer. Doctors
Percy's Progress
1974-08-01
Percy, the man with the world's first penis transplant, discovers that there is a chemical in the wo
The Double McGuffin
1979-06-01
Some school kids stumble across a briefcase full of money, when they go back for it, they find a bod
Howlers of the Dock
1960-03-13
Follows the adventures of a group of friends, teddy boys and rock and roll chicks whose crazy, fun-l
Bahía de Palma
1962-10-22
Mario starts working as a pianist in a party hall in Palma de Mallorca, where he finds two girls, an
US Against the World
1977-09-07
This NBC Special from 1977 pitted celebrities from the worlds of film and TV in the United States ag
A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
1980-03-16
An American ex-con who is trying to go straight is persuaded to be the inside man for an audacious b
Training Your Best Friend
1989-07-12
Michael Kamer, dog trainer to the stars, will show you that you can teach old dog new tricks.
The Art of Love
1965-06-30
Struggling artist fakes his own death so his works will increase in value.
Lily in Love
1984-10-17
Insulted when his screenwriter wife writes a leading role for a younger man, aging Broadway idol Fit
They Came to Rob Las Vegas
1968-02-07
After successfully assaulting an armored car between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, the ambitions of the
The Astral Factor
1978-02-01
Demonstrating that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, a convicted strangler studies the parano
Hotel der toten Gäste
1965-03-26
London crime reporter Barney Blair has an appointment in his office with Janosch Kovac, the hotel de
Meet Him and Die
1976-10-08
Ray Lovelock stars as Massimo, a young undercover cop with a taste for violence and a thirst for rev
Who Stole the Body?
1963-02-01
Edouard and Félix work in a real estate agency. One day, they are threatened with dismissal if they
Ewig rauschen die Gelder
2005-11-19
Erik Pütz is afraid to make an important confession to his wife Linda: he has been unemployed for tw
Death Stone
1987-07-02
Kumar Cunningham loses his fiancee in Sri Lanka during a festival, only to discover her dead from a
The Net
1975-12-25
The aging writer Aurelio Morelli is disillusioned: although the critics like his books, they are bar
Probe
1972-02-21
That hipster ring that special agent Hugh Lockwood wears? It's a camera, transmitting image and soun
Sweet Ecstasy
1962-03-07
Olivier, a handsome but callow and moody young student, picks up an enthusiastic actress during a th
Twisted Sex Vol. 5
1993-10-01
Twenty-third volume of Something Weird Videos on going series in their collection of American and Eu
One or the Other of Us
1974-04-22
Psychological thriller that focuses on the intense conflict between a university professor and a bla
The Curious Case of Inspector Clouseau
2002-01-01
DA-DUN DA-DUN DA-DUN-DA-DUN-DA-DUN-DA-DUN-DA-DUUUUN Henry Mancini’s iconic score, Peter Sellers’ bu
Daniella by Night
1961-04-28
Daniella, a fashion model, goes to Rome to replace a model who's been murdered. Once there, she meet
The Last Days of Sharon Tate
1999-07-25
The documentary profiled the final and last days of Sharon Tate Polanski, a beloved actress and mode
Don't Bother to Knock
1961-05-28
An Edinburgh travel agent loses his keys and his fiancé in one night. A friend finds the keys and ma
Jenny's War
1985-10-25
This fact-based story follows a woman who launches a rescue of her Royal Air Force pilot son, who wa
… denn die Musik und die Liebe in Tirol
1963-12-20
Music student Susanne and her cousin Monika inherit an alpine pasture. They have no idea that their
Geliebte Hochstaplerin
1961-12-16
Roberto Bolle smuggles himself as a stowaway on an ocean liner that of Hamburg gen New York sets sai
The Day the Rains Came
1959-11-24
A motorcycle gang in post-war Germany wreaks havok on a town, until one of their members begins to h
The Venetian Affair
1967-01-18
Former CIA man, Bill Fenner, now a downbeat, loner journalist, is sent to Venice to investigate the
Flashback
2000-04-06
A young woman is released from an asylum where she has been since witnessing the murder of her paren
The House of Exorcism
1975-04-02
A re-edited version of Mario Bava's "Lisa and the Devil" for the U.S. market, including newly filmed
The Journey to Vienna
1973-09-26
Two women during WW2 living in a Hunsrück village embark on a trip to Vienna.
Ship of the Dead
1959-10-01
After a line of mischief Philip Gale, an American sailor, is lured into hiring on the "Yorikke", a t
I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses
1978-09-08
Successful businessman Charles Kruschen (Donald Pilon) is accused of bludgeoning to death his beauti
Himmelsheim
1989-03-02
In the idyllic Bavarian village of Himmelsheim, a peaceful existence is disrupted when the German Fe
Der Mann im Pyjama
1981-12-18
A man just wants to buy some cigarettes - but when he hurries out onto the street in his pyjamas to
Himmel, Amor und Zwirn
1960-07-07
A young father has been left by his wife, and has to go on military service with his baby.
Lampenfieber
1960-03-03
Und sowas nennt sich Leben
1961-01-10
A large German city at the beginning of the 1960s. This is where the well-to-do Berger family lives.
Das Mädchen und der Staatsanwalt
1962-03-08
Café Oriental
1962-02-16
Tausend Takte Übermut
1965-09-10
German music film set in a seaside hotel.
Auf Wiedersehen
1961-12-22
Seduction by the Sea
1963-05-22
A young women is hired by a woman to seduce her son and convince him to return to home from his self
The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz
1968-01-03
A beautiful East German Olympic hopeful pole-vaults over the Berlin Wall to freedom.
The Corrupt Ones
1967-01-20
Freelance photographer Cliff Wilder (Robert Stack) finds himself the target of various colorful vill
The Warrior Empress
1960-08-24
The poetess Sappho led an uprising against the corrupt government of the island of Lesbos.
Nicht mit uns
2000-01-01
The Top of the Hill
1980-02-06
Michael Stone is a rising company executive who decides to chuck his career and marriage to fulfill
La Pica sul Pacifico
1959-04-24
Adelaide takes possession of an island in the Pacific inherited from her deceased husband. She is op
Love, the Italian Way
1960-12-22
A group of passengers traveling around the Mediterranean on a luxury liner enjoy various adventures
The Jack Benny Hour
1965-11-03
The Beach Boys appear in a skit with Benny and Hope as surfers. Jack trys to weasel Disneyland ticke
Un chien dans un jeu de quilles
1962-08-22
In 1920, a squire decides to change his skin and pretends to be poor to a nice bourgeois family. Thi
Reblaus
2005-11-13
Severed Ties
1992-09-02
A regeneration experiment on a severed arm goes awry, turning the limb into a murderous, reptilian c
Life Is Too Long
2010-08-26
No crisis is as disastrous, overwhelming and unjust as that of Alfi Seliger. The Jewish filmmaker, h
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous: The World's Most Exotic Vacation Resorts
1988-01-01
It’s sun, sea and sand celebrity style from exotic cities to fantasy islands. Come join in the fun w
Nachts ging das Telefon
1962-11-02
Hollywood Ghost Stories
1986-09-24
An investigation into the reports of houses in Hollywood that are supposedly haunted by the ghosts o
Doppeltes Spiel mit Anne
1999-09-29
One Away
1976-01-01
Two brothers plot to get their third brother out of jail.
The Invincible Six
1970-06-10
Based on the story "The Heroes of Yucca," The Invincible Six features a ragtag group of jewel thieve
Perlico - Perlaco
1971-12-17
Nicht von gestern
1977-01-01
L'amico del giaguaro
1959-03-03
A grown man named Augusto escapes from an orphanage and after several unsuccessful attempts at holdi
Jamaican Gold
1979-12-31
A chance meeting leads two former college friends into a search for sunken treasure, a search which
Le Chien
1962-03-10
In this extremely hard to find TV movie from 1962, Delon plays the role of "He", a nameless man who
The Jukebox Kids
1959-08-13
When a promising record company president is arrested, his daughter takes over his company to promot
Men and Noblemen
1959-04-03
Nicola Peccoli has always nurtured his niece Giovanna, an orphan since the age of two and now of age
Albert Speer und der Traum von Hollywood
2021-05-03
With the help of Hollywood, top Nazi Albert Speer tried to unscrupulously whitewash himself of his c
Sunset Boulevard - 27 Meilen Amerika
1997-04-14
Schmidt follows the 27 miles of the “street of life” to Pacific Palisades, where the boulevard ends
Mario Bava: Operazione paura
2004-04-30
Mario Bava Operazione Paura", hosted by Joe Dante, is an hommage of the Master of the Terror, the it
What's a Carry On?
1998-12-29
Documentary commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 'Carry On' comedy film series. Archive clips a