Suzanne Somers - Biography

Last Editor: muraad56				Suzanne Somers Biography -   Name : Suzanne Somers Birth date : 16 October 1946 Birth place : San Bruno, California Birth name : Suzanne Marie Mahoney Height : 5' 6 Profession : Actor Best Known As : Chrissy on TV's Three's Company

Suzanne Somers Trivia -

When she was 16 she hit her father over the head with a tennis racket to stop his abuse during a drunken rage. He suffered a concussion, and did not speak to Suzanne for 2 years. Was almost chosen to be one of "Charlie's Angels" before the producers decided to go with Farrah Fawcett for the role. While performing in Las Vegas, she had to paint one shoe red and the other black in order to learn the choreography of the dance numbers. She could not tell her right from her left because of her dyslexia. In 1990, founded the Suzanne Somers Institute for the Effects of Addictions on Families, in Palm Springs, CA. In 1991, won the Humanitarian Award from the National Council on Alcoholism. Associated with the Thighmaster exercise device. At the beginning of the 1980-81 season of "Three's Company", she asked for a raise from $30,000 an episode to $150,000 an episode and 10% ownership of the show. She was denied, and then boycotted the second and fourth shows of the season, claiming illness. ABC forced her to finish out the remaining season on her contract, but cut her character's role to 1 minute a week in taping. She was escorted by a security guard to a soundstage behind the set, where she filmed her few scenes, because she was no longer allowed on the set with John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt. Somers was then fired after her contract expired, and she sued ABC for $2 million, claiming her credibility in the business had been damaged. The suit was settled for about $30,000. Graduated from Capuchino High School. Was active in drama. Suzanne was fired from "Three's Company" (1977), in the 1980-81 season, by demanding $150,000 an episode, and 10% ownership of the program, also for breach of contract. Initially, got the role of Jill Munroe in "Charlie's Angels" (1976) but, lost it to Farrah Fawcett-Majors. Announced on Larry King Live that she is battling breast cancer, and that she is undergoing homeopathic treatment against the will of her doctors. She also underwent liposuction in an effort to deal with the effects of the cancer. [28 March 2001] She was also the brunette walking along the beach of the opening credits of the first 3 seasons of "Three's Company". She was wearing a wig. Appeared as a contestant on The Dating Game in 1973. Was named Las Vegas' Female Entertainer of the Year in 1986. Was arrested in 1970 for passing bad checks; the charges were dropped when she paid restitution. Studied Marilyn Monroe's poses from her movies, and then copied them for media photos during her "Three's Company" days. She and Joyce DeWitt did not speak for almost 20 years. Hired Jay Bernstein to manage her and do for her what he did for Farrah Fawcett-Majors. She was the fourth actress to be hired for the Chrissy role on Three's Company. Actress Suzanne Zenor played Samantha, a Chrissy type in the first pilot. After being rewritten as Chrissy Snow, ABC hired then fired Denise Galik Furey, replacing her with Susan Lanier. After ABC reviewed the 2nd pilot, they dropped Lanier and hired Somers.

Suzanne Somers Detailed Biography -

Suzanne Somers was born on 16 October 1946 in San Bruno, California, USA. Growing up in the shadow of an abusive father, Frank Mahoney, a physical laborer her childhood was a difficult one. She spent her early years wetting her bed almost nightly because of the anxiety brought on by her father's drinking binges and mood swings. Once in school, the young girl battled another demon: dyslexia. When Somers began intense therapy later in her life, her doctor told her that she had the lowest self-esteem of anyone he knew. Low self-esteem may have been the reason Somers jeopardized her college music scholarship by getting pregnant. She dropped out and married her boyfriend, a fellow student named Bruce Somers, in 1965; the couple soon had a son, also named Bruce. However, Somers' affair with a former drama teacher led to divorce after just two years of marriage. To make ends meet, the single mother tried her hand at modeling in San Francisco. In 1968, Somers got a job as the prize girl on the game show, The Anniversary Game, where she met her future husband, host Alan Hamel (whom she wed in 1977). After she left the program, Somers landed a cameo role as the striking blonde in the Thunderbird in the 1973 hit film, American Graffiti. That movie appearance gave the young beauty a ticket to appear on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and a publishing deal for her book of poetry, which Carson had been the first person to read after Somers met him by chance while waiting for an audition. After a string of failed pilots, Somers' luck changed in 1971, when she was cast as ditzy-blonde-with-a-heart-of-gold, Chrissy Snow, on the red-hot sitcom, Three's Company. Somers appeared in the series until 1981 when her contract negotiations for more money soured. She began performing one-woman shows at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, winning the city's Entertainer of the Year award in 1984. Somers is the author of the memoir of her unhappy childhood, Keeping Secrets, which was a New York Times best-seller for 21 weeks and was made into a television movie. (She followed up with After the Fall, about her adult years.) She has also worked hard to put her difficult childhood experiences to good use. She founded the Suzanne Somers Institute for the Effects of Addictions on the Family, and spoke before a U.S. Senate Committee on the subject of alcoholism's harsh effects on relatives in 1991. The dedicated activist has received the Humanitarian Award from the National Council on Alcoholism and the President's Award from the National Association of American Drug Counselors. Somers' struggles are not yet over. The blonde bombshell recently revealed that she's receiving treatment for breast cancer. After having part of her breast removed, she underwent radiation treatment and chose to skip chemotherapy and try homeopathic treatment as an alternative. As for her long-term prognosis, Somers says, "I really feel that I'm licking this." Suzanne’s other books include her self-help books, Wednesday’s Children, 365 Ways to Change Your Life and her latest, Eat, Cheat, and Melt the Fat Away as well as her “Somersize” books that have created a whole new way to eating healthy.