obituary

Actress Suzanne Somers dies at 76 after cancer battle

The "Three's Company" star died one day before her 77th birthday

NBC Universal, Inc.

Actress Suzanne Somers died Sunday, one day before her 77th birthday.

The "Three's Company" star had been battling an aggressive form of breast cancer for more than 23 years, her publicist R. Couri Hay said in a statement on behalf of Somers' family.

He said Somers passed away peacefully at her home while surrounded by family.

“Her family was gathered to celebrate her 77th birthday on October 16th," Hay said in the statement. "Instead, they will celebrate her extraordinary life, and want to thank her millions of fans and followers who loved her dearly."

A private family burial will take place this week and a memorial will follow in November.

Somers was first diagnosed in 2000, and also had skin cancer. She faced some backlash for her reliance on what she's described as a chemical-free and organic lifestyle to combat the cancers. She argued against the use of chemotherapy, in books and on platforms like “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” which drew criticism from the American Cancer Society.

In July, Somers had announced in an Instagram post that her breast cancer had returned.

"As you know, I had breast cancer two decades ago, and every now and then it pops up again, and I continue to bat it down," Somers wrote. "I have used the best alternative and conventional treatments to combat it. This is not new territory for me. I know how to put on my battle gear and I'm a fighter."

Somers was born Suzanne Marie Mahoney on Oct. 16, 1946 in San Bruno, California to a gardener father and a medical secretary mother.

Following a model career, Somers' first credited role came in George Lucas’s 1973 film "American Graffiti" where she played a nameless blonde beauty in a white Thunderbird who catches the eye of a college freshman played by Richard Dreyfuss.

She appeared in many television shows in the 1970s, including “The Rockford Files,” “Magnum Force” and “The Six Million Dollar Man.”

In 1977, Somers was cast as one of the two female leads in the ABC sitcom "Three's Company," starring alongside Joyce DeWitt and John Ritter as three single roommates.

Three's Company
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Suzanne Somers in a 1979 episode of "Three's Company" along with co-stars Joyce DeWitt and John Ritter.

Somers, who portrayed ditzy blonde Chrissy Snow, was replaced after the fifth season in 1981 after asking for a raise from $30,000 an episode to $150,000 an episode, which would have been comparable to what Ritter was getting paid. 

Somers was replaced by two different roommates for the remaining years the show aired. Her demands and departure led to a rift with her co-stars, and she did not speak with DeWitt and Ritter for many years. She reconciled with Ritter before his death in 2003, and then with DeWitt on Somers' online talk show "Breaking Through."

Somers' other notable roles came in "She's the Sheriff" from 1987 to 1989 and "Step by Step" from 1991 to 1998.

Somers also became an author and a health and fitness pitchwoman, starring in TV infomercials as the national spokeswoman for the ThighMaster.

Somers married her first husband Bruce Somers in 1965, the same year their son Bruce Jr. was born. The two divorced in 1968. Somers met Alan Hamel, a game show host, while working as a prize model on "The Anniversary Game" in 1969 and the two married in 1977.

Somers was surrounded by Hamel, her son Bruce, and her immediate family when she passed away, per Hay's statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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