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Suzanne Somers

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File:Ssommers.jpg
Somers, from the opening credits of Three's Company (early seasons).

Suzanne Somers :SFHOT (born October 16, 1946) is an American actress, author, and businesswoman. Known for her role as Chrissy Snow on the sitcom Three's Company, she later capitalized on her acting career by also establishing herself as an author of a series of self-help books.

Background

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 performed in Guys and Dolls during her senior year. Due to his drinking problem, Ms. Somers' father was too inebriated to attend Suzanne's high school graduation in June, 1964.

File:Ssommers2.jpg
Promotional image from Three's Company

She then attended Lone Mountain College, a Catholic school, on a music scholarship, but left 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.

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. The suit was later settled for $30,000.

Further information: ]

In 1968 Suzanne won a job as a prize model on a game show 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, from which she suffered 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.

During the 1980s she became a Las Vegas entertainer. She was the spokeswoman for the Thighmaster, a piece of exercise equipment that is squeezed between one's thighs. 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.

More recently she bounced back on TV by starring in the successful 1990s sitcom Step By Step (with Patrick Duffy), and co-hosted Candid Camera with Peter Funt. 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. She has released two autobiographies, two self-help books, four diet books, and a book about hormone replacement therapy.

As a business executive Somers has created a multi million dollar lifestyle empire. Through her companies ELO Somers and Port Carling Inc, of which Somers serves as president, Somers has created hundreds of personally branded fashion, diet, beauty and exercise products which are marketed through the Home Shopping Network, her website and through Suzanne, a direct sales organization in the vein of Avon or Tupperware.

Somers announced in spring 2001 that she had breast cancer and was using alternative medicine to treat it (along with surgery and radiation therapy). She became a breast cancer activist who worked on the American Breast Cancer Guide to educate and encourage others . Somers is also a passionate 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 regimen she herself follows, The Wiley Protocol conceived by T. S. Wiley.

July 12, 2005: Somers is given an award for "Patriotic Civilian Service" for past USO tour performances for overseas U.S. troops. The ceremony came after a special performance of The Blonde in the Thunderbird, done specially for U.S. military service personnel and their family members.

In summer 2005 Somers made her Broadway debut in a one-woman show, The Blonde in the Thunderbird, a collection of stories about her life and career. The show was supposed to run until September, but negative publicity and disappointing ticket sales caused a late July closing. Somers blamed the harsh reviews (the New York Times: "...a swan dive into narcissism"; New York Post: "smug and remorseless") and told the Post: "These men are curmudgeons, and maybe I went too close to the bone for them. I was lying there naked, and they decided to kick me and step on me, just like these visions you see in Iraq."

On January 9, 2007, the Associated Press reported that a wildfire in southern California had destroyed Somers' Malibu home, and all she had left was the clothes on her back. Appearing on television, Somers told reporters they planned to rebuild.

In March 2007, On the Ellen Degeneres Show, Somers explained that she found her wedding band from her husband of 39 years while sifting through ashes of her home.

Television work

Filmography

Books

  • Somers, Suzanne (2006). Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 0-307-23724-9.
  • Somers, Suzanne (2004). The Sexy Years: Discover the Hormone Connection - The Secret to Fabulous Sex, Great Health, and Vitality, for Women and Men. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 0-609-60721-9.
  • Touch Me: The Poems of Suzanne Somers. Workman Pub Co (1980) ISBN 0-89480-141-4

References

  1. O'Connor, John J., "TV: Suzanne Somers Plays for G.I.'s", The New York Times, January 3, 1983.
  2. Zielsdorf, Bruce E., "Armed Forces 'Salute' Suzanne Somers on Broadway", July 12, 2005. Army Public Affairs (press release)

External links

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