Suzanne Somers, the third of four children born to Frank and Marion Mahoney, grew up in a tumultuous household with a father who worked as a laborer loading beer onto boxcars and a mother who was a medical secretary. Despite the difficulties she faced, Somers found solace in the arts, exceling in her school's theater program and winning a music scholarship to college. However, her life took a dramatic turn when she became pregnant after just six months and married the father of her child, Bruce Somers, in 1965. The marriage was unhappy, and Somers began an affair with her former drama teacher, leading to the eventual dissolution of her marriage in 1967.
As a single mother, Somers turned to modeling in San Francisco to support herself and her son, and she also distanced herself from her family due to the struggles with addiction faced by her older brother and sister. In 1968, she landed a job as a prize model on a game show hosted by her future husband, Alan Hamel, who was still married at the time. The two began dating, and Somers became pregnant while Hamel was still married, leading to a difficult decision about whether to have an abortion.
Tragedy struck in 1971 when Somers' son, Bruce, was severely injured in a car accident, and the therapist counseling him only charged the family a minimal fee. Somers herself underwent therapy to overcome the challenges of her dysfunctional childhood. She landed minor roles in film and television in the early 1970s, but it wasn't until she won a role on the popular sitcom Three's Company in 1976 that her career truly took off. She married Hamel in 1977, but her time on the show was cut short when she was fired after asking for a raise.
Somers then turned to the stage, performing extensively in Las Vegas in the mid-1980s. She also began writing her autobiography, "Keeping Secrets", which was later adapted into a TV movie. In 1991, she landed the role of Carol Foster on the TV series Step by Step, and after the show ended, she co-hosted the popular prank show Candid Camera. Throughout her life, Somers has been open about her struggles with her difficult childhood and her experiences as a single mother, using her platform to raise awareness about important social issues.
