Joyce DeWitt Speaks Out After Learning About Suzanne Somers' Death

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Joyce DeWitt, 74, sent heartfelt condolences to the family of Suzanne Somers after learning of the death of her former Three's Company co-star. Somers passed away at home on Sunday, October 15, one day before her 77th birthday.

“My heart goes out to Suzanne’s family,” said DeWitt in a statement shared with People. “They are a very close family — deeply connected and caring one to the other. I can only imagine how difficult this time is for all of them.”

She continued, “I’m sure Suzanne was greeted by Angels into the loving wisdom waiting for all of us on the other side, and I hope that will assist her family’s hearts in healing as they travel through this difficult time.”

From 1977 to 1981, Somers, DeWitt, and the late John Ritter portrayed roommates Chrissy Snow, Janet Wood, and Jack Tripper in the innuendo-filled hit ABC sitcom Three's Company. After Somers was fired due to a contract dispute (she demanded to be paid on par with her male co-star, Ritter), the show continued without her until fall 1984 when the spinoff, Three's a Crowd, starring Ritter, launched.

After leaving the show, Somers went on to headline Las Vegas productions and eventually returned to television to star in Step-by-Step (1991–1998). She also launched a health, beauty, and fitness empire and authored many books on the topic.

DeWitt and Somers reunited in February of 2012, more than 30 years after Somers left Three's Company, on the set Somers's talk show, Breaking Through. During the segment, the two women hugged, talked about what happened, and expressed their mutual admiration for each other.

“You went up against ruthlessness, and it came down,” DeWitt told Somer, adding, “What you’ve gone on to do is immeasurable.”

Recently, DeWitt, who has enjoyed a decades-long career in theater, appeared in a country music video for the Davisson Brothers Band song “Home,” which includes a sentimental nod to Three's Company: For a moment, the camera focuses on a framed late-'70s photo of Ritter, DeWitt, and Somers together as Jack, Janet, and Chrissy.

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