Suzanne Somers, TV Icon, Dead At 76
"Three's Company" star Suzanne Somers has passed away at 76 following a long bout with breast cancer. The actor's publicist, R. Couri Hay, released this statement: "She survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years. Suzanne was surrounded by her loving husband Alan, her son Bruce, and her immediate family" (per The Hollywood Reporter).
Somers first broke into Hollywood with uncredited film roles in the late '60s. Her career picked up the following decade as she appeared in episodes of "Lotsa Luck!" "One Day at a Time," "The Rockford Files," and "Starsky and Hutch." She also had a part in George Lucas' 1973 Oscar-nominated classic, "American Graffiti." And, of course, Somers began cementing herself as a TV icon when she joined the cast of "Three's Company" in 1977, playing everyone's favorite neighborly and loveable klutz, Chrissy Snow.
In 1980, Somers' time on the hit sitcom came to a dramatic halt after she demanded pay similar to John Ritter's, who portrayed Jack Tripper. Somers was subsequently fired by ABC. However, she cemented herself as a TV icon well beyond "Three's Company."
Suzanne Somers continued to capture success after Three's Company
According to Suzanne Somers' husband and former television producer Alan Hamel, ABC wanted to make a statement out of her after her demand for equal pay. "Laverne & Shirley had just negotiated a monster deal, and afterwards, they decided they needed to make an example of female actresses so that no other woman would ask to be paid what men were making. And then [Suzanne] was fired," (per PEOPLE).
However, this didn't stop Somers from finding success elsewhere. In 1985 she appeared in the Emmy-nominated television mini-series, "Hollywood Wives." From 1987 to 1989, she starred as Sheriff Hildy Granger in the short-lived sitcom, "She's the Sheriff." And, as many '90s kids may recall, Somers made quite the splash when she became the spokesperson for the Thighmaster, appearing in a series of iconic infomercials.
The exercise equipment was a massive success, especially for Somers. In March 2022, the savvy entrepreneur was asked about how much money she made with Thighmaster over the years. After doing the math with "Hollywood Raw" podcast host, Dax Holt, it was revealed that Somers likely made nearly $300,000,000 from the product alone (per Page Six). "For someone who has played the dumbest blonde on television, I have a really good brain."