Three’s Company actress Suzanne Somers dies
Suzanne Somers, the actress who starred in the 70s sitcom Three’s Company, has died at the age of 76.
The actress and businesswoman was best known for playing Chrissy Snow on the American sitcom as well as Carol Foster Lambert on Step By Step.
She died on Sunday, the day before her 77th birthday, at her home in California after living with breast cancer for more than 20 years.
Joyce DeWitt, John Ritter and Suzanne Somers – the stars of Three’s Company Pic: IPX/AP
“Suzanne Somers passed away peacefully at home in the early morning hours of 15 October,” a statement from her publicist said.
“She survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years. Suzanne was surrounded by her loving husband Alan, her son Bruce, and her immediate family.
“Her family was gathered to celebrate her 77th birthday on 16 October.
“Instead, they will celebrate her extraordinary life, and want to thank her millions of fans and followers who loved her dearly.”
Somers revealed in an Instagram post in July that her breast cancer had returned.
“As you know, I had breast cancer two decades ago, and every now and then it pops up again, and I continue to bat it down,” she wrote.
“I have used the best alternative and conventional treatments to combat it.
“This is not new territory for me. I know how to put on my battle gear and I’m a fighter.”
Somers in 2015
She also praised her husband, Alan Hamel, who she said had been by her side “every step of the way”.
“I can’t even explain how much he has done for me. If it’s even possible, we are even closer than ever,” she added.
“My incredible family has been so supportive.”
Somers was first diagnosed in 2000 and had previously battled skin cancer.
Suzanne Somers and her husband Alan Hamel at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in 2019 Pic: AP
She faced backlash for relying on what she described as a chemical-free and organic lifestyle to treat her 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.
Somers starred in the first five series of Three’s Company, starting in 1977, as the ditzy blonde friend alongside John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt.
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“Creating her was actually intellectual,” she told CBS News in 2020. “How do I make her likeable and loveable… dumb blondes are annoying. I gave her a moral code. I imagined it was the childhood I would’ve liked to have had.”
However, she was phased out of the show and fired when she asked for a raise from $30,000 an episode to $150,000.
“The show’s response was, ‘Who do you think you are?'” Somers told People in 2020. “They said, ‘John Ritter is the star.'”
Her character was replaced by two different roommates for the remaining years the show aired.
Suzanne Somers poses with her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003
Other television shows she appeared on in the 1970s included The Rockford Files, Magnum Force and The Six Million Dollar Man.
In the 1990s, she returned to the screen on the popular sitcom Step by Step.
She competed on Dancing with the Stars in the US in 2015 alongside partner Tony Dovolani.
Somers also wrote several self-help books and launched her own health and beauty product line.
Police officers found a handgun, a silencer and a red notebook described as a “manifesto” when they arrested Luigi Mangione.
The 27-year-old was arrested in December 2024 and charged with killing UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in New York City.
Mangione‘s lawyers want to block prosecutors from showing or telling jurors at his eventual trial in Manhattan about statements he allegedly made and items they said police seized from his backpack during his arrest at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania.
The objects include a 9mm handgun prosecutors say matches the one used in the killing, a silencer, a magazine with bullets wrapped in underwear and a notebook in which they say Mangione described his intent to “wack” a healthcare executive.
Mangione with his attorney. Pic: Reuters
The defence contends the items should be excluded because police did not get a warrant before searching Mangione’s backpack.
Prosecutors deny claims Mangione was illegally searched and questioned.
They also want to suppress some statements he made to police, such as allegedly giving a false name, because officers asked him questions before telling him he had a right to remain silent.
Last week, Mangione watched surveillance videos of the killing of Mr Thompson, 50, as he walked to a New York City hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges.
The state charges carry the possibility of life in prison, while federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
This week’s hearing concerns only the state case, but Mangione’s lawyers want to bar evidence from both cases.
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In September, a judge dismissed two terrorism counts against Mangione, finding prosecutors had not presented enough evidence Mangione intended to intimidate health insurance workers or influence government policy.
Trial dates are yet to be set in either the state or federal cases.
Paramount has launched a £108.4bn hostile bid for Warner Bros, challenging Netflix, which had reached a $72bn takeover deal with the company.
Paramount said on Monday that it was going straight to Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) shareholders with a $30 per share in cash offer for the entirety of the company, including its Global Networks segment, asking them to reject the deal with Netflix.
On Friday Netflix struck a deal to buy WBD, the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max
The agreement means Warner Bros Discovery’s library of film and TV successes including Harry Potter and Game Of Thrones will come under the same roof as Stranger Things and Squid Game.
The cash and stock deal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, including debt.
But Paramount says its deal will pay $30 cash per share, representing $18 billion more in cash than its rivals are offering.
In a statement, Paramount said it was making a “strategically and financially compelling offer to WBD shareholders” and a “superior alternative to the Netflix transaction”.
File pic: iStock
David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount, said: “WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company.
“Our public offer, which is on the same terms we provided to the Warner Bros. Discovery Board of Directors in private, provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion.
“We believe the WBD Board of Directors is pursuing an inferior proposal which exposes shareholders to a mix of cash and stock, an uncertain future trading value of the Global Networks linear cable business and a challenging regulatory approval process.
“We are taking our offer directly to shareholders to give them the opportunity to act in their own best interests and maximize the value of their shares.”
Paramount said it had submitted six proposals to WBD in the course of 12 weeks, but that they were never “meaningfully” engaged with.
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