Salli Sachse, an actress who worked with legends like Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda in counterculture films in the 1960s, has died.
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Sachse passed Sept. 8 at her California City home. Her niece, Catherine Schreiber, informed The Hollywood Reporter that the cause of death is unknown. She was 82.
Sachsealso spent a few years as the official photographer for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young during their tours, per THR. The former model and Miss America contestant was discovered on a beach near her home in La Jolla, California, according to the outlet.
Per IMDb, she made appearances in beach party and counter culture flicks like Muscle Beach Party (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965), Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine(1965), and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966).
In Roger Corman’s 1967 film The Trip, written by Jack Nicholson, Sachse played Glenn in perhaps her most remembered role. Her character has a psychedelic encounter with Peter Fonda’s disillusioned TV commercial director.
Born Sally Irene Rogers in San Diego on June 25, 1943, she attended La Jolla High School, won a Miss La Jolla contest, and competed in the Miss America pageant before signing a seven-year contract with AIP.
She frequently starred in beach party movies alongside Linda Bent. With their similar features and signature topknot hairstyles, they were nicknamed the “Bookend Girls,” often positioned at opposite ends of a group of surf kids in the films.
Salli Sachse Appeared in Biker Films After the Beach Party Fad Faded
As the beach party trend faded, Sachse took on new roles. She appeared as drag strip groupies and biker chicks in films like Fireball 500 (1966), Thunder Alley (1967), and Devil’s Angels (1967).
Her final onscreen appearance was in a 1969 episode of CBS’s Mannix.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sachse was in Hong Kong filming The Million Eyes of Su-Muru when her husband of three years, folk singer and psychologist Peter Sachse, died. He was killed in July 1966 when a converted World War II training plane crashed near La Jolla. The pilot, Philip Bent, husband of Linda Bent, also died. Both men were 26.
Sachse lived in a commune in Laurel Canyon at a house owned by Peter Tork of The Monkees. In the early 1970s, she had a relationship with singer Jackson Browne, who reportedly wrote “Something Fine” for her. She later lived in Europe and became a painter.
She is also survived by her sister, Judy, and two nieces, Lisa and Sydney.