[1] Sommerfield was best known for her role as Valerie Grant on NBC's soap opera Days of Our Lives (1981–82).

[2] Born Diane Yvonne Young in Washington, D.C., Sommerfield began her acting career as a child performing in plays in her hometown.

During her early college years at Howard University, Sommerfield appeared in lead role of "Satyricon" at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario.

(1974), Blackjack (1978), Love in a Taxi (1980),[4] Back Roads (1981),[1] and The Night Stalker (1987)[1] Sommerfield returned to her hometown in 1986 to study film at University of the District of Columbia.

Sommerfield was a volunteer acting teacher at her high school alma mater from 1997 until 1999.