Elke Sommer (Actress), star of 'A Shot in the Dark' and 'The Prize,' dies at 85

Elke Sommer was a German-born actress who starred in 1960s Hollywood comedies and spy films.  She died Oct. 28 at her home in the Bel Air area of Los Angeles, her stepson Sebastian Walther said.  She was 85.  He said she died of heart failure after a long illness.  Los Angeles police told the Associated Press they responded to the death of an 85-year-old woman on her block that night.

Born Nov. 5, 1940, in Berlin, Sommer began acting in Italy after director Vittorio De Sica noticed her.  She played opposite Paul Newman in "The Prize" (1963), which won her a Golden Globe as most promising newcomer, and opposite Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther film "A Shot in the Dark" (1964).  Her 1970s films included "And Then There Were None" and "Carry On Behind."

Sommer's husband, hotel owner Wolf Walther, died in July at 77.  She had no children and no brothers or sisters.