Suzanne Somers Dies: ‘Three’s Company’ Actress And Personal Fitness Guru Was 76

Bruce Haring
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Suzanne Somers, best known for her ditsy comedy turn in the hit television series Three’s Company and later She’s the Sheriff and Step by Step, has died. She was 76.

“Suzanne Somers passed away peacefully at home in the early morning hours of October 15th. She survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years,” Somers’ longtime publicist R. Couri Hay wrote in a statement to People shared on behalf of the actress’ family.

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“Suzanne was surrounded by her loving husband Alan, her son Bruce, and her immediate family,” the statement continued. “Her family was gathered to celebrate her 77th birthday on October 16th. Instead, they will celebrate her extraordinary life, and want to thank her millions of fans and followers who loved her dearly.”

Somers first cultural impression was as the blonde beauty in a white Thunderbird in George Lucas’ ‘60s hit comedy-drama, American Graffiti (1973).

Her big break came in 1977, when she was cast as one of the two female leads in the third pilot for Three’s Company.

Somers was the epitome of the “dumb blonde” on the show as Chrissy Snow. She joined with Joyce DeWitt and John Ritter in the improbable sitcom about three roommates that captured the fancy of TV audiences, rising to No. 3 in the national ratings in its 1977-78 debut season. The racy show for its time kept in the Nielsen Top 5 through the beginning of the 1980 season, when Somers exited the show over a business conflict. She made brief cameos that season and was completely written off the show after that season, replaced by other characters.

“I knew what Chrissy Snow would and would not do,” Somers said in a 2009 interview for the Television Academy Foundation. “She’d never tell a lie. She’d never steal anybody’s boyfriend. Everything was always absolutely honest with her. And I think that’s what endeared her to the public.” Watch the interview below.

From there, Somers tried a Vegas act, and then was the star of the syndicated sitcom She’s the Sheriff. In 1991, she again gained some momentum when she was cast opposite Patrick Duffy in Step by Step, a traditional sitcom about blended families. It lasted six seasons on ABC, then jumped to CBS for a final season in 1997-98.

But acting had taken a backseat for Somers, who built up a multimillion dollar fitness empire thanks to TV informercials for the ThighMaster, which was shortly joined by the ButtMaster. She and husband Alan Hamel amassed a fortune estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars from the toning products. There followed two dozen books on wellness, weight loss and sex, with Home Shopping Network appearances and her own website providing even more money.

Show business still played a small role. She was the cohost of Candid Camera in 1997, and host of the Lifetime talk show The Suzanne Show in 2012. She was also on Dancing with the Stars in 2015.

Her resume includes the 1988 memoir, Keeping Secrets, later turned into an ABC TV movie. She did a sequel novel as well, and then a one-woman Broadway show, The Blonde in the Thunderbird.

Her film and TV resume includes a small part in the Steve McQueen action vehicle Bullitt (1968), TV roles on The Rockford Files, Starsky & Hutch, The Love Boat and One Day at a Time. Her movie work included Clint Eastwood’s second Dirty Harry film, Magnum Force (1973) and Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977).

She is survived by her husband and son.

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