Suzanne Somers#Published works

{{Short description|American actress (1946–2023)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Suzanne Somers

| image = File:Suzanne Somers 1977.JPG

| caption = Somers in 1977

| birth_name = Suzanne Marie Mahoney

| birth_date = {{birth date|1946|10|16}}

| birth_place = San Bruno, California, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|10|15|1946|10|16}}

| death_place = Palm Springs, California, U.S.

| resting_place = Desert Memorial Park in Palm Springs, California

| occupation = {{flatlist|

  • Actress
  • author
  • businesswoman

}}

| years_active = 1968–2023

| notable_works = Three's Company
Step by Step

| spouse = {{plainlist|

  • {{marriage|Bruce Somers|1965|1968|end=divorced}}
  • {{marriage|Alan Hamel|1977}}

}}

| children = 1

| relatives = Camelia Somers (granddaughter)

| website = {{URL|suzannesomers.com}}

}}

Suzanne Marie Somers ({{nee|Mahoney}}; October 16, 1946 – October 15, 2023) was an American actress, author, and businesswoman. She played the television roles of Chrissy Snow on Three's Company (1977–1981) and Carol Foster Lambert on Step by Step (1991–1998).

Somers wrote more than 25 books, including two autobiographies, four diet books, and a book of poetry. She was also well known for advertising the ThighMaster, an exercise device. While 14 of her books were best sellers and most were focused on health and well-being, doctors criticized her promotion of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and alternative cancer treatments.{{cite news |url=https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/suzanne-somers-health-wellness-empire-misinformation-legacy/ |title=Suzanne Somers' Legacy Tainted by Celebrity Medical Misinformation |last=Szabo |first=Liz |work=KFF Health News |date=October 18, 2018}}

Early life

Suzanne Marie Mahoney was born in San Bruno, California, on October 16, 1946{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2021/10/16/Famous-birthdays-for-Oct-16-Suzanne-Somers-Naomi-Osaka/5311634309329/ |title=Famous birthdays for Oct. 16: Suzanne Somers, Naomi Osaka |work=United Press International |date=October 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220201144929/https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2021/10/16/Famous-birthdays-for-Oct-16-Suzanne-Somers-Naomi-Osaka/5311634309329/ |archive-date=February 1, 2022 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |work=Brooklyn Eagle | url=https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2020/10/16/milestones-october-16-birthdays-for-angela-lansbury-suzanne-somers-flea/|date=October 16, 2020 | title=Milestones: October 16 birthdays for Angela Lansbury, Suzanne Somers, Flea | url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220201145147/https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2020/10/16/milestones-october-16-birthdays-for-angela-lansbury-suzanne-somers-flea/ | archive-date=February 1, 2022}} as the third{{cite web | url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1992/05/15/somers-first-fought-her-own-fright/ | title=Somers first fought her own fright }} of four children in a working-class Irish-American Catholic family.{{cite news |last=Buckley |first=T. | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/02/22/archives/at-the-movies-from-playing-dumb-to-playing-a-lawyer.html |title=At the Movies; From playing dumb to playing a lawyer |date=February 22, 1980 |work=The New York Times | url-access=limited}} Her mother, Marion Elizabeth (née Turner), was a medical secretary, and her father, Francis "Frank" Mahoney, loaded cases of beer onto boxcars,Suzanne Somers, 14 July 2014 [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/14/somers-the-loss-of-respect/ OPINION: What has happened in America?] was a laborer and gardener. Her father was an alcoholic and was abusive, and Somers often worried that he would kill her.{{Cite news | url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1992/05/15/somers-first-fought-her-own-fright/ | title=Somers first fought her own fright|newspaper=Tampa Bay Times|last=Plaskin|first=Glenn|date= May 15, 1992|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017043816/https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1992/05/15/somers-first-fought-her-own-fright/|archive-date=October 17, 2023}}{{cite news | url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/suzanne-somers-dead-76-actor-played-chrissy-snow-103997969 | title=Suzanne Somers, of 'Three's Company,' dies at 76. | first=Lindsey | last=Bahr | work=ABC News | date=October 15, 2023}}

Somers first attended Mercy High School in Burlingame, California, but had trouble with her schoolwork because of dyslexia and her father's all-night rages, and she would often fall asleep in class.{{Cite news | url=https://www.today.com/popculture/suzanne-somers-remembers-her-lost-home-wbna18425537 | title=Suzanne Somers remembers her lost home | work=Today | date=May 1, 2007}} At school, she performed the lead role in a production of H.M.S. Pinafore{{cite web | url=https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/suzanne-somers-reflects-on-life-threes-company-and-more/ | title=Suzanne Somers Reflects on Life, 'Three's Company' and More | date=October 10, 2019 }} She was expelled at age 14 for writing sexually suggestive notes to a boy that were never sent.{{Cite encyclopedia | url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/economics-magazines/somers-suzanne | title=Somers, Suzanne | encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com}}

At age 17, Suzanne's father ripped off her prom dress and told her that she was "nothing," and she responded by hitting him in the head with a tennis racket.

In 1964, Somers graduated from Capuchino High School in San Bruno, California, where she won the "Best Doll Award" for her role in the senior musical Guys and Dolls and helped organize her class's senior ball.{{cite web |url=https://www.classmates.com/blog/celebrity/suzanne-somers/ | title=Suzanne Somers | publisher=classmates.com}} She then attended San Francisco College for Women (Lone Mountain College),{{cite web | url=https://www.thelist.com/1364395/tragic-details-suzanne-somers/ | title=Tragic Details About Suzanne Somers | date=August 11, 2023 }} a college run by the Catholic Society of the Sacred Heart order, but withdrew in 1965 when she learned that she was pregnant. She married her child's father, Bruce Somers, days later at age 19. Her situation led to low self-esteem. She was arrested for check fraud and her car was impounded.{{Cite web |title=Casting Page 3 |url=https://www.geocities.ws/kippullman/Casting_3.html |access-date=2024-09-06 |website=Kip Pullman's American Graffiti Web Site}}

Career

=Early career=

:"I made my living by making chocolate desserts and selling them to restaurants in Sausalito, California, and by making children’s dresses and selling them on consignment to little children’s stores."

Somers began acting in small roles during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Somers modelled for Grimme Modeling Agency in San Francisco.

  • SAUSALITO WOMAN'S STORY: Actress , Model, Mother And Poet
  • By BETTY FROST
  • September 21. 1973
  • Daily Independent Journal
  • San Rafael, California
  • Fri, Sep 21, 1973
  • Page 16

{{cite web | url=https://www.betweenthecovers.com/pages/books/447168/jimmy-grimme-ann-brebner/archive-san-francisco-modeling-agencies | title=Archive : San Francisco Modeling Agencies by Jimmy GRIMME, Ann Brebner on Between the Covers }}{{Cite web |title=Walking the walk / Fashion 'drill sergeant' teaches women how to find their inner supermodel |url=https://www.sfgate.com/living/article/Walking-the-walk-Fashion-drill-sergeant-2664915.php |access-date=2024-09-06 |website=SF Gate}}{{Cite web |title=Jimmy Grimme -- fashion talent scout |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Jimmy-Grimme-fashion-talent-scout-2658586.php |access-date=2024-09-06 |website=SF Gate}}

After divorcing in 1968, Somers worked as a prize model, on Anniversary Game, a game show, based at KGO-TV in San Francisco, hosted by Alan Hamel and produced by Circle Seven Productions.{{cite web | url=https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/anniversary-game | title=Anniversary Game, the | date=October 23, 2017 }}

From 1971 to 1973, Somers was a panelist on the Alan Hamel-hosted Mantrap,{{cite web | url=https://www.torontomu.ca/rta/people/WOF/alan-hamel/ | title=Alan Hamel }} a weekday daytime panel show, from BCTV in Vancouver for CTV Television Network stations in Canada, and syndicated in the U.S.A.[https://broadcasting-history.ca/mantrap/ Mantrap] The History of Canadian Broadcasting

In 1973, she appeared in bit parts in movies, such as the "Blonde in the white Thunderbird" in American Graffiti' and an uncredited role as a "pool girl" in Magnum Force.{{Cite book |title=Come and Knock on Our Door: A Hers and Hers and His Guide to Three's Company |last=Mann |first=Chris |date=June 15, 1998 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=0-312-16803-9 |pages=17, 20, 21}}

In February 1974, she appeared in an episode of the American version of the sitcom Lotsa Luck, based on the British sitcom On the Buses, as the femme fatale. It led to her first appearance,{{cite magazine | url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/10/suzanne-somers-death-2023-cancer-touch-me-poetry.html | title=So Long, Suzanne Somers | magazine=Slate | date=October 18, 2023 | last1=Schwedel | first1=Heather }} 21 February 1974, on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, promoting her book of poetry.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZZ7VPnEmSQ Suzanne Somers] 21 February 1974 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson via YouTube In 2009, Kristen Wiig gave a reading of excerpts from Suzanne Somers' book of poetry Touch Me, for Celebrity Autobiography (KUSH).[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unD2bzhDkLk Kristen Wiig reads excerpts from Suzanne Somers' book of poetry, Touch Me] 2009 Celebrity Autobiography via YouTube{{cite web | url=https://lithub.com/now-is-a-great-time-to-re-watch-this-video-of-kristen-wiig-reading-the-poetry-of-suzanne-somers/ | title=Now is a great time to re-watch this video of Kristen Wiig reading the poetry of Suzanne Somers | date=May 14, 2020 }}

She appeared in The Rockford Files in 1974. She also had a guest-starring role on The Six Million Dollar Man in the 1977 episode "Cheshire Project".{{Cite news | url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/actress-suzanne-somers-dead-1.6997022 | title=American actress Suzanne Somers dead at 76 | work=CBC News | date=October 15, 2023}} She played a passenger on the first episode of The Love Boat{{Cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67119171 | title=Suzanne Somers: Three's Company actress dies aged 76 | work=BBC News | date=October 15, 2023}} and made a guest appearance in a 1976 episode of One Day at a Time.{{Cite news | url=https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/suzanne-somers-dead-threes-company-1235756992/ | title=Suzanne Somers, 'Three's Company' and 'Step by Step' Star, Dies at 76 | first=Chris | last=Morris | work=Variety | date=October 15, 2023}}

=''Three's Company''=

After actresses Suzanne Zenor and Susan Lanier did not impress producers during the first two pilot episodes of the ABC sitcom Three's Company, based on the British sitcom Man About the House, Somers was suggested by ABC president Fred Silverman, who had seen her in her initial appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Silverman hired her the day before the taping of the third and final pilot commenced.{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7mAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA37 |title=Somers' Time | work=Orange Coast |date=July 1988 |page=37 |issn=0279-0483}} Somers portrayed Christmas "Chrissy" Snow, who exemplified many blonde stereotypes and was employed as an office secretary. At first, Somers made $3,500 per week from the show.{{Cite news | url=https://parade.com/celebrities/suzanne-somers-net-worth | title=Suzanne Somers Net Worth In 2023, From 'Three's Company' to the ThighMaster and Beyond | first=Jessica | last=Sager | work=Parade | date=October 15, 2023}}

The series co-starred John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt in a comedy about two single women living with a single man who pretended to be gay in order to bypass the landlord's policy of prohibiting single men sharing an apartment with single women. The program was an instant success in the Nielsen ratings, eventually spawning a short-lived spin-off series, The Ropers, loosely based on the British sitcom George and Mildred, starring Norman Fell and Audra Lindley.{{cite book | first=Horace | last=Newcomb | title=Encyclopedia of Television |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JUzIAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA2327 |date=February 3, 2014 |publisher=Taylor & Francis | isbn=978-1-135-19479-6 | page=2327}}

When Three's Company began its fifth season in late 1980, Somers demanded a salary increase "from $30,000 an episode to $150,000 an episode, equal to what Ritter was making and comparable to the salaries of other male sitcom stars at the time" as well as 10% of the show's profits. DeWitt and Somers were paid the same, less than Ritter, but DeWitt also had a "favored nations" clause in her contract, which guaranteed she received equal terms to other cast members. Somers' request was influenced by her second husband and manager, Alan Hamel.{{Cite news | url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/300989901/suzanne-somers-step-by-step-star-dead-aged-76 | title=Suzanne Somers, Step by Step star, dead aged 76|website= Stuff|date= October 16, 2023}}

:"The night before we went in to renegotiate, I got a call from a friend who had connections high up at ABC, and he said, 'They’re going to hang a nun in the marketplace, and the nun is Suzanne,' The network was willing to do this because, earlier that year, the women on Laverne & Shirley had gotten what they asked for, and they wanted to put a stop to it. They’d destroy the chemistry on Company to make a point." — Alan Hamel, 2015

ABC was willing to offer only a $5,000 per episode raise. Somers then refused to appear in the second and fourth episodes of the season, citing excuses such as a broken rib. She finished the remaining season on her contract; however, her role was reduced to just 60 seconds per episode, with her character appearing in only the episode's closing tag in which Chrissy calls the trio's apartment from her parents' home. After ABC fired her from the program and terminated her contract, Somers sued the network for $2 million, saying her credibility in show business had been damaged. The lawsuit was settled by an arbitrator who decided Somers was owed only $30,000, due to a single missed episode for which she had not been paid. Future rulings also favored the network and producers. Somers said she was fired for asking to be paid as much as popular male television stars.{{Cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/oct/15/suzanne-somers-actor-threes-company-american-graffiti | title=Suzanne Somers, star of Three's Company sitcom, dies aged 76 | first=Edward | last=Helmore | work=The Guardian | date=October 15, 2023}}Suzanne Somers [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKTMCzqNshM on contract negotiations on Three's Company] EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG

Ted Bergmann, Producer [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ynDbJlOtXE on Suzanne Somers' contract negotiations on Three's Company] EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG

=After ''Three's Company''=

During the 1980s and 1990s, Somers was a spokesperson for Polaris Vac-Sweep automated pool cleaner.{{cite web | url=https://www.poolmagazine.com/pool-news/longtime-pool-spokesperson-suzanne-somers-passes-at-76/ | title=Longtime Pool Spokesperson Suzanne Somers Passes at 76 | date=15 October 2023 }}{{Cite news |date=May 1, 1987 |title=Is your pool automatically clan i 3 hours or less? If not, buy a Polaris Vac-Sweep! |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/23169170/the_tampa_tribune/ |work=The Tampa Tribune |page=25}}{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/florida-today/23169257/ | title=Article clipped from Florida Today | newspaper=Florida Today | date=15 June 1986 | page=97 }}{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nB8DAAAAMBAJ&dq=Polaris+Vac-Sweep+Suzanne+Somers&pg=PA73 | title=Cincinnati Magazine | date=August 1988 }}{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bR8DAAAAMBAJ&dq=Polaris+Vac-Sweep+Suzanne+Somers&pg=PA31 | title=Cincinnati Magazine | date=June 1988 }}

In 1983, through her Hamel/Somers Productions, she signed a deal with Columbia Pictures Television.{{Cite news |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/83-OCR/BC-1983-09-05-OCR-Page-0106.pdf | title=Fates & Fortunes|work=Broadcasting |date=September 5, 1983}}

Somers and her Three's Company co-star, John Ritter, reconciled their friendship after 20 years of not speaking to each other, shortly before Ritter's death in 2003.{{cite news | url=https://www.etonline.com/suzanne-somers-reflects-on-getting-fired-from-threes-company-and-making-peace-with-john-ritter | title=Suzanne Somers Reflects on Getting Fired From 'Three's Company' and Making Peace With John Ritter (Exclusive) | first=Antoinette | last=Bueno | work=Entertainment Tonight | date=November 19, 2020}}

Somers appeared in two Playboy cover-feature nude pictorials, in 1980 and 1984. Her first set of nude photos was taken by Stan Malinowski in February 1970 when Somers was a struggling model and actress and did a test photoshoot for the magazine. She was accepted as a Playmate candidate in 1971, but declined to pose nude before the actual shoot. During an appearance on The Tonight Show in 1980, she denied ever posing nude, except for a High Society topless photo. This prompted Playboy to publish photos from the 1970 Malinowski shoot, without her permission.{{cite news | url=https://rare.us/playboy-flashbacks/suzanne-somers-playboy/ |title=How Many Times Has Suzanne Somers Posed For Playboy? | first=Aurora | last=Starchild | work=Rare | date=November 21, 2022}} Somers' original motivation for posing nude was to be able to pay medical bills related to injuries her son Bruce Jr. suffered in a car accident. By the time the photos were published, her son was 14 and Somers feared seeing his mother posing nude would be difficult for him. Somers sued Playboy and settled for $50,000, which was donated to charity, with at least $10,000 of it going to Easterseals.{{cite news | title=Playboy exposure continues to haunt Suzanne Somers | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/43141333/ | last=Dangaard | first=Colin | work=Ottawa Journal | date=March 26, 1980}} The second nude pictorial by Richard Fegley appeared in December 1984 in an attempt by Somers to regain her diminished popularity after the Three's Company debacle in 1981. Despite her anger and the earlier lawsuit, Playboy approached her earlier that year to pose nude a second time. Initially she was angered again, but eventually agreed after discussing it with her family. She felt she would have a better chance to control the quality of the photos the second time, and having such control was an important condition that Somers attached to posing. Despite Somers' earlier belief that her son would not want to see his mother nude, her then 18-year-old son did view the second pictorial.{{cite news |title=Scott's World: Suzanne bares all | url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/11/06/Scotts-World-Suzanne-bares-all/4965468565200/ | last=Scott |first=Vernon | work=United Press International | date=November 6, 1984}}

In the 1980s, Somers lived in Las Vegas and was an entertainer, headlining at the former MGM Grand (now Horseshoe Las Vegas) for two years until the theater burned down and then at the Las Vegas Hilton (now Westgate Las Vegas) for another {{frac|2|1|2}} years.{{Cite news | url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/entertainment-columns/kats/in-vegas-somers-starred-at-original-mgm-las-vegas-hilton-2922150/ | title=In Vegas, Somers starred at original MGM, Las Vegas Hilton | work=Las Vegas Review-Journal | date=October 15, 2023 | url-access=limited}} In 1986 the Las Vegas critics voted her Female Entertainer of the Year.{{cite web | url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1987/09/15/suzanne-is-playing-it-smart-new-sophisticated-somers-dumps-dum-dum-routine/ | title=Suzanne is Playing It Smart New, Sophisticated Somers Dumps Dum-Dum Routine | date=15 September 1987 }}

File:Suzanne Somers aboard USS Ranger (CV-61), 1981.JPEG

In the early 1980s, Somers performed for U.S. servicemen overseas.{{cite news | last=O'Connor | first=John J. | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/03/arts/tv-suzanne-somers-plays-for-gi-s.html | title=TV: Suzanne Somers Plays for G.I.'s | work=The New York Times | date=January 3, 1983 | url-access=limited}}{{Cite web | url=https://nara.getarchive.net/media/suzanne-somers-performs-for-the-crew-of-the-aircraft-carrier-uss-ranger-cv-c1e9fa | title=Suzanne Somers performs for the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Ranger| date=November 1981| publisher=National Archives and Records Administration}}{{Cite news | url=https://www.outsider.com/entertainment/threes-company-star-suzanne-somers-entertaining-american-troops-one-most-fulfilling-things-life/ | title='Three's Company' Star Suzanne Somers on Entertaining American Troops: 'One of the Most Fulfilling Things in Life'}}

From 1987 to 1989, Somers starred in the sitcom She's the Sheriff, which ran in first-run syndication. Somers portrayed a widow with two young children who decided to fill the shoes of her late husband, a sheriff of a Nevada town. The show ran for two seasons.{{Cite news | url=https://6abc.com/suzanne-somers-dies-breast-cancer-threes-company/13918847/ | title=Suzanne Somers, known for roles in 'Three's Company' and 'Step by Step,' dies at 76, publicist says | first=Carson | last=Blackwelder | work=ABC News | date=October 15, 2023}}

In 1990, Somers returned to network television, appearing in numerous guest roles and made-for-TV movies.

=Later career=

In September 1991, Somers returned to series television in the sitcom Step By Step (with Patrick Duffy), which became a success on ABC's youth-orientated TGIF lineup.{{sfn|Mann|1998|p=305}}

In the early 1990s, Somers was the spokeswoman in a series of infomercials for the Thighmaster, a piece of exercise equipment which

exercises the hip adductors and is squeezed between one's thighs above the knees. In 2014, Somers was inducted into the Infomercial Hall of Fame.{{cite news | url=https://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/may/02/shifting-market-shapes-made-tv-market/ | title=A Shifting Market Shapes The Made For TV Market| first=Erik | last=Anderson | work=KPBS Public Media |date=May 2, 2014}}

In 1991 a two-hour biographical film of Somers, starring the actress herself, entitled Keeping Secrets, based on her first autobiography of the same title, was broadcast on ABC. The movie chronicled Somers' troubled family life and upbringing, along with her subsequent rise to fame.{{sfn|Mann|1998|p=305}}

In 1994, Somers launched a daytime talk show titled Suzanne Somers, which lasted one season.{{sfn|Mann|1998|p=305}}

Step By Step continued on ABC until the end of its sixth season in 1997, when the series moved to CBS for what turned out to be its final season.{{sfn|Mann|1998|p=305}}

From 1997 to 1999, Somers co-hosted the revised Candid Camera show, when CBS revived it with Peter Funt.{{Cite web | url=https://www.candidcamera.com/cc2/cc2c.html | title=SUZANNE SOMERS | work=Candid Camera}}

In the 2000s, Somers appeared on the Home Shopping Network for more than 25 hours per month, selling household items, clothing and jewelry that she designed.

File:Suzanne Somers USO 2.jpg tour performances after performing The Blonde in the Thunderbird for members of the U.S. military and their families]]

In January 2004, The Blonde in the Thunderbird premiered at the Spreckels Theatre in San Diego, later playing at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, 16–26 June 2004.{{Cite web |last=Simonson |first=Robert |date=2005-07-17 |title=C'mon, Knock on Her Door: Suzanne Somers Opens Solo Show on Broadway July 17 |url=https://playbill.com/article/cmon-knock-on-her-door-suzanne-somers-opens-solo-show-on-broadway-july-17-com-126983 |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=Playbill}} In the summer of 2005, Somers made her Broadway theatre debut in a one-woman show, The Blonde in the Thunderbird, a collection of stories about her life and career, based on her books,{{cite web | url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/shows/The-Blonde-in-the-Thunderbird-9965.html | title=The Blonde in the Thunderbird - 2005 Broadway Play with Music: Tickets & Info | Broadway World }} Keeping Secrets and After the Fall, by Somers.

  • https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-blonde-in-the-thunderbird-394734
  • https://www.theatermania.com/news/the-blonde-in-the-thunderbird_6348/
  • https://www.theatricalindex.com/show/the-blonde-in-the-thunderbird/the-blonde-in-the-thunderbird-bway-2005

The show was supposed to run

from 8 July until 3 September 2005,{{cite web | url=https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/the-blonde-in-the-thunderbird-at-the-brooks-atkinson-theatre | title='The Blonde in the Thunderbird' at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre from the 8 Jul - 3 Sep 2005 | date=October 19, 2017 }} but was cancelled in less than a week after poor reviews{{cite web | url=https://www.broadway.com/buzz/94644/were-critics-stirred-by-suzanne-somers-in-the-blonde-in-the-thunderbird/ | title=Were Critics Stirred by Suzanne Somers in the Blonde in the Thunderbird? }} and disappointing ticket sales. She blamed the harsh reviews: The New York Times referred to it as "...a drab and embarrassing display of emotional exhibitionism masquerading as entertainment."{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/18/theater/reviews/selfhelp-expert-gets-back-her-own.html |last=Isherwood |first=Charles |title=Self-Help Expert Gets Back Her Own |work=The New York Times |date=July 18, 2005 | url-access=limited}} The Associated Press referred to it as "an extended therapy session crossed with a tacky Las Vegas revue – minus the other showgirls".{{cite web | url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2005/jul/21/somers-theater/ | title=Somers theater | the Spokesman-Review }} She compared her treatment by critics with the treatment of soldiers in the Iraq War, prompting even more criticism.{{Cite news | url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/grrr-flip-flop-flap | title=Grrr! Flip-Flop Flap | first=Mike | last=Straka | work=Fox News | date=July 20, 2005}}

In 2012, Somers began an online video talk show, Suzanne Somers Breaking Through, at CafeMom.[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL226C80937791EB45 Suzanne Somers Breaking Through] playlist from CafeMom via YouTube Three of the episodes featured a reunion and reconciliation with former Three's Company co-star Joyce DeWitt;Suzanne Somers Breaking Through. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks2NtZrSW8E Three's Company Reunion] with Joyce DeWitt from CafeMom via YouTube the two had not seen nor spoken to each other in 31 years. Somers and Dewitt briefly discussed John Ritter and how glad they were they both had spoken with him shortly before his sudden death.

In the fall of 2012, The Suzanne Show, hosted by Somers, aired for a 13-episode season on the Lifetime Network. Somers welcomed various guests covering a wide range of topics relating to health and fitness.{{Cite news | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/suzanne-somers-dead-threes-company-shes-the-sheriff-1235618944/ | title=Suzanne Somers, Star of 'Three's Company' and 'She's the Sheriff,' Dies at 76 | first1=Christy | last1=Piña | first2=Hilary | last2=Lewis | work=The Hollywood Reporter | date=October 15, 2023}}

On February 24, 2015, Somers was announced as one of the stars participating on the 20th season of Dancing with the Stars. Her partner was professional dancer Tony Dovolani.{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/dancing-stars-2015-season-20-celebrity-cast-announced/story?id=29166872 |title='Dancing With the Stars' 2015: Season 20 Celebrity Cast Announced | work=ABC News | date=February 24, 2015}} Somers and Dovolani were eliminated in the fifth week of competition and finished in 9th place.{{cite news | url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/dancing-stars-2015-suzanne-somers-voted-off-week/story?id=30295643 | title='Dancing With the Stars' 2015: Suzanne Somers Voted Off In Week 5 of Season 20 | work=ABC News | date=April 13, 2015}}

In May and June 2015, Somers starred in "Suzanne Sizzles" at the Westgate Las Vegas.

Medical views

Somers supported bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Her book Ageless{{cite book |last=Somers |first=Suzanne |title=Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones |publisher=Crown Publishing Group |year=2006 |isbn=0-307-23724-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/agelessnakedtrut00some}} includes interviews with 16 practitioners of bioidentical hormone therapy but focuses on one specific approach, the Wiley protocol. A group of seven doctors, all of whom practice bioidentical hormone therapy to address women's health issues, issued a public letter to Somers and her publisher, Crown Publishing Group, stating that the protocol is scientifically unproven and dangerous and citing Wiley's lack of medical and clinical qualifications. Somers appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and was praised by Winfrey for her views, but negative press coverage followed.{{cite news | last=Ellin | first=Abby | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/fashion/15suzanne.html | title=A Battle Over 'Juice of Youth' |work=The New York Times | date=October 15, 2006 | url-access=limited}}

File:Suzanne Somers in Ina Soltani (2).jpg, Julie Bowen, and Garcelle Beauvais.]]

In April 2000, Somers was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent a lumpectomy and radiation but declined chemotherapy. In November 2008, Somers announced that she had been diagnosed with inoperable cancer by six doctors, but she learned a week later that she was misdiagnosed. During this time, she interviewed doctors about cancer treatments and these interviews became the basis of her 2009 book Knockout about alternative treatments to chemotherapy.{{cite news | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/suzanne-somers-cancer-controversy/ | title=Suzanne Somers, Cancer & Controversy: Actress Discusses New Book, "Knockout," on Alternatives to Chemotherapy | work=CBS News | date=October 20, 2009}} In the book, Somers promoted alternative cancer treatments, for which she was criticized by the American Cancer Society, and alternative medical providers such as Stanislaw Burzynski, who has been disciplined by the Texas Medical Board for misleading cancer patients.{{Cite news | first=Jocelyn | last=Noveck | agency=Associated Press | url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-unproven-remedies-celebrities-101909-2009oct19-story.html | title=Somers' new target: conventional cancer treatment | work=The San Diego Union-Tribune | date=October 19, 2009}}

In regard to the water-fluoridation controversy, Somers called fluoride a "toxic waste by-product of the aluminum manufacturers."{{cite book | last=Somers | first=Suzanne | title=Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness | publisher=Crown Publishing Group | location=[New York] | year=2008 | page=[https://archive.org/details/breakthrough8ste00some/page/5 5] | isbn=978-1-4000-5327-8}}

In January 2013, Somers suggested that Adam Lanza may have been driven to commit the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting because of the level of toxins in his diet and his exposure to household cleaners.{{cite news | url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/suzanne-somers-adam-lanza-newtown-shooting-diet_n_2451983 | title=Suzanne Somers Questions Newtown Shooter Adam Lanza's Diet, Exposure To Household Toxins [Video] | first=Lindsay | last=Wilkes-Edrington |work=HuffPost | date=January 11, 2013}}

Personal life

Somers married Bruce Somers on April 14, 1965, and they had a son in November 1965.{{Cite news |url=https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/suzanne-somers-son-actress-calls-bruce-sommers-greatest-person/ | title=Sweet! Suzanne Somers Calls Son 'Greatest Person' in Birthday Post |work=Closer |date=November 9, 2019}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/suzanne-somers-shares-key-to-long-marriage-to-alan-hamel/ |title=How Suzanne Somers and Husband Alan Hamel Keep the Spark Alive After More Than 40 Years of Marriage | first=Dory | last=Jackson | work=Us Weekly |date=January 30, 2021}}

In 1968, after divorcing, Somers moved into an apartment in Sausalito, and got work as a prize model on The Anniversary Game, a game show hosted by Alan Hamel. Although he was already married, they began dating; she had an affair with him that led to an abortion. In 1971, her six-year-old son, Bruce Somers, Jr., was struck by a car. The resulting trauma led her to seek therapy for both herself and her son. On November 19, 1977, Somers and Hamel married,{{Cite web | date=March 3, 2018|title=Suzanne Somers 2002 Biography|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZPoihG7m3Y&t=1191s|access-date=January 5, 2025| via=YouTube }}{{Cite news | url=https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/pictures/suzanne-somers-and-husband-alan-hamels-relationship-timeline/ | title=Suzanne Somers and Husband Alan Hamel's Relationship Timeline | first=Nicole | last=Massabrook | work=Us Weekly | date=October 15, 2023}} and bought a 25-acre estate in Palm Springs, California.[https://www.marinij.com/2021/02/08/suzanne-somers-seeks-8-5-million-for-25-acre-palm-springs-estate/ Suzanne Somers seeks $8.5M for 25-acre Palm Springs estate] marinij.com[https://people.com/tv/suzanne-somers-alan-hamel-relationship-timeline/ Suzanne Somers and Alan Hamel's Relationship Timeline] people.com In 2021, they sold it for $8.5 million.{{Cite news | url=https://people.com/home/suzanne-somers-lists-palm-springs-home/ | title=Suzanne Somers Has Found a Buyer for Her 'Legendary' $8.5M Palm Springs Compound – See Inside! | first=Eric | last=Todisco | work=People | date=May 14, 2021}}

In January 2007, a wildfire in Southern California destroyed Somers' home in Malibu, parts of Los Angeles metropolitan area.{{cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/suzanne-somers-73-staying-in-shape |title=Malibu Fire Destroys Four Mansions, Including Suzanne Somers' Home | work=Fox News |date=January 10, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102063957/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242519,00.html |archive-date=November 2, 2012 |url-status=live}}

Somers described her political views as "very personal", and she identified as an independent voter. In 2013, she criticized Barack Obama saying his administration was "the most divisive of all the administrations that I've ever experienced in my life, and it's become divisive that if you are not part of the group you probably should keep your thought to yourself."{{cite web |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/370123-suzanne-somers-praises-trump-im-happy-about-him/ |title=Suzanne Somers praises Trump: 'I'm happy about him' |last=Kurtz |first=Judy |work=The Hill |date=January 22, 2018 }} In 2018, she expressed support for Donald Trump.{{cite web |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/suzanne-somers-donald-trump_n_5a666801e4b002283005d308 |title=Suzanne Somers Says She's 'Happy' About Trump |last=Wong |first=Curtis |work=HuffPost |date=January 22, 2018 }}

Somers' three granddaughters include Camelia Somers.{{Cite news | url=https://www.wmagazine.com/story/suzanne-somers-granddaughters-bold-and-the-beautiful | title=Why You Should Follow Suzanne Somers's Granddaughters on Instagram | work=W | date=July 17, 2018}}

=Health problems and death=

File:Suzanne Somers.jpg

Somers had hyperplasia in her 20s and skin cancer in her 30s.

In April 2000, Somers was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a lumpectomy to remove the cancer, followed by radiation therapy.{{cite news |url=https://people.com/suzanne-somers-cancer-battle-timeline-8358254 |title=A Timeline of Suzanne Somers' Struggle with Cancer |first1=Bailey |last1=Richards |first2=Alexis |last2=Jones |work=People}}

In 2018, it was reported that she underwent an experimental stem-cell therapy to regrow the breast she lost to cancer.{{Cite web |last=Meola |first=Kiki |date=October 9, 2018 |title=Suzanne Somers Update on Experimental Post-Cancer Regrown Breast |url=https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-body/news/suzanne-somers-update-on-experimental-post-cancer-regrown-breast/ |access-date=October 17, 2023 |website=Us Weekly |language=en-US}}

Somers died at her home in Palm Springs, California, on October 15, 2023, one day before her 77th birthday.{{Cite news |archive-date= 2023-10-16 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231016223612/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/15/obituaries/suzanne-somers-dead.html | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/15/obituaries/suzanne-somers-dead.html | title=Suzanne Somers, Star of 'Three's Company,' Is Dead at 76 | first=Alex | last=Traub | work=The New York Times | date =October 15, 2023 | url-access=limited}} Her death was attributed to breast cancer, which had returned earlier in the year.{{Cite news |url=https://people.com/suzanne-somers-dead-at-76-8358227 |last=Richards |first=Bailey |title=Suzanne Somers, Three's Company and Step by Step Actress, Dead at 76 |work=People |date=October 15, 2023}} Her funeral was held three days later, with her interment at Desert Memorial Park.[https://deadline.com/2023/10/suzanne-somers-cause-of-death-revealed-official-certificate-multiple-issues-cited-1235584844/amp/ Suzanne Somers Cause Of Death Revealed]

Filmography

=Television=

File:Suzanne Somers (handprints in cement).jpg at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park]]

File:Suzanne Somers 3 way poncho at Walgreens in downtown Palo Alto, CA.jpg, an As seen on TV product endorsed by Somers[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiFnUO7OJXQ 3 Way Poncho Commercial] As seen on TV]]

  • Lotsa Luck (1974){{sfn|Mann|1998|p=22}}
  • The Rockford Files – The Big Ripoff (aired October 25, 1974)
  • Sky Heist (1975){{sfn|Mann|1998|p=20}}
  • The Six Million Dollar Man (1977)
  • Starsky & Hutch (1975–1979, 3 appearances)
  • One Day at a Time (1976)
  • The Love Boat (1977)
  • Three's Company (1977–1981)
  • Happily Ever After (1978){{cite book |title=After the Fall: How I Picked Myself Up, Dusted Myself Off, and Started All Over Again |publisher=Crown Publishing Group | year=1998 | isbn=0-609-60312-4 | url=https://archive.org/details/afterfallhowipic00some}}
  • The Carpenters...Space Encounters (1978){{cite book |last=Terrace |first=Vincent |title=Television Specials: 5,336 Entertainment Programs, 1936-2012, 2d ed. |publisher=McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-4766-1240-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Of0QAAAAQBAJ |access-date=2023-11-20 |page=82}}
  • Match Game 77 (1977/PM) (1977)
  • Tattletales (1977)
  • The SimpsonsThe Day the Violence Died (1996)
  • The Darklings (1999)
  • ShopNBC
  • Hollywood Wives (1985) (miniseries){{sfn|Mann|1998|p=305}}
  • She's the Sheriff (1987–1989){{sfn|Mann|1998|p=305}}
  • Rich Men, Single Women (1990){{sfn|Mann|1998|p=305}}
  • Step by Step (1991–1998){{sfn|Mann|1998|p=305}}
  • Keeping Secrets (1991){{sfn|Mann|1998|p=305}}
  • Exclusive (1992){{sfn|Mann|1998|p=305}}
  • The Larry Sanders Show (1993)
  • The Suzanne Somers Show (1994–1995){{sfn|Mann|1998|p=305}}
  • Full House (1994){{cite web|title=Suzanne Somers List of Movies and TV Shows|work=TV Guide|url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/suzanne-somers/credits/3000054938/|access-date=October 21, 2023}}
  • Seduced by Evil (1994){{sfn|Mann|1998|p=305}}
  • 8-Track Flashback (1995–1998){{sfn|Mann|1998|p=305}}
  • Devil's Food (1996){{sfn|Mann|1998|p=305}}
  • Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade (1996) (Host)
  • Love-Struck (1997)
  • Candid Camera (co-host from 1997 to 2000)
  • No Laughing Matter (1998)
  • Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (2009) (guest appearance)
  • The Suzanne Show (2012) (Host)
  • The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (2013) (guest appearance)
  • Dancing with the Stars (2015) (contestant)
  • Home & Family (2017)
  • =Film=

    Published works

    {{Refbegin|30em}}

    • {{cite book | title=Touch Me: The Poems of Suzanne Somers | location = Los Angeles | publisher= Nash Publishing | year=1973 | isbn=0840213123 }} (Hank Saroyan, Photographs)
    • {{cite book | title=Keeping Secrets | publisher=Warner Books | year=1987 | isbn=978-0-446-51395-1 | url=https://archive.org/details/keepingsecrets00some }}
    • {{cite book | title=Wednesday's Children: Adult Survivors of Abuse Speak Out | publisher=Putnam Adult | year=1992 | isbn=0-399-13743-2 | url=https://archive.org/details/wednesdayschildr00some }}
    • {{cite book |title=After the Fall: How I Picked Myself Up, Dusted Myself Off, and Started All Over Again |publisher=Crown Publishing Group | year=1998 | isbn=0-609-60312-4 | url=https://archive.org/details/afterfallhowipic00some}}
    • {{cite book |title=Suzanne Somers' Get Skinny on Fabulous Food | url=https://archive.org/details/suzannesomersge00some |url-access=registration |publisher=Crown |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-609-60162-4 }}
    • {{cite book |title=Suzanne Somers' 365 Ways to Change Your Life |publisher=Crown Publishing Group |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-609-60161-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/suzannesomers36500suza_0}}
    • {{cite book | title=Suzanne Somers' Eat, Cheat, and Melt the Fat Away | publisher=Crown | year=2001 | isbn=978-0-609-60722-0 }}
    • {{cite book | title=Suzanne Somers' Eat Great, Lose Weight | edition=Miniature Editions | publisher=Running Press | year=2001 | isbn=978-0-7624-1160-3 }}
    • {{cite book | title=Somersize Desserts | publisher=Clarkson Potter | year=2001 | isbn=978-0-609-60977-4 | url=https://archive.org/details/somersizedessert00suza}}
    • {{cite book | title=Suzanne Somers' Fast and Easy: Lose Weight the Somersize Way with Quick, Delicious Meals for the Entire Family! | publisher=Crown Publishing Group | year=2004 | isbn=978-1-4000-4643-0 | url=https://archive.org/details/suzannesomersfas00some }}
    • {{cite book | title=The Sexy Years: Discover the Hormone Connection – The Secret to Fabulous Sex, Great Health, and Vitality, for Women and Men | url=https://archive.org/details/sexyyearsdiscove00some | url-access=registration | publisher=Crown Publishing Group | year=2004 | isbn=0-609-60721-9}}
    • {{cite book | title=Somersize Chocolate | publisher=Crown | year=2004 | isbn=978-1-4000-5329-2 | url=https://archive.org/details/somersizechocola00some }}
    • {{cite book | title=Suzanne Somers' Slim and Sexy Forever: The Hormone Solution for Permanent Weight Loss and Optimal Living | publisher=Crown | year=2005 | isbn=978-1-4000-5325-4 | url=https://archive.org/details/suzannesomerssli00some}}
    • {{cite book | title=Somersize Cocktails: 30 Sexy Libations from Cool Classics to Unique Concoctions to Stir Up Any Occasion | publisher=Crown | year=2005 | isbn=978-1-4000-5330-8 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/somersizecocktai0000some}}
    • {{cite book | title=Somersize Appetizers: 30 Scintillating Starters to Tantalize Your Tastebuds at Every Occasion | publisher=Crown | year=2005 | isbn =978-1-4000-5331-5 }}
    • {{cite book | title=Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones | publisher=Crown Publishing Group | year=2006 | isbn=0-307-23724-9 | url=https://archive.org/details/agelessnakedtrut00some}}
    • {{cite book | title=Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness | publisher=Crown | year=2008 | isbn=978-1-4000-5327-8 }}
    • {{cite book | title=Knockout: Interviews with Doctors Who Are Curing Cancer – And How to Prevent Getting It in the First Place | publisher=Crown | year=2009 | isbn=978-0-307-58746-6 }}
    • {{cite book | title=Stay Young & Sexy with Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement: The Science Explained | publisher=Smart Publications | year=2009 | isbn=978-1-890572-22-8 }}
    • {{cite book | title=Sexy Forever: How to Fight Fat after Forty | publisher=Crown | year=2010 | isbn=978-0-307-58851-7 }}
    • {{cite book | title=The Sexy Forever Recipe Bible | publisher=Crown | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-307-95670-5}}
    • {{cite book | title=Bombshell: Explosive Medical Secrets That Will Redefine Aging | publisher=Harmony Books | year=2012 | isbn=978-0307-58854-8 }}
    • {{cite book | title=I'm Too Young for This!: The Natural Hormone Solution to Enjoy Perimenopause | publisher=Harmony Books | year=2013 | isbn=978-0-385-34769-3}}
    • {{cite book | title=TOX-SICK: From Toxic to Not Sick | publisher=Harmony Books | year=2015 | isbn=978-0-385-34772-3 }}
    • {{cite book | title=Two's Company: A Fifty-Year Romance with Lessons Learned In Love, Life & Business | publisher=Harmony Books | year=2017 | isbn=978-0-451-49826-7}}

    {{Refend}}

    See also

    References

    {{Reflist}}