Elke Sommer, the German-born actress renowned for her roles in 1960s Hollywood comedies and spy films, died at the age of 85. She passed away at her home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles on Wednesday, according to her stepson, Sebastian Walther. The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that it responded to an incident involving an 85-year-old woman in her area on October 28.

Born Elke Schletz on November 5, 1940, in Berlin during World War II, Sommer grew up amid the turmoil of the war and the evacuation of her family to southern Germany in 1942. Her father, a Protestant pastor, died when she was 14. Originally planning to study languages, Sommer’s trajectory changed after a 1958 trip to Italy, where she was discovered by figures in the Italian film industry. This led to her debut in “The Friend of the Jaguar,” and soon she was working across Europe in Italy, Spain, and England, adopting the stage name Sommer.

Her break in Hollywood came in the early 1960s with a role in “The Prize,” produced by Pandro S. Berman, who noticed her in a German film screened for the Golden Globes. Sommer starred alongside Paul Newman, playing a chaperone and romantic interest. For this role, she was awarded the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer. She also gained recognition for her role as Maria Gambrelli in Blake Edwards’s “A Shot in the Dark,” part of the Pink Panther series, acting opposite Peter Sellers. Throughout that decade, Sommer appeared alongside major stars including James Garner, Dick Van Dyke, Bob Hope, Dean Martin, and Sharon Tate.

Sommer’s work slowed during the 1970s, but she maintained a steady presence in European cinema, featuring in the World War I movie “Zeppelin” and the Agatha Christie adaptation “And Then There Were None.” She also appeared in two Mario Bava horror films. By the 1990s, Sommer shifted focus to painting, though she occasionally returned to acting and performed voice work, notably providing the German dub for the character Yzma in “The Emperor’s New Groove.”

Despite often being recognized for her beauty, Sommer downplayed the label of sex symbol. She described her appeal as stemming from energy rather than physical appearance, emphasizing the constructed nature of her screen image. However, she valued the concept of glamour in film and believed that movie stars should embody an extraordinary presence that captivates audiences.

Sommer’s personal life included two marriages: to journalist Joe Hyams from 1964 until their divorce in 1981, and to German hotelier Wolf Walther in 1993, who died earlier this year at age 77.

She was also involved in a widely publicized feud with actress Zsa Zsa Gabor. The dispute began during their joint appearance on “Circus of the Stars” in 1984 and escalated in the early 1990s with mutual accusations published in German media. Sommer filed a defamation lawsuit seeking $10 million, and in 1993, Gabor and her husband were ordered by a jury to pay $3.3 million to Sommer.

Elke Sommer’s legacy endures through her diverse filmography and her status as a distinctive figure in mid-20th-century cinema.