'Pink Panther' Icon Elke Sommer Dies Just Days Before Turning 86

Elke Sommer, the German-born actress who became an international sex symbol and a Golden Globe winner, has died of heart failure, according to Page Six. Her death came just a week before she would have turned 86.

Sommer rose to fame for her role in the "Pink Panther" franchise, where she starred opposite Peter Sellers' bumbling detective Jacques Clouseau in an onscreen love affair that helped define the comedy series for audiences worldwide.

Her decades-long career made her one of the most recognizable European actresses in Hollywood during the 1960s and beyond, with the Golden Globe win cementing her status as a leading figure of her era.