Salli Sachse, ‘Beach Party’ star and photographer for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, dies at 82

Salli Sachse, Beach Party actress, has passed away at the age of 82. Sachse was also in ‘Wild in the Streets’ and served as a photographer for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

She passed away on Monday of an unknown cause at her home in California City, as told by her niece, Catherine Schreiber, to The Hollywood Reporter. Salli lived quite an illustrious and free-spirited life.

She toured with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young for a couple years as their official photographer and was a former model and Miss America contestant who showed up in Muscle Beach Party, Bikini Beach, Beach Blanket Bingo, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini after being discovered on a beach near her home in La Jolla, California.

Salli Sachse was born in San Diego on June 25, 1943, as Sally Irene Rogers, and completed her education at La Jolla High School before competing in the Miss America pageant, after which she was signed to a seven-year contract with American International Pictures.

Acting in different beach party movies with Linda Bent, the two were known as “Bookend Girls,” due to their similar features and updos. In the 2001 book Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema, she talked to author Tom Lisanti about working with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, saying,

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The two “were very easygoing and a pleasure to work with, but they weren’t real beach people. Frankie was raised in Philadelphia, so I don’t think he ever saw a surfboard in his life! And Annette refused to wear a bikini. She would only wear a one-piece, but I think that had something to do with her contract with Walt Disney.”

Salli Sachse made about 20 film appearances between 1964 and 1969. She is survived by her sister, Judy, and two other nieces, Lisa and Sydney.

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