The Amazing Career of Suzanne Somers

One day after we received the news that Piper Laurie, the legendary actress best remembered for originating the role of the title character's mother in Carrie, passed away at 91, we received more heartbreak from the acting world. Suzanne Somers passed away just one day short of her 77th birthday, after a battle with breast cancer that spanned over two decades. Somers was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer back in 2000, with the illness returning this summer.

Born Suzanne Marie Mahoney in San Bruno, California on October 16, 1946, Somers' acting career began at some point during the late 1960s, with one of her earliest known roles being a bit role in the 1973 classic film, American Graffiti. Throughout the 1970s, Somers appeared in several different shows, such as The Rockford Files, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Love Boat, and One Day at a Time. However, it was just months after appearing on the latter of the four shows that Somers received her first true big break.

Three's Company

It was in January of 1977 that Somers was cast in her iconic role as Chrissy Snow on ABC's sitcom, Three's Company. The show centered on Chrissy and roommate Janet Wood (Joyce DeWitt) in a living arrangement with bachelor Jack Tripper (John Ritter), under the ruse that Jack was gay, allowing the arrangement to commence. The show premiered on March 15, 1977, and was a huge hit in the ratings, even spawning two spinoffs: The Ropers (which premiered during the show's run in 1979) and Three's a Crowd (which premiered a week after the series finale in 1984).

Success can be beneficial, but it can lead to something quite nasty. By the time the show's fifth season began, Somers began to demand a bigger payday. She was making $30,000 per episode (which was a lot back then), but wanted that multiplied by five! As many who are familiar with this story know, it had been said that Somers was influenced by her husband, Alan Hamel (who she married in 1977), and regarding her reasoning, she claimed that she wanted to be paid as much as a number of male TV stars. In actuality, the increase would make her the highest paid out of the cast members, including Ritter and DeWitt. Somers no-showed the second and fourth episodes of the season, and as a result, she found her appearances reduced drastically during that year. The fifth season wrote out Chrissy as being away at her parents' home, only appearing very briefly in phone conversations with Jack and/or Janet, who usually discussed everything that occurred in the episode's events.

She's the Sheriff

It would be six years until Somers returned to TV series work, but not on a major network. Her first regular series since her unceremonial ousting from Three's Company was in the notoriously known sitcom, She's the Sheriff. I hadn't heard of that show until I watched an episode of South Park in 1997, which referenced the show. Funny story: because it was South Park, I thought that co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone made it up, because they had a knack for poking fun at classic TV stars. Turns out, that's an actual show.

The series starred Somers as a widowed mother whose late husband was the sheriff of a small town in Nevada--a job she takes on. The show aired in first-run syndication and only lasted two seasons between 1987 and 1989, and I use the word "notoriously" because it was known as one of the worst sitcoms in TV history.

Step by Step

Somers wouldn't have to wait too long to make up for She's the Sheriff, as the fall of 1991 saw Somers back on ABC in another sitcom: Step by Step. I remember this vividly, because I was a big fan of ABC's TGIF lineup as a kid, which included this show and Family Matters, among other shows that came and went. Step by Step was basically the 1990s equivalent of The Brady Bunch, with Somers co-starring with Patrick Duffy as a newlywed couple and the co-heads of a blended family, with Somers' Carol Foster being the mother of two daughters and a son, while Duffy's Frank Lambert was the father of two sons and a daughter.

Step by Step was a longtime stalwart of ABC's TGIF lineup, airing for six seasons on the "Alphabet Network." The series ended up moving to CBS (as did fellow TGIF series Family Matters) for a seventh and final season.

Other Work

Somers is also remembered as the spokesperson for the Thighmaster; I actually remember seeing her in one of those informercials as a kid. I also remember that an episode of Animaniacs satirized Somers' Thighmaster ads. In addition, I also watched Somers in a pair of TV films that returned to my memory with this news: Seduced by Evil and Devil's Food. If I recall, both aired on Lifetime back in the mid-to-late 1990s. The former featured Somers as a woman who was an evil sorcerer's object of affection, while the latter saw Somers as a woman who sells her soul to the Devil so she could lose weight. I haven't seen these films in years, I need to rectify that.

Another telefilm that Somers starred in was The Darklings, which aired on the then-named Fox Family Channel back in 1999. I remember the promos for this, and I haven't seen it in its entirety, but there's one thing I do remember: Somers played a villainess, which was immensely rare. Regarding the drama from Three's Company, it drove a wedge between Somers and her two main cast members, but it was revealed that Somers and Ritter did reconcile just months before Ritter's passing in September 2003. As for DeWitt, that reconciliation finally occurred in 2012.

Part of my childhood consisted of reruns of Three's Company, and of course, Step by Step. Suzanne Somers was absolutely amazing and hilarious in both shows, and she shined in so many of her projects. Such an amazing and unforgettable talent will be missed immensely.