We all remember the blonde ponytail and the infectious, slightly dizzy laugh. Most folks picture Suzanne Somers and immediately think of Chrissy Snow or that 90s ThighMaster commercial that seemingly played on a loop for a decade. But if you look at Suzanne Somers younger, before the infomercials and the lifestyle empire, you find a story that’s way grittier than a sitcom script.
She wasn't just some lucky starlet who fell into a hit show. Honestly, she was a single mom in San Francisco scrambling to pay rent by selling homemade chocolate desserts and sewing children’s dresses. People forget she was 30 when she finally hit it big. In Hollywood years, especially in the 70s, that was practically "expired."
The Mystery Girl in the Thunderbird
Before she was a household name, Suzanne was the ultimate "blink and you'll miss it" icon. Her big break wasn't even a speaking part. In the 1973 classic American Graffiti, she played the "Blonde in the white Thunderbird."
No lines. Just a face.
Richard Dreyfuss spends the whole movie chasing her, and that tiny, uncredited role basically ignited her career. She used that momentum to get onto The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, not as an actress, but as a poet. She’d written a book called Touch Me Again, and her appearance was so charming that it caught the eye of ABC executives.
The Three's Company Chaos
When she landed the role of Chrissy Snow in 1977, she was actually the third choice. They’d already filmed two pilots with different actresses that didn't work. Suzanne stepped in a day before the third pilot taped.
The chemistry with John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt was instant. The show became a juggernaut, but behind the scenes, things were far from sunny. By 1980, Suzanne was arguably the biggest star on TV. She was on the cover of 55 magazines in a single year.
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Then came the move that changed everything.
She asked for a raise. A big one. She was making $30,000 an episode, while John Ritter was pulling in $150,000. She wanted parity. Instead of a check, the network gave her the boot. They didn't just fire her; they humiliated her. For her final season, they built a tiny side set away from the main cast. She was only allowed to film 60-second "phone call" segments, escorted to and from the studio by a police guard so she wouldn't talk to the other actors.
It was a brutal, public "cancelation" before that word even existed.
How Suzanne Somers Younger Invented the Modern Side-Hustle
After Hollywood blacklisted her, she didn't just disappear. She went to Vegas. She became the Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year in 1986, sharing the title with Frank Sinatra.
But the real pivot—the one that made her a literal billionaire—started with a pair of Manolo Blahniks.
The story goes that she bought a $500 pair of shoes (serious money back then) and was worried her husband, Alan Hamel, would think she was crazy. She walked out in her underwear and the shoes, and he just said, "Great legs!"
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That was the "aha!" moment for the ThighMaster.
Squeezing Out a Fortune
The ThighMaster wasn't even her invention; it was a Swedish physical therapy tool called the V-Bar. She and Alan bought the rights, renamed it, and she pitched it with a level of "wink-wink" humor that the 90s absolutely inhaled.
- Sales Volume: They sold over 10 million units almost immediately.
- Total Revenue: Estimates put the ThighMaster's total haul at over $300 million.
- Business Savvy: When her partners got "drunk on money" and overspent, she bought them out. She ended up owning the brand 100% outright.
The Health Crusader and the Controversy
As she got older, Suzanne shifted from fitness to what she called "bioidentical hormones." This is where things get complicated. Following a breast cancer diagnosis in 2000, she chose to forgo traditional chemotherapy.
She wrote 27 books. Most were bestsellers. But she also became a lightning rod for criticism from the medical community. Dr. Jen Gunter and other experts often called her out for promoting "unproven" science. She was taking 60 pills a day and using vaginal hormone injections, claiming it was the secret to staying young.
Whether you agreed with her or not, you couldn't ignore her. She had a way of speaking directly to women who felt ignored by their doctors. She wasn't just a celebrity; she was a pioneer of the "wellness" movement long before Goop was a glimmer in Gwyneth Paltrow’s eye.
Real Lessons from the Suzanne Somers Playbook
Looking back at the trajectory of Suzanne Somers younger, it’s clear she was playing a different game than her peers. She understood that "fame" is a fleeting currency, but "brand" is permanent.
If you're looking to apply some of her grit to your own life or business, here are the takeaways:
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- Know your value, even if they fire you for it. She lost Three’s Company because she asked for equal pay. It felt like a failure at the time, but it forced her to build a business she owned instead of being a "gig worker" for a network.
- Ownership is everything. She didn't just want to be a spokesperson; she wanted the equity. By buying out her ThighMaster partners, she secured a fortune that lasted decades.
- Vulnerability sells. She was one of the first celebs to talk openly about her father’s alcoholism and her own struggles as a single mom. That's why her fans stuck by her for 50 years.
She died in 2023, just a day before her 77th birthday. She left behind a $100 million estate and a blueprint for how to survive a Hollywood shutdown. She proved that being the "dumb blonde" was just a character—the woman running the show was the smartest person in the room.
To really understand her legacy, start by looking at her 1988 memoir, Keeping Secrets. It strips away the Chrissy Snow persona and shows the real hustle it took to survive the early years. From there, you can see how she turned a 60-second "phone call" cameo into a multi-million dollar empire.