Suzanne Somers, 'Three's Company' Star, Dies At 76

LOS ANGELES — Suzanne Somers, the effervescent blonde actress known for playing Chrissy Snow on the television show "Three's Company," as well as her business endeavors, died Sunday morning surrounded by loved ones after a long battle with cancer. She was 76.

"Her family was gathered to celebrate her 77th birthday on October 16th," they said in a statement provided by her longtime publicist, R. Couri Hay. "Instead, they will celebrate her extraordinary life, and want to thank her millions of fans and followers who loved her dearly."

Her husband, Alan Hamel; her son, Bruce; and other close relatives were with her when she died, according to the statement.

In July, Somers shared on Instagram that her breast cancer had returned.

"This is not new territory for me," she wrote in a post on the platform. "I know how to put on my battle gear and I’m a fighter."

She was first diagnosed in 2000, and also had skin cancer. She faced some criticism for her reliance on what she described as a chemical-free and organic lifestyle to combat the 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.

Celebrities took to social media to mourn Somers on Sunday, with actresses Goldie Hawn, Olivia Munn and Niecy Nash as well as reality television personality Bethenny Frankel expressing sadness and prayers.

"This one hurts my heart. I love you @suzannesomers," Khloe Kardashian posted on her Instagram stories. "I'll never forget your positive loving outlook on life. Your sweet heart and gentle spirit! Rest, dance, smile in paradise ..."

"Watch What Happens Live" host Andy Cohen shared a photo of Somers appearing on the show on his Instagram stories, with the picture accompanied by several hearts.

Somers was born in 1946 in San Bruno to a gardener father and a medical secretary mother. She began acting in the late 1960s, playing the blonde driving the white Thunderbird in George Lucas’s 1973 film “American Graffiti.” Her only line was mouthing the words “I love you” to Richard Dreyfuss’s character.

At her audition, Lucas just asked her if she could drive. She later said that moment “changed her life forever.”

Somers would later stage a one-woman Broadway show entitled “The Blonde in the Thunderbird,” which drew largely scathing reviews.

She appeared in many television shows in the 1970s, including “The Rockford Files,” “Magnum Force” and “The Six Million Dollar Man,” but her most famous part came with “Three’s Company,” which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984 — though her participation ended in 1981.

“Being on the No. 1 show in the country, there was a collective consciousness because about half of everybody watching television on Tuesday nights were watching 'Three’s Company,'” she told CNN in a 2015 interview. “I feel very fortunate that I got in at that moment in time.”

On “Three’s Company,” she was the ditzy blonde opposite John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt in the roommate comedy. In 1980, after four seasons, she asked for a raise from $30,000 an episode to $150,000 an episode, which would have been comparable to what Ritter was getting paid. Hamel, a former television producer, had encouraged the ask.

“I’ve been playing what I think is one of the best dumb blondes that’s ever been done, but I never got any credit,” she told The New York Times at the time. “I did it so well that everyone thought I really was a dumb blonde.”

She was soon fired and her character was replaced by two different roommates for the remaining years the show aired. It also led to a rift with her co-stars; They didn’t speak for many years. Somers did reconcile with Ritter before his death, and then with DeWitt on her online talk show.

But Somers took the break as an opportunity to pursue new avenues, including a Las Vegas act, writing books, hosting a talk show and becoming an entrepreneur. In the 1990s, she also became the spokesperson for the “Thighmaster.”

Somers returned to network television in the 1990s, most famously on “Step by Step,” which aired on ABC’s youth-targeted TGIF lineup. The network also aired a biopic of her life, starring her, called “Keeping Secrets.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.