‘Three’s Company’ Actress Suzanne Somers, Dead at 76 After Breast Cancer Battle
She was just one day shy of her 77th birthday on October 16th
Suzanne Somers has died at the age of 76, just weeks after candidly opening up about the recurrence of her breast cancer. The Three’s Company actress put on her ”battle gear” as she prepared to fight the disease again — more than two decades after she was first diagnosed.
“Suzanne Somers passed away peacefully at home in the early morning hours of October 15th. She survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years,” her longtime publicist, R. Couri Hay, shared in a statement to Closer on Sunday, October 15.
“Suzanne was surrounded by her loving husband Alan, her son Bruce, and her immediate family,” the statement continued. “Her family was gathered to celebrate her 77th birthday on October 16th. Instead, they will celebrate her extraordinary life, and want to thank her millions of fans and followers who loved her dearly.”
When Was Suzanne Somers Diagnosed With Breast Cancer?
In the early 2000s, when Somers was in her early 50s, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“I never thought I’d ever hear someone say to me, ‘You have breast cancer,’” she said in an interview with Larry King in 2002. After a lumpectomy and radiation, Somers chose not to undergo chemotherapy. Instead, she opted to try alternative medicine.
“My cancer has become a veiled gift,” she said in 2018. “Because when confronted with standard of care — the standard treatment protocol for cancer [being] radiation, chemotherapy and after-care drugs — I looked at the doctor and I said, ‘I can’t do this.’ And he said, ‘But you’ll die.’ And I said, ‘I honestly believe I will die if I do what you tell me. The idea of flooding my body with chemical poison just doesn’t reckon with who I am.”
Somers revealed that she switched up her diet and made lifestyle changes to improve her quality of life.
“I eat buttercream, sour cream, cream cheese, all organic, no hormones. I sleep eight hours a night and I don’t take any drugs,” she said after beating breast cancer the first time. “I am in optimal life. I don’t even worry about cancer. It’s never coming back.”
Prior to that, the Step by Step actress battled hyperplasia in her 20s and melanoma in her 30s.
When Did Suzanne Somers’ Breast Cancer Return?
In an Instagram post shared on Monday, July 31, Somers Instagram publicly revealed she fought breast cancer again, leading her to take time off from work.
“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.”
The Dancing With the Stars alum thanked her husband, Alan Hamel, for being by her side every step of the way.
“I can’t even explain how much he has done for me,” Somers continued. “If it’s even possible, we are even closer than ever. My incredible family has been so supportive and have helped so much by keeping the business running so you can still have access to all the wonderful products.”
Alan also supported his wife through a devastating injury she sustained in 2020 after falling in her home.
“I broke my whole right side — my neck, spine, hip, pelvis and knee,” she told Closer in April 2023. “And it’s been over a year of pain and recovery. I’m not all the way back yet, but I’m going to be OK.”
This article originally appeared on our sister site, Closer Weekly.
For more on Suzanne Somers:
Hollywood Pays Tribute to Suzanne Somers: “She was a pure light that will never be extinguished”
7 Beautiful Principles That Suzanne Somers Swore By as Her Guiding Light
