Salli Sachse | |
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 Sachse in 1966 | |
| Born | Sally Irene Rogers June 25, 1946 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, model, photographer |
| Years active | 1964–1969 (film & TV) |
| Spouse | Peter Sachse (m. 1963;died 1966) |
Salli Sachse (born Sally Irene Rogers; June 25, 1946) is an American actress, model and photographer who made about 20 film appearances between 1964 and 1969.
Born Sally Irene Rogers, she began her career as a model, becoming a Miss La Jolla beauty pageant winner [1] [2] and a Miss America runner-up. [3]
According to her, she was discovered in early 1964 by a director near her home in La Jolla, California, who asked her if she would like to star in a beach party film. She soon landed a seven-year contract with American International Pictures.
Her first appearance was as a surfer girl in the film Muscle Beach Party (1964). [4] She also appeared in Bikini Beach and Pajama Party , both also from 1964.
Sachse made many appearances, usually being paired with Patti Chandler, including Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965) and Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965). [1] [5] [6]
Sachse also appeared alongside Chandler (and another beach party film regular, Frankie Avalon) in The Million Eyes of Sumuru (1967). Afterwards, she was only seen in the films The Trip (1967) and Wild in the Streets (1968), [6] and in an episode of the television series Mannix (1969), before she ended her acting career.
Sachse then became part of the entourage of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young for two years as their personal photographer. [3] [7] In that capacity, she attended the Altamont Free Concert, remembered for the killing of Meredith Hunter, although she and the band had already left the concert by the time of the killing, becoming aware of the significant violence at the event. [7] She would spend the 1970s living as an artist in Europe, [6] [3] [7] and upon returning to the U.S., she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master's degree in psychology. [6]
In 1963, she married pre-medical student and folk singer Peter Sachse; he was 23 and she was 19. [3] On July 12, 1966, Peter was killed in a plane crash alongside actor and friend of the couple, Philip G. Bent, when the civilian-converted AT-6 owned and piloted by Bent crashed near the WindanSea beach area of La Jolla when it pulled too low. [1] [3] [5] The accident took place in front of Bent's wife, Linda Bent (who, like Salli, had been a beach party film regular, under the name "Linda Opie") and other beachgoers. [1] At the time of the accident, Salli was in Hong Kong filming The Million Eyes of Sumuru; upon being notified of her husband's death, she abandoned the shooting and returned to the United States. [3] [5] [a] "This was a real marker in my life," she later explained. "I was struggling emotionally because I felt that my heart had been ripped out." [5] She added that "[a]fter Pete's funeral, I moved back to Los Angeles and tried to keep busy," and, while the studio "was really great" and kept her under contract doing films like The Trip and Wild in the Streets after she was widowed, "[t]his was the beginning of a big change in my life—the fairytale sort of ruptured and blew up. I felt very sad for a long, long time. I had to do a lot to keep my head above water and to make myself feel good." [5]
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