FILE - Suzanne Somers is seen during the funeral services for Merv Griffin at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, Calif., Aug. 17, 2007. Somers, the effervescent blonde actor known for playing Chrissy Snow on the television show “Three’s Company,” as well as her business endeavors, died early Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023, her family said in a statement provided by her longtime publicist R. Couri Hay. She was 76.
She was first diagnosed in 2000, and had previously battled skin cancer. Somers 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.
At her audition, Lucas just asked her if she could drive. She later said that moment “changed her life forever.” On “Three’s Company,” she was the ditzy blonde opposite John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt in the roommate comedy. “The show’s response was, ‘Who do you think you are?’” Somers told People in 2020. “They said, ‘John Ritter is the star.’”
The decade also saw her return to network television in the 1990s, most famously on “Step by Step,” which aired on ABC’s youth-targeted TGIF lineup. The network also aired a biopic of her life, starring her, called “Keeping Secrets.”