Photo credit: Suzanne Somers during 2003 Society of Singers ELLA Awards – Arrivals at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, United States. (Photo by Ray Mickshaw/WireImage)

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Suzanne Somers, the effervescent blonde actor known for playing Chrissy Snow on the television show “Three’s Company” as well as her business endeavors, has died. She was 76.

Somers had breast cancer for over 23 years and died Sunday morning, her family said in a statement provided by her longtime publicist R. Couri Hay. Her husband Alan Hamel, her son Bruce and other immediate family were with her.

“Her family was gathered to celebrate her 77th birthday on October 16th,” the statement read. “Instead, they will celebrate her extraordinary life, and want to thank her millions of fans and followers who loved her dearly.”

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

“Like any cancer patient, when you get that dreaded, ‘It’s back’ you get a pit in your stomach. Then I put on my battle gear and go to war,” she told Entertainment Tonight at the time. “This is familiar battleground for me and I’m very tough.”

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

Somers 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. She also played the mom in the long-running kids sitcom “Step by Step.”

The Associated Press