Elke Sommer Net Worth

Elke Sommer's Quotes

• I've had a wonderful career. I've made all kinds of films and played everything from a hooker to a nun. I know I've become quite a fine actress through my stage work and taking my job seriously -- and just living longer.
• [on her painting] I'd rather be known as a painter who acts than as an actress who paints.
• I have no recollection of the 1960s or 1970s at all because I was working constantly. I had no time to live, or to evaluate my career, or even to speculate about what was going to become of me.
• [on Mario Bava] I loved Bava with all my heart. He was everything to me -- a father figure, a lover figure. He was very quiet -- as quiet as Italians can be -- but he had incredible energy. He spoke very broken English, so we always conversed in Italian. His son Lamberto [Lamberto Bava] was the assistant director and he loyally followed all of 'Papa's' instructions. Bava was quite a patriarch among the whole group of actors and technicians.
• [on Oliver Reed] Ollie is a real character. But the English are all a little crazy, anyhow. Everybody has their little idiosyncrasies; Ollie just has more than most people. Off the set, he's very unpredictable. But on the set, he's fine. When he's working, he shows up on time and is very disciplined -- regardless of what happened to him the night before.

Interesting Facts about Elke Sommer

1. In the 1960s, while living in Beverly Hills, she and her then husband, Joe Hyams, believed their house to be haunted.
2. Cousin of Gudy Somer and Brazilian 1974 Miss Universe Mariza Sommer.
3. Hosted the 1981 Miss Universe pageant along with Bob Barker.
4. When she appeared in Carry on Behind (1975), she received £30,000. She became one of the only two actors in the films (with Phil Silvers) to receive the highest ever Carry On salary. Kenneth Williams only received £5,000, a sixth of what she received.
5. After becoming "Miss Viareggio" during a holiday in Italy, she was discovered by director Vittorio De Sica (1958).
6. Currently lives in Los Angeles, California, and works as a painter, mostly influenced by Marc Chagall.
7. She's the daughter of a Lutheran minister, who died when she was only 14.
8. She was nominated for a 1975 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Guest Artist for her performance in the play, "Born Yesterday", at the Drury Lane Theatre North in Chicago, Illinois.
9. Was considered for the leading female role in the Elvis Presley movie G.I. Blues (1960), but the role was eventually played by Juliet Prowse.
10. She was awarded a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars on December 7, 2001.
11. Appeared in pictorials in Playboy magazine issues of September 1964, December 1967, and September 1970.
12. Suffered three miscarriages during her marriage to Joe Hyams.
13. She has lived in Hollywood since 1964 after a film producer spotted her in a British film.
14. Now spends about half the year touring in plays around Europe and America.
15. She enjoys playing comedy as she finds it more challenging and enjoys making people laugh.
16. Voluptuous figure.