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Suzanne Somers, dead at 76
- Thread starter Snarky Oracle!
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Such sad news. I really don’t have the words right now. To me she will always be Chrissy Snow. She was so talented and funny, and she could steal the show whenever she wanted.
R.I.P. Suzanne. Our loss is definitely heaven’s gain tonight.
R.I.P. Suzanne. Our loss is definitely heaven’s gain tonight.
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She died one day before her 77th birthday!
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I noticed this earlier when I heard the terrible news. Not sure why but it actually made me feel even worse.
On a lighter note, a little known fact is that in the opening theme of Three’s Company there’s a short clip of John Ritter crashing his bike upon noticing a pretty brunette. We never see her face. She was Suzanne donning a wig. Who knew?
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my dad just saw something about her b-day last night and it breaks my heart that she died since she was such a big part of my childhood
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A little ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT piece:
For the record, Somers asked in 1980 to be paid the same as "the men" -- leading one to believe she was only asking for parity with John Ritter. But she was really asking for equal pay to Carroll O'Connor and Alan Alda whose sitcoms had been on for nearly a decade (while THREE'S COMPANY had only been on for 3 years). She shot herself in the foot. Ritter and Joyce Dewitt didn't talk to Suzanne for years, not because she left but because Somers couldn't stop lying about the details.
For the record, Somers asked in 1980 to be paid the same as "the men" -- leading one to believe she was only asking for parity with John Ritter. But she was really asking for equal pay to Carroll O'Connor and Alan Alda whose sitcoms had been on for nearly a decade (while THREE'S COMPANY had only been on for 3 years). She shot herself in the foot. Ritter and Joyce Dewitt didn't talk to Suzanne for years, not because she left but because Somers couldn't stop lying about the details.
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That's horrible, that the Grim Reaper can take some people that close to their birthdays!
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And she's still 9 1/2 months younger than Victoria.
One of the news shows tried to position her dispute as an equal pay issue with John Ritter. The reality is that Suzanne Somers was paid between 25-30K an episode, Ritter (a more established actor) was getting 50K per episode, and Somers was demanding 150K an episode, plus 10 percent of the back end. Ritter had a favored nations clause in his contract, meaning that he wouldn’t be paid less than the others. The numbers Somers was looking for weren’t going to work. Her negotiating while the show was in production (rather than during hiatus, which is cutomary) was very disruptive to the show and pissed off her colleagues. And, as you mentioned, she had a “creative approach to the truth” according to Joyce DeWitt.
Still, I believe the actors all deserved a percentage of the syndication profits. That show made over a half billion dollars in syndication revenue, and as an independent production, there was no big studio to take a cut. It’s too bad Suzanne didn’t band together with Ritter and DeWitt a la the Friends cast did nearly 20 years later.
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Such sad news. Deepest sympathies to her loved ones.
Suzanne Somers was a wonderful entertainer. She always seemed to be so cheerful when she was interviewed
Suzanne Somers was a wonderful entertainer. She always seemed to be so cheerful when she was interviewed
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Yes, she tried to frame her argument as an expression of feminism, and some of the outlets go along with that -- having to avoid certain details to do so.
Their show had not been on long enough for her to request that much of a raise (Larry did it successfully the same year, but that was the Summer of 1980 when "WSJR?" had become an international phenomenon). And Somers wasn't as necessary to THREE'S COMPANY as Ritter.
The show went on fine without her, running four more years. Although they stumbled when they tried to changed formats in 1984, dumping DeWitt and Priscilla Barnes, and re-titling it THREE'S A CROWD (which seemed rather ugly).
Did they sign their residuals away in exchange for a lump sum? Never do that with a sitcom, as they tend to run forever in syndication; with an hour-long drama, harder to schedule, it might make sense. But if you don't get profit participation in your contract, then I guess you just don't.
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And there was Suzanne's great miscalculation. She presumably thought of herself as akin to Henry Winkler -- the indispensable breakout star -- but she was closer to Polly Holiday, a well-loved character but hardly essential.
That said, the oddity of the scenario isn't that Suzanne thought she was worth more but why Ritter and DeWitt didn't. Joyce was, one assumes, smart enough to know no one was watching THREE's COMPANY because of her, and Ritter seems to have been paid just enough to keep him placated. They all shot themselves in the foot by not being united. The show might have survived with the loss of any of them, even any two of them, but not all three.
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To be honest it's not worth a rewatch (but I wouldn't mind re-reading the novel).
No one is ever going to beat George Michael who died on his Last Christmas.
This is really sad news. I loved watching Suzanne on Step by Step with Patrick. I watched that for pretty much all of my teenage years and did a rewatch of the show back in 2021 after finally getting all seasons on DVD.
My condolances to her family, friends, co-stars and fans.
My condolances to her family, friends, co-stars and fans.
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Jackie Collins hated it -- but it's very, very mid-'80s. And very, very Aaron Spelling mid-'80s at that...
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I like to think it's more like she was ready to go home and celebrate in Heaven. And it was a gift to her family that she waited until they were with her.
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I've always blamed her husband Alan for his miscalculation and temper tantrum walk out during the negotiation that led to her being fired. They likely offered her a very reasonable raise, not as much as she wanted, but still really good money that would have kept her employed. Had Alan not blown her chance to consider their offer, my sense is that she would have accepted the offer, I doubt that she ever wanted to it to reach the point of her being fired. I've never understood why she didn't divorce him over that, he ruined her professional reputation. Joyce DeWitt was smart enough to advise Suzanne that they should stick together in their negotiations, but Suzanne wouldn't listen to her, and that's why John Ritter was so angry that Suzanne betrayed Joyce. When Suzanne sees that period of time again during her life review, she will finally understand the ripple effects.
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