Elke Schletz Sommer, International Actress, Painter and Golden Globe Recipient, Dies at 85 in Los Angeles
Elke Schletz Sommer, professionally known as Elke Sommer, died from heart failure at home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, on October 28, 2026, at age 85.
Born in Berlin, Germany, on November 5, 1940, Sommer began attracting attention during a 1958 beauty contest in Italy.
Sommer appeared in more than 100 film and television productions across a career spanning over six decades.
A breakthrough role in The Prize in 1963 led to a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year in 1964.
Sommer later appeared in major European and Hollywood productions while also working as a singer, model, television personality, and painter.
In 1985, Sommer hosted Painting with Elke Sommer and exhibited expressive artwork across Europe and the United States.
A California jury awarded Sommer $3.3 million in a 1993 defamation case, and an appellate court upheld the judgment in December 1995.
Sommer also owned a roughly 4,000-square-foot Bel Air residence built in 1941 and listed for $10.75 million in March 2022.
Reports estimated Sommer’s 2026 fortune at $20 million, though no official estate disclosure independently confirmed that figure.
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