Suzanne Somers
October 16, 1946 – October 15, 2023
We have all heard every adage about blondes. Blondes have more fun. Gentlemen prefer blondes. She’s having a blonde moment…
Whatever stereotype you choose to accept or deny, one thing can’t be argued: Blondes get noticed.
So, when a bubbly blonde from California gets her first role in a motion picture (1973’s American Graffiti) and is billed as “Blonde in Thunderbird”…well, you better believe a career arc has been born.
Suzanne Somers (née Mahoney) didn’t have the best home life growing up. Her father was an alcoholic and was abusive. She was dyslexic and struggled in school. She dropped out of college after becoming pregnant. But she found a positive outlet in performing. She modeled in her native San Francisco. She appeared in some local TV game shows. She wrote poetry. After being noticed in the NBC Commissary in Los Angeles, she was asked to appear on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson to promote a book of poetry she had just written. Watching that night was ABC President, Fred Silverman, who remembered Somers a few years later when trying to find the third lead in a new sitcom called Three’s Company.
Co-starring John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt, Three’s Company was a smash hit and made Somers a household name. She played the bubbly blonde, Crissy Snow, for most of 5 seasons. Entering the 5th season, Somers demanded to be paid the same as Ritter. The producers offered her a raise, but came nowhere near her demands. The workplace became strained, her participation in Season 5 became extremely limited and she was fired at the end of her contract. The show went on another 3 seasons without her.
Legal battles ensued. Somers claimed her image was tarnished and struggled to find another hit. Starring vehicles like She’ the Sheriff and Hollywood Wives failed to generate much buzz. But in 1991, she landed a 2nd hit with ABC’s Step by Step (alongside Patrick Duffy). The show ran for 7 seasons and was a staple of the network’s famed “TGIF” lineup. Throughout the rest of the ’90s, Somers took up jobs as a spokesperson for everything from the Thighmaster exercise device to questionable hormone replacement therapies.
She wrote more than two dozen books ranging from autobiographies to health and dieting guides. 14 of her books were New York Times bestsellers.
Somers battled a number of health issues over the years. She beat breast cancer once, but it returned 2023 and proved to be terminal. She died in her Palm Springs home the day before her 77th birthday.
Burial
Desert Memorial Park – Cathedral City, CA
Specific Location
Section A-8, Lot #17; From the tree marked “A-6” walk a little less than halfway across the section to the west.
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