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Suzanne Marie Somers (née Mahoney; October 16, 1946 – October 15, 2023) was an American actress, author, and businesswoman. She played the television roles of Chrissy Snow on Three's Company (1977–1981) and Carol Foster Lambert on Step by Step (1991–1998). Somers wrote more than 25 books, including two autobiographies, four diet books, and a book of poetry. She was also well known for advertising the ThighMaster, an exercise device. While 14 of her books were best sellers and most were focused on health and well-being, doctors criticized her promotion of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and alternative cancer treatments. Early life Suzanne Marie Mahoney was born in San Bruno, California, on October 16, 1946 as the third of four children in a working-class Irish-American Catholic family. Her mother, Marion Elizabeth (née Turner), was a medical secretary, and her father, Francis "Frank" Mahoney, loaded cases of beer onto boxcars, was a laborer and gardener. Her father was an alcoholic and was abusive, and Somers often worried that he would kill her. Somers was a bedwetter until age 12, which led to additional abuse from her father. Somers first attended Mercy High School in Burlingame, California, but had trouble with her schoolwork because of dyslexia and her father's all-night rages, and she would often fall asleep in class. At school, she performed the lead role in a production of H.M.S. Pinafore She was expelled at age 14 for writing sexually suggestive notes to a boy that were never sent. At age 17, Suzanne's father ripped off her prom dress and told her that she was "nothing," and she responded by hitting him in the head with a tennis racket. In 1964, Somers graduated from Capuchino High School in San Bruno, California, where she won the "Best Doll Award" for her role in the senior musical Guys and Dolls and helped organize her class's senior ball. She then attended San Francisco College for Women (Lone Mountain College), a college run by the Catholic Society of the Sacred Heart order, but withdrew in 1965 when she learned that she was pregnant. She married her child's father Bruce Somers days later at age 19. Her situation led to low self-esteem. She was arrested for check fraud and her car was impounded. Career Early career "I made my living by making chocolate desserts and selling them to restaurants in Sausalito, California, and by making children’s dresses and selling them on consignment to little children’s stores." Somers began acting in small roles during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Somers modelled for Grimme Modeling Agency in San Francisco. After divorcing in 1968, Somers worked as a prize model, on Anniversary Game, a game show, based at KGO-TV in San Francisco, hosted by Alan Hamel and produced by Circle Seven Productions. From 1971 to 1973, Somers was a panelist on the Alan Hamel-hosted Mantrap, a weekday daytime panel show, from BCTV in Vancouver for CTV Television Network stations in Canada, and syndicated in the U.S.A.. In 1973, she appeared in bit parts in movies, such as the "Blonde in the white Thunderbird" in American Graffiti' and an uncredited role as a "pool girl" in Magnum Force. In February 1974, she appeared in an episode of the American version of the sitcom Lotsa Luck, based on the British sitcom On the Buses, as the femme fatale. It led to her first appearance, 21 February 1974, on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, promoting her book of poetry. In 2009, Kristen Wiig gave a reading of excepts from Suzanne Somers' book of poetry Touch Me, for Celebrity Autobiography (KUSH). She appeared in The Rockford Files in 1974. She also had a guest-starring role on The Six Million Dollar Man in the 1977 episode "Cheshire Project". She played a passenger on the first episode of The Love Boat and made a guest appearance in a 1976 episode of One Day at a Time. Three's Company After actresses Suzanne Zenor and Susan Lanier did not impress producers during the first two pilot episodes of the ABC sitcom Three's Company, based on the British sitcom Man About the House, Somers was suggested by ABC president Fred Silverman, who had seen her in her initial appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Silverman hired her the day before the taping of the third and final pilot commenced. Somers portrayed Christmas "Chrissy" Snow, who exemplified many blonde stereotypes and was employed as an office secretary. At first, Somers made $3,500 per week from the show. The series co-starred John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt in a comedy about two single women living with a single man who pretended to be gay in order to bypass the landlord's policy of prohibiting single men sharing an apartment with single women. The program was an instant success in the Nielsen ratings, eventually spawning a short-lived spin-off series, The Ropers, loosely based on the British sitcom George and Mildred, starring Norman Fell and Audra Lindley. When Three's Company began its fifth season in late 1980, Somers demanded a salary increase "from $30,000 an episode to $150,000 an episode, equal to what Ritter was making and comparable to the salaries of other male sitcom stars at the time" as well as 10% of the show's profits. DeWitt and Somers were paid the same, less than Ritter, but DeWitt also had a "favored nations" clause in her contract, which guaranteed she received equal terms to other cast members. Somers' request was influenced by her second husband and manager, Alan Hamel. "The night before we went in to renegotiate, I got a call from a friend who had connections high up at ABC, and he said, 'They’re going to hang a nun in the marketplace, and the nun is Suzanne,' The network was willing to do this because, earlier that year, the women on Laverne & Shirley had gotten what they asked for, and they wanted to put a stop to it. They’d destroy the chemistry on Company to make a point." — Alan Hamel, 2015 ABC was willing to offer only a $5,000 per episode raise. Somers then refused to appear in the second and fourth episodes of the season, citing excuses such as a broken rib. She finished the remaining season on her contract; however, her role was reduced to just 60 seconds per episode, with her character appearing in only the episode's closing tag in which Chrissy calls the trio's apartment from her parents' home. After ABC fired her from the program and terminated her contract, Somers sued the network for $2 million, saying her credibility in show business had been damaged. The lawsuit was settled by an arbitrator who decided Somers was owed only $30,000, due to a single missed episode for which she had not been paid. Future rulings also favored the network and producers. Somers said she was fired for asking to be paid as much as popular male television stars. After Three's Company During the 1980s and 1990s, Somers was a spokesperson for Polaris Vac-Sweep automated pool cleaner. In 1983, Suzanne Somers through her Hamel/Somers Productions signed.... Discover the J Somers popular books. Find the top 100 most popular J Somers books.