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.”