SUZANNE SOMERS
Name: Suzanne Somers
Birth name: Suzanne Marie Mahoney
Born: 16 October 1946 San Bruno, California
Suzanne Somers (born October 16, 1946) is an American actress, author, and
businesswoman. Best known for her role as the ditzy blonde Chrissy Snow on the
ABC sitcom Three's Company, she also had a noted starring role on the sitcom
Step by Step as Carol Foster Lambert. She later capitalized on her acting career
by also establishing herself as an author of a series of self-help books. She
has released two autobiographies, two self-help books, four diet books, and a
book about hormone replacement therapy. She currently features items of her
design on the Home Shopping Network.
Somers was born Suzanne Marie Mahoney, the third of four children in Frank and
Marion Mahoney's Irish Catholic household in San Bruno, California. Her father
was an alcoholic who could become violent on occasion, as Somers recounted,
often forcing her to hide in her closet. She suffered from dyslexia and was a
poor student. After being expelled from parochial school for having love notes
in her locker, Suzanne went to Capuchino High School, where she appeared in
several drama productions, including portraying Adelaide in the Frank Loesser
musical Guys and Dolls. Due to his drinking problem, her father was too
inebriated to attend Suzanne's high school graduation in June 1964. A made-for-TV-movie
starring Somers (based on her first autobiography, Keeping Secrets) was made
about her life and growing up with an alcoholic father.
In September 1964, she was accepted at San Francisco College for Women (commonly
referred to as "Lone Mountain College") on a music scholarship, a Catholic
school that is now a campus of the University of San Francisco. She left during
her Sophomore year, after becoming pregnant. She gave birth to her son Bruce Jr.
on November 8, 1965, after marrying the boy's father, Bruce Somers. She left her
husband three years later and began modeling. In 1971, her son was severely
injured when he was hit by a car. Also at this time, Suzanne was arrested for
writing a bad check to pay her rent. (Her mugshot would appear years later when
she was on Three's Company. But the negative publicity quickly subsided once
Suzanne explained about her emotional and financial difficulties of having her
son in the hospital.)
In 1968, Suzanne won a job as a prize model on the short-lived game show, The
Anniversary Game hosted by her future husband, Alan Hamel, who was married at
the time. The two began dating, and Suzanne became pregnant while Hamel was
still married. They decided that Suzanne should have an abortion, which she did,
suffering severe bleeding for several days. She has been married to Hamel since
1977. Hamel was her business manager during the failed negotiations which led to
her leaving Three's Company.
She began acting in small roles during the late 1960s and early 1970s (including
on various talk shows promoting her book of poetry, and bit parts in movies such
as the "Blonde in the T-Bird" in American Graffiti, and an episode of the
American version of the sitcom Lotsa Luck as the femme fatale in the early 1970s)
before landing the role of the ditzy blonde "Chrissy Snow" on the ABC sitcom
Three's Company in 1977.
At the beginning of the 1980-81 season, Suzanne demanded a raise from $30,000 an
episode to $150,000 an episode and 10% ownership of the show. When ABC refused,
Somers boycotted the second and fourth shows of the season, claiming illness.
She finished the remaining season on her contract, but her role was cut back to
1 minute per episode. After her contract expired, she sued ABC for $2 million,
claiming that her credibility in show business had been damaged. It went to an
arbitrator who decided that Suzanne was owed only $30,000 for a missed episode.
By this time, John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt were not talking to Suzanne because
of the contractual dispute she started. There is a rumor, that when John and
Joyce carried Suzanne out of the apartment (they did this for a scene), they
dropped her on the ground purposely. John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt denied this
rumor. On September 11, 2003, Suzanne was informed of John Ritter's death by his
widow, Amy Yasbeck.
Before the feud with Three's Company producers and ABC even ended, rival network
CBS knew that Somers was going to be available in the end. They eventually
signed her to a contract and a development deal for her own sitcom, which was
going to be called The Suzanne Somers Show, in which she played an "over-the-top"
airline stewardess. Once she was finally available, CBS gave Somers- and the
public- a timeframe in which the show was supposed to premiere, but due to a
change in administration at CBS's entertainment division in early 1982, the
brass ended up passing on the project. Also, Suzanne claimed in her book After
the Fall (1998), that the producers of Three's Company kept sending "cease &
desist" forms to CBS stating that Suzanne couldn't use any of her Chrissy Snow
characterization, and that chilled the creative process.
During the 1980s, Somers became a Las Vegas entertainer. She was the spokeswoman
for the Thighmaster, a piece of exercise equipment that is squeezed between one's
thighs. Thighmaster was one of the first products responsible for launching the
infomercial concept. As well, she performed for U.S. servicemen overseas.
She graced the cover of Playboy with a full nude pictorial twice : in 1980 and
1984. The 1980 pictures were taken years before, when Suzanne was a struggling
model and actress, unlike the 1984 pictorial.
At the height of her exposure as official spokesperson for Thighmaster
infomercials, Somers made her first return to a series, although not on network
television. In 1987, she starred in the sitcom She's the Sheriff, which ran in
first-run syndication. Somers portrayed a widow with two young kids who decided
to fill the shoes of her late husband, a sheriff of a southern town. The show
ran for two seasons.
In 1990, Somers returned to network TV, appearing in numerous guest roles and
made-for-TV movies, mostly for ABC. Her roles in these, including the movie Rich
Men, Single Women, attracted the attention of Lorimar Television and Miller-Boyett
Productions, who were developing a new sitcom. For Lorimar, this was asking
Somers back, since they alone had produced She's the Sheriff.
In September 1991, Somers bounced back to series TV by starring in the
successful sitcom Step By Step (with Patrick Duffy), which ran for seven seasons.
Playing off her rejuvenated career, Somers also launched a daytime talk show in
1994, albeit briefly, aptly titled Suzanne Somers. During Step By Step's final
season, on CBS, she began co-hosting Candid Camera with Peter Funt.
Somers announced in spring 2001 that she had breast cancer and she was treated
with conventional surgery and radiation therapy. Instead of pursuing elective
chemotherapy after her treatment, Somers chose an alternative therapy using
mistletoe injections.
Somers is also a supporter of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Her book,
Ageless, includes interviews with 16 leading practitioners of bioidentical
hormone therapy, but gives extra discussion to the Wiley Protocol.
Name: Suzanne Somers
Birth name: Suzanne Marie Mahoney
Born: 16 October 1946 San Bruno, California
Suzanne Somers (born October 16, 1946) is an American actress, author, and
businesswoman. Best known for her role as the ditzy blonde Chrissy Snow on the
ABC sitcom Three's Company, she also had a noted starring role on the sitcom
Step by Step as Carol Foster Lambert. She later capitalized on her acting career
by also establishing herself as an author of a series of self-help books. She
has released two autobiographies, two self-help books, four diet books, and a
book about hormone replacement therapy. She currently features items of her
design on the Home Shopping Network.
Somers was born Suzanne Marie Mahoney, the third of four children in Frank and
Marion Mahoney's Irish Catholic household in San Bruno, California. Her father
was an alcoholic who could become violent on occasion, as Somers recounted,
often forcing her to hide in her closet. She suffered from dyslexia and was a
poor student. After being expelled from parochial school for having love notes
in her locker, Suzanne went to Capuchino High School, where she appeared in
several drama productions, including portraying Adelaide in the Frank Loesser
musical Guys and Dolls. Due to his drinking problem, her father was too
inebriated to attend Suzanne's high school graduation in June 1964. A made-for-TV-movie
starring Somers (based on her first autobiography, Keeping Secrets) was made
about her life and growing up with an alcoholic father.
In September 1964, she was accepted at San Francisco College for Women (commonly
referred to as "Lone Mountain College") on a music scholarship, a Catholic
school that is now a campus of the University of San Francisco. She left during
her Sophomore year, after becoming pregnant. She gave birth to her son Bruce Jr.
on November 8, 1965, after marrying the boy's father, Bruce Somers. She left her
husband three years later and began modeling. In 1971, her son was severely
injured when he was hit by a car. Also at this time, Suzanne was arrested for
writing a bad check to pay her rent. (Her mugshot would appear years later when
she was on Three's Company. But the negative publicity quickly subsided once
Suzanne explained about her emotional and financial difficulties of having her
son in the hospital.)
In 1968, Suzanne won a job as a prize model on the short-lived game show, The
Anniversary Game hosted by her future husband, Alan Hamel, who was married at
the time. The two began dating, and Suzanne became pregnant while Hamel was
still married. They decided that Suzanne should have an abortion, which she did,
suffering severe bleeding for several days. She has been married to Hamel since
1977. Hamel was her business manager during the failed negotiations which led to
her leaving Three's Company.
She began acting in small roles during the late 1960s and early 1970s (including
on various talk shows promoting her book of poetry, and bit parts in movies such
as the "Blonde in the T-Bird" in American Graffiti, and an episode of the
American version of the sitcom Lotsa Luck as the femme fatale in the early 1970s)
before landing the role of the ditzy blonde "Chrissy Snow" on the ABC sitcom
Three's Company in 1977.
At the beginning of the 1980-81 season, Suzanne demanded a raise from $30,000 an
episode to $150,000 an episode and 10% ownership of the show. When ABC refused,
Somers boycotted the second and fourth shows of the season, claiming illness.
She finished the remaining season on her contract, but her role was cut back to
1 minute per episode. After her contract expired, she sued ABC for $2 million,
claiming that her credibility in show business had been damaged. It went to an
arbitrator who decided that Suzanne was owed only $30,000 for a missed episode.
By this time, John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt were not talking to Suzanne because
of the contractual dispute she started. There is a rumor, that when John and
Joyce carried Suzanne out of the apartment (they did this for a scene), they
dropped her on the ground purposely. John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt denied this
rumor. On September 11, 2003, Suzanne was informed of John Ritter's death by his
widow, Amy Yasbeck.
Before the feud with Three's Company producers and ABC even ended, rival network
CBS knew that Somers was going to be available in the end. They eventually
signed her to a contract and a development deal for her own sitcom, which was
going to be called The Suzanne Somers Show, in which she played an "over-the-top"
airline stewardess. Once she was finally available, CBS gave Somers- and the
public- a timeframe in which the show was supposed to premiere, but due to a
change in administration at CBS's entertainment division in early 1982, the
brass ended up passing on the project. Also, Suzanne claimed in her book After
the Fall (1998), that the producers of Three's Company kept sending "cease &
desist" forms to CBS stating that Suzanne couldn't use any of her Chrissy Snow
characterization, and that chilled the creative process.
During the 1980s, Somers became a Las Vegas entertainer. She was the spokeswoman
for the Thighmaster, a piece of exercise equipment that is squeezed between one's
thighs. Thighmaster was one of the first products responsible for launching the
infomercial concept. As well, she performed for U.S. servicemen overseas.
She graced the cover of Playboy with a full nude pictorial twice : in 1980 and
1984. The 1980 pictures were taken years before, when Suzanne was a struggling
model and actress, unlike the 1984 pictorial.
At the height of her exposure as official spokesperson for Thighmaster
infomercials, Somers made her first return to a series, although not on network
television. In 1987, she starred in the sitcom She's the Sheriff, which ran in
first-run syndication. Somers portrayed a widow with two young kids who decided
to fill the shoes of her late husband, a sheriff of a southern town. The show
ran for two seasons.
In 1990, Somers returned to network TV, appearing in numerous guest roles and
made-for-TV movies, mostly for ABC. Her roles in these, including the movie Rich
Men, Single Women, attracted the attention of Lorimar Television and Miller-Boyett
Productions, who were developing a new sitcom. For Lorimar, this was asking
Somers back, since they alone had produced She's the Sheriff.
In September 1991, Somers bounced back to series TV by starring in the
successful sitcom Step By Step (with Patrick Duffy), which ran for seven seasons.
Playing off her rejuvenated career, Somers also launched a daytime talk show in
1994, albeit briefly, aptly titled Suzanne Somers. During Step By Step's final
season, on CBS, she began co-hosting Candid Camera with Peter Funt.
Somers announced in spring 2001 that she had breast cancer and she was treated
with conventional surgery and radiation therapy. Instead of pursuing elective
chemotherapy after her treatment, Somers chose an alternative therapy using
mistletoe injections.
Somers is also a supporter of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Her book,
Ageless, includes interviews with 16 leading practitioners of bioidentical
hormone therapy, but gives extra discussion to the Wiley Protocol.