If there’s one woman who seems to exemplify the epitome of success, it’s Suzanne Somers. In fact, from a distance – it seems like her life is perfect. She’s famous, successful, lives a fulfilling life, and is fabulously wealthy. But while we might envy the success that many of our favorite celebrities have, we often don’t look at the tragedies of their life. Perhaps because we want to think that they don’t face such tragedies?
But they do, and often, these tragedies can spell the end of their careers! But such was not the case for Suzanne Somers. Her life had its tragedies but she’s persevered and has had a great life.
Her story is one that we can all admire and learn from…
Now is the time to tell her story and the tragedies she overcame…
Let’s look back at the tragic details about Suzanne Somers told in rare photos…
SUZANNE’S EARLY LIFE AND CAREER
Suzanne Somers is a famous and successful actress, author, and businesswoman today. BUT her early life was marked by one tragedy after the next. This is the story of an incredible triumph over such tragedies.
Suzanne Somers was born as Suzanne Marie Mahoney on October 16, 1946, in San Bruno, California. Her Irish-Catholic parents were Francis Mahoney and Marion Turner Mahoney and she was the third child – and she has 3 others siblings. Her father worked as a laborer as well as a gardener, and her mother was a housewife.
As you can already see, she came from a humble background and a big family. Naturally, this led to financial troubles within the Mahoney household. Her father struggled to make ends meet, and the pressure that the family faced was immense. But this didn’t weaken Suzanne at all. In fact, it’s this early struggle that made her stronger as her parents taught her and her siblings the importance of hard work and determination.
But then, when she was in her teens – tragedy struct the Mahoney family. When she was just 14 years old, Francis Mahoney died in a car accident after being hit by a drunk driver. As one would expect, Suzanne Somers was traumatized by the event and soon realized that she had to be responsible for her own life – as her support system could go at any moment.
Suzanne was a bright and ambitious student. She attended Capuchino High School in San Bruno, where she was an active member of the drama club. She also worked part-time jobs to help support her family. This was early training to what would become a successful career.
After graduating from high school, Suzanne pursued a career in modeling and acting. She moved to San Francisco and later to New York City, where she landed her first television role in the series “Lotsa Luck.”
But even with this early success, she’d face many more traumatic events.
But, through this tragedy she also found immense inner strength. She would also find ways to succeed and she went onto have an incredibly successful and fulfilling life and career….
Let’s take a detour and learn more about her career successes first…
SUZANNE’S SUCCESSES
Suzanne Somers got her big break when she was cast as Chrissy Snow in the sitcom Three’s Company. This became one of the most popular sitcoms of its time and even though she starred alongside stars such as John Ritter and Janet Wood – she still managed to hold her own for the 5 seasons that she appeared on the show.
It was this very character that helped Suzanne Somers craft the public image that we still see today. The character Chrissy was the sexy secretary and Suzanne became a star not just because of her acting talents – but also because of her incredible beauty and sizzling sexiness. That’s still why heads turn and eyes are peeled when she makes a public appearance to this day.
But, if you think Suzanne Somers was just a buxom beauty – then you’ve got to think again! She was also quite skilled in business and she understood the ways of the world. Due to the tragedies in her early life, she knew that she had to find a way to always be in charge of her own life. Eventually, she demanded a pay raise for her role in Three’s Company. But the producers refused and even though she was an established part of the show – she quit!
Scandals ensued and there were rumblings that Suzanne Somers’ career simply couldn’t survive because of this. Indeed, there was some setback but she still had a few TV roles here and there and did the odd film. In the meantime, she also started her own production company. The setback was to only be temporary.
A mention should be made of her successful TV and film career. Her popular TV shows included, “Rich Men, Single Women,” “Goodbye Charlie” and “She’s The Sheriff.” She also made appearances in “Full House” “The Simpsons” and “The Larry Sanders Show.”
She appeared in hit films such as “It Happened At Lakewood Manor” “Billy Jack Goes To Washington” “Magnum Force” “American Graffiti” “Nothing Personal” and “Rusty: A Dog’s Tale.” Her final film was “Say It Ain’t So” – which was released in 2001.
She’s focused mainly on her entrepreneurial ventures since then. She became the face – and the legs – of The Thighmaster, a popular exercise machine. This made the TV and film star into an infomercial star as well! She also went onto host two short-lived but popular talk shows.
She’s also a published author and has been a prominent advocate for bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. She’s just as busy as ever and still makes public appearances and is often a guest on traditional media talk shows and new media podcasts.
SUZANNE’S TRAGEDIES
While her father’s death was difficult for the family, it wasn’t necessarily pleasant when he was still alive. Later in her life, Suzanne Somers would reveal that her father was abusive and used to beat her mother. All was not well in the Mahoney household.
Suzanne would defend her mother and wouldn’t be afraid to be violent toward her father if necessary. These traumatic events, no doubt, helped shape her and made her the strong woman she is today.
But her tragedies didn’t stop there. In 1970, when she was only 23 she was arrested because she used bad checks and had to pay back the money she owed. At such an early age, a simple scandal like this could stop one’s career – but she continued to persist.
She also revealed that when she was 19 she lost her virginity and on this same day she got pregnant. She had an abortion which was tragic as the father had no interest in, well, being a father. She suffered from the trauma of the abortion and also had many health problems for several days.
Coming from a small town, rumors would flow and this would hurt her self-esteem. Nevertheless, despite one trauma after the next, she was determined to live a great life.
Later in life, she’d become ill with cancer. While this could have spelled the end of a career, its around this time that she began researching different types of health treatments to help her battle the cancer. She has often received criticism for making medical claims that aren’t widely accepted – but she doesn’t care and she continues to speak her mind.
SUZANNE SOMERS TODAY
As you can see, Suzanne Somers has lived a life like many of your favorite celebrities and perhaps like many of you. She’s had her ups and downs. Yet, her trauma has not destroyed her. Rather, its made her stronger and made her realize that she had to find a way to succeed no matter what.
She was married to Bruce Somers but the marriage didn’t work out and she had to become a single mother. She kept his surname, but had to live much of her life on her own – trying to find a way to make it in life.
As she came from a poor family, money was extremely important to her. But she would soon spend her money and it took her some time to realize that cash flow wasn’t guaranteed. This was the case when she couldn’t get her raise for her role on Three’s Company. Through her business ventures she’s made lots of money and this has given her the freedom to pursue work that she enjoys. Not to mention, she’s now married again and has a luxurious house in Palm Springs!
In this video, you’ve learned the tragic details about Suzanne Somers told in rare photos.
From growing up poor and in an abusive family, she would have to fight her father to protect her mother. Then, after her father died through a horrific car accident, she had to start working part-time to help her family. The day she lost her virginity was the day she got pregnant and she was forced to have an abortion and suffered as a result.
She struggled with finances early in her adult life and she soon realized that no matter how popular she was on Three’s Company, a raise was out of the question.
One can look back on her life with pity. But her life is one of triumph over trauma and for that, we can only admire her…
Now, let’s hear from you:
Are you a fan of Suzanne Somers? Did you know these tragic details about her life?
In fact, here’s what we’d like to know:
Do you think that these tragedies help someone succeed even more in the entertainment industry?
Or are most people unable to handle these tragedies and it leads to their downfall?
