ELKE MOPS UP

“St. Elsewhere� will mix sex and suds this season--with Elke Sommer in the recurring role of a Russian cleaning woman at the hospital.

“This is the first time I’ve even read for a series,� said Sommer. “I’ve merely been decoration too many times in the past in films.� In the classic complaint for sex symbols, she said she thinks she’s been underrated as an actress “because of the sex symbol image.�

That image has endured for 25 years--though she appeared semi-nude in only one film, “The Victors,� 1963 (her backside was exposed) and, of course, did some Playboy pictorials.

Sommer’s advice to starlets: “Work on your mind first and take acting lessons instead of presenting yourself as just a pretty body.

“And don’t get any plastic surgery done unless it’s absolutely necessary. (She said she’s never had anything tampered with.) Even a college kid knows something’s wrong when he sees a lady lie down on film and the rest of her body stays up.�