Suzanne Somers is an ebullient blonde actress best known for her role as Chrissy Snow on the TV show “Three’s Company” who later became an entrepreneur and New York Times bestseller writer. She is 76 years old.
Summers, who had suffered from breast cancer for more than 23 years, died Sunday morning, her family said in a statement provided by her longtime publicist, R. Couri Hay. She is survived by her husband Alan Hamel, son Bruce and other immediate family members in Palm Springs, California.
“On October 16, her family gathered to celebrate what would have been her 77th birthday,” the statement read. “Instead, they will celebrate her extraordinary life and thank her millions of fans and followers who loved her so much. .”
In July, Summers shared on Instagram that her breast cancer had returned.
“Like any cancer patient, when you get scared, ‘It’s back,’ you get that twinge in your stomach. Then I put on my combat gear and went into battle,” she told Entertainment Tonight at the time. “This is a familiar battlefield for me and I’m very strong.”
She was first diagnosed with skin cancer in 2000 and had previously battled skin cancer. Summers has faced some backlash for relying on what she describes as a chemical-free and organic lifestyle to fight cancer. She has spoken out against the use of chemotherapy in books and on platforms such as “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” drawing criticism from the American Cancer Society.
Summers was born in San Bruno, California, in 1946, the son of a gardener father and a medical secretary. She later said her childhood was turbulent. Her father was an alcoholic and abusive. At 19, she married Bruce Summers after becoming pregnant with their son, Bruce. Three years later, the couple divorced and she began modeling for “Anniversary Games” to support herself. It was during this time that she met Hamel, whom she married in 1977.
She began her acting career in the late 1960s, making her acting debut in Steve McQueen’s film Bullitt. But the spotlight really came when she played a blonde piloting a white Thunderbird in the 1973 George Lucas film “American Graffiti.” Her only line is to say “I love you” to Richard Dreyfuss’ character.
During her audition, Lucas simply asked her if she could drive. She later said that moment “changed her life forever.”
Summers later performed on Broadway in a one-woman play about her life called “Blonde in Thunderbirds,” which drew widespread and scathing criticism.
She appeared in a number of television shows in the 1970s, including The Rockford Files, Magnum and The Six Million Dollar Man, but her most famous role was in Three’s Company, a 1977 aired on ABC from 1984 to 1984 – although her involvement ended in 1981.
In Three’s Company, she was the blonde opposite John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt in the roommate comedy.
“Creating her was actually an intellect,” she told CBS News in 2020. “How I made her lovable… the stupid blonde was annoying. I gave her a moral compass. I imagined this was the childhood I wanted to have.”
In 1980, after four seasons, she said she asked for an increase in her per-episode pay from $30,000 to $150,000, which she said was comparable to Ritter’s salary. Hamel, a former television producer, encouraged the request.
“The reaction to the show was, ‘Who do you think you are?'” Summers told People in 2020. “They said, ‘John Ritter is a star.'”
She was quickly eliminated and fired. During the remaining years of the show’s run, her character was replaced by two different housemates. This also led to disagreements with her co-stars. They haven’t spoken for years. Summers did reconcile with Ritter before his death and then with DeWitt on her online talk show.
But Summers saw the break as an opportunity to pursue new avenues, including performing in Las Vegas, hosting a talk show and becoming an entrepreneur. In the 1990s, she also became the spokesperson of “ThighMaster”.
She returned to network television in the 1990s, most notably on ABC’s youth-oriented TGIF program “Step by Step.” The network also aired a biopic starring her called “Keeping the Secret.”
Summers is also a prolific author, having written books on aging, menopause, beauty, health, sex, and cancer.
She was in good spirits before her death, surrounded by family, and even gave an interview to People magazine about her birthday plans to be with her “those closest to her.”
Hamel told People she had just returned from the Midwest, where she underwent six weeks of intensive physical therapy.
“Even after we’ve been together for five years, I’m still in awe of Suzanne’s amazing determination and commitment,” Hamel said.
She told the magazine she ordered “a lot of cake.”
“I really like cake,” she said.
Svlook
