<ul class="summary-list"><li>Suzanne Somers, best known for her portrayal of Chrissy Snow in "Three's Company" has died.</li><li>Somers died the day before her 77th birthday of a recurrence of breast cancer.</li></ul><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/suzanne-somers-fired-threes-company-raise-career-worth-2015-6">Suzanne Somers</a>, star of the late '70s smash TV hit "Three's Company," died Sunday after a recurrence of breast cancer. </p><p>The actor and author died the day before her birthday at 76 years old. She told <a href="https://people.com/suzanne-somers-77-birthday-plans-beloved-husband-kids-after-cancer-recurrence-exclusive-8356343">People</a> before her death that she had planned on celebrating with "copious amounts of cake" after her recent health setbacks.</p><p>A private family burial will take place this week and a memorial will follow next month, Somers' publicist told Insider in an emailed statement.</p><div type="image" title="Suzanne Somers smiles at the camera while wearing a black outfit and hat." height="2656" width="3541" msid="104449689" hostid="261"></div><h2>Somers' long battle with cancer</h2><p>The actor died peacefully at her home in Palm Springs, California, in the early morning hours of October 15th, according to a statement provided to Insider by her longtime publicist, R. Couri Hay. She had survived an "aggressive form of breast cancer" for over 23 years.</p><p>After first being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000, Somers revealed on Instagram in July that her cancer had returned.</p><p>"Suzanne was surrounded by her loving husband Alan, her son Bruce, and her immediate family," the statement read. "Her family was gathered to celebrate her 77th birthday on Oct. 16th. Instead, they will celebrate her <a href="https://www.insider.com/celebrities-you-didnt-know-were-in-their-70s#suzanne-somers-looks-absolutely-amazing-at-74-15">extraordinary life</a>, and want to thank her millions of fans and followers who loved her dearly."</p><div type="image" title="Actress Suzanne Somers and husband Alan Hamel pose for a portrait in front of a red background wearing 80's glam clothing." height="1779" width="2372" msid="104449691" hostid="261"></div><h2>An iconic acting career</h2><p>Though she has 250 credits for her roles in various films and TV shows, mostly comedies, including "She's the Sheriff" and "Serial Mom," Somers was best known for her portrayal of Chrissy Snow on the sitcom "<a href="https://www.insider.com/jason-ritter-got-first-role-because-of-nepotism-nepo-baby-2023-3">Three's Company.</a>" </p><p>The sitcom, which ran for eight seasons beginning in 1977, catapulted the actor into stardom — ultimately winning her a People's Choice Award for "favorite female performer" and a Golden Globe nomination for the role.</p><p>Insider previously reported that, at the height of her fame, Somers attempted to bargain with ABC for pay equal to what her costar John Ritter was earning, seeking a raise from $30,000 an episode to $150,000 an episode along with 10% of the show's profits. Instead, the network offered her a $5,000 raise. Shortly after, <a href="https://www.insider.com/tv-shows-that-continued-after-star-left-2018-6#suzanne-somers-was-fired-from-threes-company-after-she-asked-for-equal-pay-to-her-male-co-star-5">Somers was fired</a>, and her role was ultimately cut. </p><p>"Life isn't fair," Somers told <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/throwback-thursday-threes-company-star-797645" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">The Hollywood Reporter</a> when recalling the situation in 2015. "Getting fired for asking for a raise wasn't fair, but I landed on my feet and I've done OK."</p><div type="image" title="Suzanne Somers and Alan Hamel pose together in black outfits at a formal event." height="1803" width="2400" msid="104449692" hostid="261"></div><h2>An entrepreneur and family woman</h2><p>In her later years, Somers developed <a href="https://www.insider.com/suzanne-somers-records-home-intruder-facebook-livestream-2021-2">her own makeup brand</a> and was the face of the '90s <a href="https://www.insider.com/i-tried-working-out-like-it-was-the-80s-2020-2">ThighMaster exercise phenomenon</a> that took the fitness world by storm, building a net worth of about <a href="https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/actors/suzanne-somers-net-worth/">$100 million</a> by the end of her life.</p><p>Somers also spent much of her time doting on her family, including her son from her previous marriage, two stepchildren with her husband of 46 years, Alan Hamel, and their six grandchildren. </p><p>In a recent Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CvYACxKytPM/?hl=en">post</a> announcing her cancer recurrence, Somers gushed about the support she'd received from Hamel over their decades of marriage.</p><p id="mntl-sc-block_1-0-30">"Alan has been by my side every step of the way. I can't even explain how much he has done for me. If it's even possible, we are even closer than ever," Somers wrote. "My incredible family has been so supportive, and have helped so much by keeping the business running so you can still have access to all the wonderful products. Thank you for the continued love and support. It's only about who you love and who loves you - and I love you!"</p>

Suzanne Somers, star of 'Three's Company' and 'Serial Mom' dead at 76

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An intruder entered <keyword id="1658513" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Suzanne-Somers">Suzanne Somers</keyword>' home on Friday as she filmed a makeup-themed <keyword id="6534868" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="livestream">livestream</keyword>.</li><li>The "almost naked" man said he was "terrified" and claimed to have a gift for the actress. </li><li>Somers' husband escorted the intruder off their property, and a viewer called police.</li></ul><p>A <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/facebook">Facebook</a> livestream became unexpectedly dangerous for Suzanne Somers over the weekend.</p><p>The "Three's Company" actress was approximately 40 minutes into promoting her <keyword id="29496" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Makeup">makeup</keyword> brand from her Palm Springs, California, home on Friday when she said she heard a noise that sounded like a person speaking. After her husband, Alan Hamel, said he thought the noise was a frog, a different man could be heard saying "I'm here" while standing off camera.</p><p>The man, who named himself as Aaron Carpenter, turned out to be an "almost naked" lost hiker, <a href="https://pagesix.com/2021/02/06/intruder-interrupts-suzanne-somers-livestream-at-home/">as Somers and Hamel told Page Six</a>. No one was harmed during the intrusion and Carpenter was given a warning by police, according to the publication.</p><p>Fans are now praising Somers for staying calm and composed throughout the incident.</p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=476&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fsuzannesomers%2Fvideos%2F127011852622843%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=267" width="267" height="476" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe><h2>Suzanne Somers recorded an intruder entering her home via a Facebook livestream</h2><p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/suzannesomers/videos/127011852622843">As Somers mentioned in her video</a>, she and her husband were expecting friends to come over for dinner, so she originally assumed her guests had arrived early. As seen during the livestream, however, Somers quickly realized it was an intruder on her property - not her friends.</p><p>The man can first be heard saying he was "terrified" and that "there were ghosts following" him. He also said a friend led him up the hill leading to Somers' home, which he said he had seen in photos.</p><p>"OK, you shouldn't be here," Somers responded calmly. "But anyway, you don't scare me. Yeah, you shouldn't be here."</p><div type="image" title="suzanne somers intruder" height="1636" width="914" msid="80755128" hostid="261"></div><p>After Carpenter said he's "not a scary person whatsoever" and apologized for being on the couple's property, he then offered a gift to the couple.</p><p>"Yeah I don't want anything," Somers replied. "You seem like a very nice person, but you shouldn't be here."</p><p>Somers attempted to return to promoting her products as her husband escorted the man away from their home but admitted she was "kind of shocked" by the incident. She then reassured viewers that everyone was OK, and said she'd cut the show short to call the police.</p><h2>Somers and her husband told Page Six that a viewer called the police to ensure the actress was safe</h2><p>"I was expecting dinner guests; that's why I was so friendly at first," Somers told the publication. "When he came closer, he barely had any clothes on."</p><p>She also told Page Six that she repeatedly turned to the camera and made shocked faces because there were "a few hundred thousand people watching" and she "wanted to keep them calm."</p><p>"The great thing is that he was almost naked, so I could see he didn't have anything," she added. "He didn't have a weapon."</p><p>Hamel also noted that he believes the intruder was a lost hiker who saw the lights from their livestream and entered their property while trying to get back into town. He was reportedly using a solar light from the couple's home as a flashlight.</p><p>Somers and Hamel told Page Six that Carpenter was later approached by police and given a warning.</p><h2>People are now praising Somers for staying so calm during the ordeal</h2><p>On Twitter and in the comments section of Somers' livestream, numerous viewers empathized with the actress and complimented how she handled the intruder. </p><p>"You handled that great Suzanne," one Facebook user wrote, while another said: "My heart was in my throat. I can't imagine how you feel."</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—BigBroInfo  (@BigBro_Info) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1358728019922223105?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2021</a></blockquote><p>As Somers told Page Six, being "the child of an alcoholic" prepared her for moments like this one.</p><p>"One thing that happens: you either crumble from it, or you become crisis-oriented," she said. "When things get crazy, you want to be around someone like me. But when it was all over, I was feeling my feelings."</p><p>Representatives for Suzanne Somers did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. </p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/conservative-influencer-amanda-ensing-sephora-sponsorship-boycott-2021-2">Conservative beauty fans are boycotting Sephora after the retailer cut ties with a pro-Trump influencer</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/kathleen-lights-apologizes-for-saying-n-word-2017-boycott-threat-2021-1">A beauty influencer is apologizing for saying the N-word in 2017 after people recently threatened to boycott her nail-polish brand</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/billie-eilish-wears-selena-gomez-makeup-2021-1">Selena Gomez is 'low-key freaking out' after Billie Eilish wore makeup from her brand on a magazine cover</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/michelle-obama-inauguration-day-makeup-2021-1">Michelle Obama supported Black-owned makeup brands with her Inauguration Day look</a></li></ul>

Suzanne Somers faced an 'almost naked' home intruder while filming a video about her makeup brand

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/526eceba69bedd6d088b4567-1200-858/suzanne-somers-cancer-talk-show.jpg" border="0" alt="Suzanne Somers cancer talk show" /><p class="source"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQicB_7KNL8">Youtube/CBSNewsOnline</a></p></div><p></p></div></div>In a web feature titled "The Experts," the Wall Street Journal ran <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2013/10/28/suzanne-somers-the-affordable-care-act-is-a-socialist-ponzi-scheme/">a column</a> today called "The Affordable Care Act Is a Socialist Ponzi Scheme."</p>
<p>The author is <keyword id="1658513" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Suzanne-Somers">Suzanne Somers</keyword>, whom millennials might recognize from her starring role on ABC's family-oriented '90s sitcom "Step By Step."</p>
<p>Somers warns:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Medical care will be degraded, the costs will skyrocket, and most frightening of all, your most intimate and personal information is now up for grabs. <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">And then there is another consideration: It's the dark underbelly of the </span><span class="mandelbrot_refrag" style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/page/health-law-rollout.html?lc=int_mb_1001" class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1">Affordable Care Act</a></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> reminiscent of what Lenin and Churchill both said. Lenin: "Socialized medicine is the keystone to the arch of the socialist state." Churchill: "Control your citizens' health care and you control your citizens."</span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/10/having-conquered-cellulite-suzanne-somers-takes-obamacare/71015/#.Um7IMCmhKzc.facebook">Philip Bump</a> and <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/10/suzanne-somerss-strong-wsj-obamacare-critique.html?mid=twitter_dailyintelligencer">Jonathan Chait</a> have both written takedowns noting, politely, that the piece does not provide the sort of airtight argument you might expect from the star of the first five seasons of "Three's Company."</p>
<p>I would add that this is not Somers' first foray into writing about health care. In 2010 <a href="http://blog.suzannesomers.com/?p=72">she wrote</a> an under-discussed piece warning against the dangers of water fluoridation:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>Most health authorities suggest drinking at least eight glasses of water per day for good health. </span><span>How much fluoride are you getting when you drink a glass of artificially fluoridated water? About </span><span>the same as if you swallowed a pea-sized blob of toothpaste - which the label clearly tells you not </span><span>to do. If it is not safe to swallow eight blobs of toothpaste with FDA-approved fluoride per day for </span><span>life, or take eight pills containing this amount of fluoride, why are we told it's OK to drink this </span><span>amount of the diluted industrial waste that has never been FDA-approved for human </span><span>consumption?</span><span> </span></p>
<p>And she's written <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/US/somers-doctors-cure-cancer/2012/02/14/id/429395">a whole book</a> about how you can treat cancer with alternative medicine instead of chemotherapy.</p>
<p>So, if the Journal wants more columns drawing on Somers' expertise, they should be able to get them.</p>
<div><span><br /></span></div>
<p> </p>

Wall Street Journal Enlists Noted Health Policy Expert Suzanne Somers To Critique Obamacare

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571c289eab8eac55b186f28-1200-924/threes-company-suzanne-somers.jpg" border="0" alt="Three's Company suzanne somers" style="color: #000000;"><p class="source"><span>ABC/"Three's Company"</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>In 1980, Suzanne Somers was at the height of her career, winning accolades and the public's admiration for playing blonde bimbo "Chrissy Snow" on ABC's hit Emmy-winning comedy <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075596/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">"Three's Company"</a> alongside John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571cc686bb3f7ec751d2b9b-698-349/suzanne-somers-threes-company.jpg" border="0" alt="suzanne somers three's company"><p class="source"><span>ABC/"Three's Company"</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In 1978, just a year after the show premiered, Somers won a People's Choice Award for "favorite female performer."</span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571c3a6ecad0485161d2b9d-1200-600/suzanne-somers-award.jpg" border="0" alt="Suzanne Somers award"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In 1979, the role </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">earned her a Golden Globe nomination for best TV actress in a comedy.</span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571c1656bb3f75e2e1d2b9d-1200-600/suzanne-somers-5.jpg" border="0" alt="Suzanne Somers"><p class="source"><span>P Photo/Mark J. Terrill</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Somers became a household name, making countless TV appearances.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571c52a69bedd2a0d186f2a-1200-800/suzanne somers talk show.jpg" border="0" alt="Suzanne Somers talk show"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo</span></p><p class="caption">Somers and Fred Astaire on the "Mike Douglas Show" in 1978.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>She attended press events with her "Three's Company" cast mates...<br /></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571c62d6bb3f7ff4d1d2b9b-1200-858/three's company.jpg" border="0" alt="Three's Company"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Reed Saxon</span></p><p class="caption">Somers and the "Three's Company" cast at a press luncheon in 1979.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">... And became an international sex symbol.</span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571c5daeab8eac677186f27-1200-2000/suzanne somers hollywood.jpg" border="0" alt="Suzanne Somers hollywood"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Reed Saxon</span></p><p class="caption">Somers strikes a pose during a promotion photocall in Los Angeles in 1979.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">But in 1980, at age 34, Somers' career came to a screeching halt when she asked ABC for a salary raise on par with what fellow cast member John Ritter was making.</span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571c807ecad049e2a1d2b9c-1024-512/a7fe75f6b67c8e00308a3ddb742cbecd2b7016c5ad93acf31e8c886c79cb288a_large.jpg" border="0" alt="John Ritter Suzanne Somers"><p class="source"><span>ABC/"Three's Company"</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"When it came time for fifth-season negotiations in 1980, Somers asked for a pay hike from $30,000 an episode to $150,000," according to <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/throwback-thursday-threes-company-star-797645" target="_blank">The Hollywood Reporter</a>, noting the salary increase would be "equal to what her </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Three's Company </em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">co-star </span>John Ritter<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> was receiving and comparable to salaries </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">M*A*S*H*</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">'s </span>Alan Alda<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> and </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">All in the Family</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">'s </span>Carroll O'Connor<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> were being paid on lower-rated shows."</span></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Instead, ABC offered Somers a measly $5,000 salary increase.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571cc9e6da8113341d193c7-1200-600/o-suzanne-somers-john-ritter-facebook.jpg" border="0" alt="SUZANNE SOMERS JOHN RITTER three's company"><p class="source"><span>ABC/"Three's Company"</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">As a result, Somers </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">boycotted the third and fourth shows of the new season, using excuses such as "the recurrence of an old back injury," THR reported at the time. She finished the remaining season on her contract with ABC, but her role was decreased to a mere 60 seconds per episode and shot separately from the rest of the cast.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571cd0a6da8119a43d193c2-560-420/1db1cc1f56c898a1dd61e078a7cd2a47.jpg" border="0" alt="suzanne somers three's company" width="1200"><p class="source"><span>ABC/"Three's Company"</span></p></img></div><p></p></div><br><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Eventually, Somers' contract with ABC was terminated. The network that had made the actress a household name fired one of its biggest stars </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> and it was apparently all to make a point.</span></br></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span><span>Somers' husband and manager, </span><span>Alan Hamel, recently recalled to </span><span></span><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/throwback-thursday-threes-company-star-797645" target="_blank">THR</a>:</span></span></span></span></span></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span>The night before we went in to renegotiate, I got a call from a friend who had connections high up at ABC and he said, 'They're going to hang a nun in the marketplace and the nun is Suzanne.' </span><span>The network was will­ing to do this because earlier that year the women on </span><em>Laverne &amp; Shirley</em><span> had gotten what they asked for and they wanted to put a stop to it. They'd destroy the chemistry on </span><em>Company</em><span> to make a point.</span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Later that season, Somer's "Chrissy Snow" character was replaced by her clumsy cousin Cindy Snow, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0365649/" target="_blank">Jenilee Harrison</a>.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571d3f2ecad04327d1d2b9b-720-540/jenilee-harrison-threes-company.jpg" border="0" alt="Jenilee Harrison three's company"><p class="source"><span>ABC/"Three's Company"</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>In 1981, </span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">ABC added another replacement the following season, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0055733/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Priscilla Barnes</a>, </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">to make up for the loss of Somers.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571d3d86bb3f7b5201d2ba2-640-320/threes-company-4.jpg" border="0" alt="Three's company"><p class="source"><span>ABC/"Three's Company"</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The show would go on until 1984, but meanwhile </span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Somers' career came to a halt. </span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">After rival network CBS picked up Somers to star in a new show following the "Three's Company" disaster, the network eventually wound up passing on the show.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In order to stay relevant, Somers posed on the cover of Playboy in<span> 1980 and 1984. </span> </span></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571ce906bb3f7c37c1d2b9c-1200-1600/gal-covers-12.jpg" border="0" alt="Suzanne Somers Playboy"><p class="source"><span>Playboy</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">During the 1980s, Somers became the <a href="http://www.suzannesomers.com/products/suzanne-somers-thighmaster-gold" target="_blank">spokeswoman for the Thighmaster</a>.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571d00c6da811f458d193c4-1200-600/suzanne-somers-thigh-master.png" border="0" alt="Suzanne Somers Thigh Master"><p class="source"><span>Thigh Master</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>In 1991, Somers returned to ABC to play mom "Carol Foster" in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101205/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_4" target="_blank">"Step By Step,"</a> a family sitcom on the network's <a href="http://variety.com/2014/tv/features/girl-meets-world-premiere-abc-tgif-lineup-best-worst-1201246633/" target="_blank">popular TGIF lineup</a>.<br /></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571d1f769bedd4c65186f27-1200-924/cast-of-step-by-step-5.jpg" border="0" alt="step by step suzanne somers"><p class="source"><span>ABC/"Step By Step"</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>After the show ended in 1998, Somers would go on to sell <a href="http://www.suzannesomers.com/pages/suzanne-somers-3-way-poncho" target="_blank">clothing</a>, jewelry, skin-care, <a href="http://www.suzannesomers.com/pages/suzanne-organics-toxic-free-home-products" target="_blank">toxic-free cleaning supplies</a>, <a href="http://www.suzannesomers.com/collections/weight-loss" target="_blank">weight loss</a>, and <a href="http://www.suzannesomers.com/collections/suzanne-organics-cosmetics" target="_blank">beauty</a> products on the Home Shopping Network and <a href="http://www.suzannesomers.com/" target="_blank">her own website</a>.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571dad369bedd161e186f2b-996-741/screen shot 2015-06-05 at 1.21.32 pm.png" border="0" alt="Suzanne somers beauty"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.suzannesomers.com/collections/suzanne-organics-cosmetics">suzannesomers.com</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>She has also </span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Suzanne-Somers/e/B000AP7J7W" target="_blank">written over 20 books</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, including <span>autobiographies, poetry, and </span>many about aging and how to stay </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sexy-Forever-Fight-after-Forty/dp/0307588521/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" target="_blank">"Sexy Forever."</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571df18eab8eaab17186f2c-1200-2000/1389120282sexyforever.jpg" border="0" alt="Suzanne Somers Sexy Forever" style="line-height: 1.5em;"><p class="source"><span>"Sexy Forever"</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Despite <a href="http://www.livescience.com/40677-suzanne-somers-health-advice-wrong.html" target="_blank">controversy surrounding her use of alternative medicine</a> after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001, Somers has continued to build a massive empire as an actress, author, and businesswoman.</p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In 2003, Somers received a star on the </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Hollywood Walk of Fame.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571d9a16bb3f71e451d2b9d-1200-1715/suzanne somers walk of fame 2.jpg" border="0" alt="Suzanne Somers walk of fame "><p class="source"><span>AP Photo</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Today, Somers can currently be seen in the <a href="http://www.desertsun.com/story/life/entertainment/people/brucefessierentertainment/2015/06/03/suzanne-somers-life-transformed-classic-vegas-act/28416895/" target="_blank">live show </a></span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://www.desertsun.com/story/life/entertainment/people/brucefessierentertainment/2015/06/03/suzanne-somers-life-transformed-classic-vegas-act/28416895/" target="_blank">"Suzanne Sizzles"</a> in a <span>year-long residency </span>presented in her own cabaret room in the Westgate Las Vegas Resort &amp; Casino. </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571dd6469bedd972c186f30-1200-600/suzanne-somers-6.jpg" border="0" alt="Suzanne Somers "><p class="source"><span>Michael Buckner/Getty Images</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>When not in Las Vegas for the show, Somers resides in Palm Springs with her husband and manager of 38 years, Alan Hamel. <br /></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5571e12fecad04e84a1d2b9e-1200-924/suzanne-somers-alan-hamel.jpg" border="0" alt="suzanne somers alan hamel"><p class="source"><span>Brad Barket/Getty Images</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"Life isn't fair," Somers recently told </span><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/throwback-thursday-threes-company-star-797645" target="_blank">The Hollywood Reporter</a> when recalling the "Three's Company" situation in 1980<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">. "Getting fired for asking for a raise wasn't fair, but I landed on my feet and I've done OK."</span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Today, <span>Somers is worth a reported </span><a href="http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/actors/suzanne-somers-net-worth/" target="_blank">$100 million</a><span>, due mainly in part to her successful </span><a href="http://www.suzannesomers.com/collections/all-products" target="_blank">product lines</a><span>.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Somers' story is especially relevant right now after the Sony hack revealed <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jennifer-lawrence-paid-less-than-male-co-stars-2014-12" target="_blank">just how much less women make in Hollywood</a> still to this day <span>-</span> both <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/female-sony-exec-makes-800000-less-than-her-male-counterpart-2014-12" target="_blank">female studio execs</a> behind-the-scenes and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jennifer-lawrence-paid-less-than-male-co-stars-2014-12" target="_blank">actresses in front of the camera</a>.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-little-prince-movie-trailer-2015-4">'The Little Prince' trailer looks better than anything Pixar has made in years</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="0xeDVudDo0AzTXdVje-s_6UCjPAA3qlY" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '0xeDVudDo0AzTXdVje-s_6UCjPAA3qlY',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

The crazy story of how Suzanne Somers was fired for asking for equal pay on 'Three's Company' at the peak of her fame in 1980

<ul class="summary-list"><li>"Friends" star Matthew Perry received a special tribute at the Emmys on Monday night.</li><li>The sitcom star<strong> was found dead at his Los Angeles home at age 54 in October.</strong></li></ul><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/emmy-nominees-winners-list-2023-7">Monday's Emmy Awards</a> paid tribute to one of television's biggest stars, "Friends" actor <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/matthew-perry-funeral-photos-friends-tributes-new-york-los-angeles-2023-11">Matthew Perry</a>, with an emotional musical tribute.</p><p>During Monday's telecast, pop star <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/charlie-puth-sings-friends-theme-song-tribute-matthew-perry-2023-10">Charlie Puth</a> teamed up with husband-and-wife country duo The War and Treaty to perform an acoustic rendition of "I'll Be There for You," the theme tune to the beloved sitcom.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">They showed Matthew Perry last in the tribute @ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheEmmys?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TheEmmys</a>  <a href="https://t.co/y3JC2eOI2v">pic.twitter.com/y3JC2eOI2v</a></p>— N△NCY L ‎ (@xonancy) <a href="https://twitter.com/xonancy/status/1747099836292219235?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2024</a></blockquote><p>The tribute to Perry closed out the in-memoriam segment of Monday's Emmys.</p><p>Other stars honored during the segment include the late "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" actor <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/andre-braugher-dead-2023-12">Andre Braugher</a>, "One Day at a Time" creator <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/norman-lear-dead-tv-shows-all-in-the-family-jeffersons-2023-12">Norman Lear</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/broadcast-journalist-barbara-walters-life-in-pictures-2022-12">Barbara Walters</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/price-is-right-host-bob-barker-dead-2023-7">Bob Barker</a>, Kirstie Alley, Suzanne Somers, and more.</p><p>Puth performed his hit song "See You Again" before segueing into "I'll Be There for You," originally by The Rembrandts. The stars of "Friends," Perry included, appear in the music video to the song.</p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SCQGnVrTsAM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" title="Friends theme song - I'll be there for you - official music video HQ"></iframe><p>Perry was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/matthew-perry-dead-2023-10">found dead</a> in his Los Angeles home at the age of 54 last October. His cause of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/matthew-perry-death-cause-revealed-accidental-drowning-ketamine-2023-12">death was ruled an accident</a> in December, caused by the "acute effects of ketamine," the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said.</p><p>"Friends" superfan Puth <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/charlie-puth-sings-friends-theme-song-tribute-matthew-perry-2023-10">previously performed</a> the show's theme song at a Melbourne, Australia, concert just a day after Perry's death.</p><blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@gracefrost_music/video/7295339484437073170" data-video-id="7295339484437073170" data-embed-from="oembed" style="max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;"> <section> <a target="_blank" title="@gracefrost_music" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@gracefrost_music?refer=embed">@gracefrost_music</a> <p>@Charlie Puth <a title="matthewperry" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/matthewperry?refer=embed">#matthewperry</a> <a title="friends" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/friends?refer=embed">#friends</a> <a title="charlieputh" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/charlieputh?refer=embed">#charlieputh</a> </p> <a target="_blank" title="♬ original sound - Grace Frost" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7295339526343084801?refer=embed">♬ original sound - Grace Frost</a> </section> </blockquote> <p>In October 2019, Puth was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evs4VoyaR4g">surprised</a> by "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston in an interview on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."</p><p>Aniston said at the time the sitcom's stars weren't planning to reboot the show, but the cast was interested in doing a reunion.</p><p>The "Friends" cast later reunited for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/friends-cast-first-episode-finale-2021-reunion-2023-10">a Max special</a> in 2021 and reflected on some of the show's most famous moments.</p><p>Shortly after Perry died in October, Aniston and the cast wrote touching tributes to their late costar.</p><p>"The Morning Show" actor took to Instagram, writing: "Oh boy this one has cut deep... Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I've never experienced before."</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Czq8K4DMOMQ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Czq8K4DMOMQ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; 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Matthew Perry was honored with a heartbreaking musical tribute at the 2024 Emmys

<ul class="summary-list"><li>After a night of heavy rain, we noticed mold in our bathroom.</li><li>We spent months trying to fix the problem, but it wouldn't go away and took a toll on my family.</li></ul><p>By the look of our home and the way we went about our daily routine, you'd never think we'd develop mold. </p><p>Our suburban ranch house was clean, well-maintained, and uncluttered, with stain-free walls and ceilings. We dried the floor after supervising enthusiastic toddler baths and replaced the dishwasher after one leak. But in our case, regular maintenance didn't prevent toxic mold.   </p><p>Two decades ago, heavy rains created a small, one-cup leak on our bathroom floor. <a href="https://www.insider.com/signs-theres-mold-in-your-house-2018-7">A strong odor</a>, similar to that of wet socks, radiated from the shower wall within days. My husband discovered black mold after he removed the baseboards and part of the wall.  He cleaned and discarded the moldy debris, but within a week we couldn't breathe well enough to sleep in our bedroom. </p><h2><strong>Dealing with the mold</strong></h2><p>I expected the odor to disappear once my husband removed the entire shower, but it got worse. Unfortunately, thick plastic sheeting covering the bedroom hallway didn't deter the progression of the horrific stench from the primary bath throughout the house. The air was densely packed with suspended particles that glistened in the sunlight, but no visible mold growth remained.</p><p>Ozone treatments, additional cleaning, and opening windows and doors didn't remove the smell or the thick, offensive air. It was so strong that the entire living quarters were affected, making it hard to breathe. Our family of five carried our mattresses out to the living room. </p><p>We were lucky our insurance covered mold testing and remediation. One month after the leak, our insurance company ordered our evacuation because professional test results revealed high levels of toxic molds, including Stachybotrys, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Chaetomium, Cladosporium, and more. Our home was <a href="https://www.insider.com/excessive-sweat-frequent-urination-mold-detox-2023-4">deemed unsafe for human habitation</a>. </p><p>We moved to a bed-and-breakfast and began vetting remediation firms, hopeful we'd return to a clean home in a few months. Eight months later, we moved to two travel trailers parked in the yard. We gave up when five professional remediations over 22 months were not enough to rid our home of mold. We disclosed our mold test results and sold the house for the value of the lot, then left for a drier climate. Thankfully, we've remained mold-free ever since.     </p><p>Toxic-mold remediation is difficult, and sometimes several professional remediations aren't enough. In our case, mold remained even after gutting much of the house, including three bathrooms, the kitchen, and the utility room. Some people (including celebrities like <a href="https://people.com/celebrity/witness-rot-ruined-sandra-bullocks-home/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sandra Bullock</a>, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/muhammad-ali-sues-home-sellers-over-mold-leaks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Muhammad Ali</a>, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-may-09-me-mold9-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ed McMahon</a>, <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2004-03-18-0403180174-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Jordan</a>, and <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/suzanne-somers-opens-deadly-toxin-exposure-article-1.2201923" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Suzanne Somers</a>) address mold by moving and filing lawsuits, whereas other people feel they have no choice but to <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2009/07/firefighters_will_burn_moldinf.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">burn their homes</a>.  </p><h2><strong>We learned firsthand the damage toxic mold can do</strong></h2><p>Mold exposure can cause a host of symptoms, including <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24862-black-mold#symptoms-and-causes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sneezing, coughing, postnasal drip, red eyes</a>, <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323419#is-it-dangerous" target="_blank" rel="noopener">body aches and pains, memory loss</a>, and in severe cases, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mold/faqs.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shortness of breath and fever</a>.  In our case, mold made it hard for us to process information — neither my husband nor I could concentrate in our house. My husband couldn't count to 10 without forgetting what number he was on. Thankfully, our mental ability returned when away from the house, but the experience was frightening and we were concerned about the long-term effects for us and our children.  </p><p>Our good health prior to the mold didn't protect us from mycotoxins, which has been the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/15/what-homeowners-need-to-know-about-toxic-mold-exposure.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">case for other families</a>. "While most molds cause normal allergic reactions, the dozen or so toxic molds can make otherwise healthy people very sick," said Dr. William Weirs, a functional medicine specialist who practices at the <a href="https://coem.com/about-us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine</a> in North Charleston, South Carolina.  </p><p>When we voiced fears about our children's brain health to their pediatrician in 2002, we were told not to worry and that "mold is everywhere." Weirs said the "majority of doctors aren't trained to look for the toxic effects of mold." </p><p>It's still difficult to get treatment for mold-related symptoms and illnesses, even though mold has been tied to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4789584/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alzheimer's</a>, <a href="https://www.rutgers.edu/news/symptoms-parkinsons-disease-linked-fungus" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Parkinson's disease</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3705282/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chronic fatigue</a>, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2093791119306419" target="_blank" rel="noopener">neurological symptoms including memory loss, brain fog, vertigo, and balance issues</a>. The good news is that once patients remediate the mold or leave the location, "with proper treatment, victims can recover from mold illness," Weirs said. He said he's seen "more mainstream recognition of mold illness over the last four years, with more physicians referring patients to him for treatment." </p><p>While our mold situation was extreme, we are far from the only ones who've <a href="https://www.insider.com/man-died-when-mold-triggered-asthma-and-heart-attack-2023-1">struggled with toxic mold</a>. Tens of thousands of people who've experienced mold exposure and its devastating effects have joined Facebook groups for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/116659898371180" target="_blank" rel="noopener">support</a> and advice on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/rediscoveringhealth" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rediscovering health and wellness,</a> tips for remediating their homes and cleaning possessions, and more.</p>

A leak in our bathroom caused toxic mold, and no amount of renovation could fix it. Eventually we had to move.

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image on-image"><img style="color: #000000;" src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/551964c969beddc9368c0359-1200-600/biosphere.png?maxX=800" alt="biosphere" width="800" border="0" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156025775X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=156025775X&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thebusiinsi-20&amp;linkId=FJBKE4PAO6WEAZLH">Spring Chicken</a></span></p><p class="caption">Before and after photos of Roy Lee Walford.</p></div><p></p></div></p><p>Part hipster, part artist, part Svengali, and part scientist, Roy Lee Walford had long been fascinated by aging, even as a teenager. He was an actor, a writer, and an adventurer who followed the latest research in caloric restriction and life extension.</p><p>In the early 1990s, Walford got the chance to be part of something that would radically change his career, and his life.</p><p>In one of his periodic restless phases, he signed on as chief medical officer for Biosphere 2, the famous (or infamous) earthbound "space station" that was being built in the desert north of Tucson.</p><p>"I find it useful to punctuate time with dangerous and eccentric activities," he explained to the Los Angeles Times.</p><p>Funded by the venturesome oil heir Ed Bass, who considered himself an environmentalist, Biosphere 2 was a glass-enclosed, 3.15-acre terrarium that was designed to replicate the major ecosystems of earth.</p><p>Walford and seven other "Terranauts" would spend two years inside the hermetically sealed chamber, living off the food they produced in their extensive organic gardens and indoor fish farm.</p><p>They would receive nothing from outside, not even air or water, which would be recycled by the indoor ecosystem. When the crew entered the Biosphere on September 26, 1991, Walford cut a striking figure in his Star Trek-style uniform, which perfectly matched his Spock-like ears and shiny dome. Things soon took an unexpected turn, however, when the explorers discovered that they could not produce enough food to feed themselves.</p><p>Spotting an opportunity to turn lemons into diet lemonade, Walford decided that this was the perfect chance to study caloric restriction in people: Henceforth, the eight crew members would be placed on a sharply reduced ration of less than eighteen hundred calories per person per day, at first. As team physician, Walford would monitor its effects on them.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55198c2fecad04501088dea1-326-497/screen shot 2015-03-30 at 1.46.10 pm.png" alt="spring chicken" border="0" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1455527440/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1455527440&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thebusiinsi-20&amp;linkId=6KN7NMFEOQ2HCD4J">Amazon</a></span></p><p class="caption">This story comes from "Spring Chicken: Stay Young Forever (or Die Trying) by Bill Gifford.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Normally, humans are hardwired to cheat on any kind of diet, which is another reason it is so difficult to study caloric restriction. But now the Biosphere had presented Walford with eight captive lab rats, for two years. Their so-called healthy starvation diet was heavy on fruits (they grew bananas, papayas, and kumquats), and a long list of vegetables, nuts, and legumes, plus a handful of eggs, dairy from their goats, and a very small amount of tilapia and chicken.</p><p>Only 10 percent of their calories came from fat, and they ate meat only on Sundays. All this was supposed to fuel them through eighty-hour weeks of serious manual labor, including tending the crops, maintaining heavy equipment, pruning back vines that climbed the glass-steel walls, and even donning scuba gear to clean the fish tanks.</p><p>Not surprisingly, the Terranauts lost weight like sumo wrestlers in a steam room, shedding pounds until their average BMI dropped below twenty for men and women alike (or in scientific terms, "really skinny"). One man lost 58 pounds, going from a portly 208 to a sleek 150.</p><p>They lost weight so fast that Walford grew concerned that their fat cells were releasing toxins, like pesticides and pollutants, back into their bodies. They were indeed, he found, but the strict diet and heavy physical workload also caused more immediate problems, like that they were starving.</p><p>According to crew member Jane Poynter, who wrote a memoir revealingly titled <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156025775X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=156025775X&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thebusiinsi-20&amp;linkId=FJBKE4PAO6WEAZLH"><em>The Human Experiment: Two Years and Twenty Minutes Inside Biosphere 2</em></a>, it became accepted practice to lick one's plate clean after every meal, so as not to miss a single precious calorie.</p><p>The supply of bananas, the tastiest item on the menu, had to be kept under lock and key. Saddest of all, the Terranauts would occasionally peer through binoculars at tourists eating at the on-site hot-dog stand, like monks watching porn.</p><p>"Roy was having a whale of a time, however," Poynter deadpanned, "because this was his life's work."</p><p>When the eight Terranauts emerged from the Biosphere, in September 1993, pomp and ceremony competed with sheer relief that the long, intensely scrutinized project was finally over.</p><p>Though it had begun in an atmosphere of gee-whiz optimism- this is how we'll live on Mars! - the project had endured withering skepticism and a spate of negative press, including a Village Voice takedown that explored the project's roots in a strange organization called Synergia, which the paper characterized as a cult.</p><p>Two years of confinement had divided the crew into bitter, warring factions; the tension and drama inside the Bubble actually helped inspire the reality TV series Big Brother. The meager diet had not helped morale, either. Opening the "seal" was meant to be a joyful day for all concerned. At least now they'd be able to visit the hot-dog stand.</p><p>For Walford, though, the end of the Biosphere marked the beginning of a dark new chapter of his life. He had been fit and vibrant when he entered the capsule, looking far younger than his sixty-seven years. Two years inside had ravaged his body. Perhaps it was the lack of food, perhaps something else, but in photos taken in the Biosphere, Walford is thin to the point of emaciation, his eyes haggard and sunken.</p><p>He'd lost 25 pounds from an already-lean 145, and he looks much older than the post- Biosphere version of himself, on the right.</p><p>But the real damage was invisible. In the six months after leaving the Biosphere, Walford fell into a deep depression, drinking his way through a bottle of vodka every four days. He had injured his back while working in the compound, and he could barely walk, at first.</p><p>Something seemed to have changed in his brain, as well: Just three years after leaving the Biosphere, he began experiencing episodes of "freezing," where he would simply stop walking, and fall down. Soon he required a walker.</p><p>Despite his illness, though, Walford's mind remained sharp, and he stuck to his diet, insisting that it had slowed its progression, rather than hastened it. As late as 2001, he touted the benefits of caloric restriction to Alan Alda, who then hosted a TV show for Scientific American, insisting that caloric restriction would "let me live longer than I would otherwise."</p><p>He said he hoped to live to be 110 years old, just like Suzanne Somers.</p><p>But physically, he was a wreck. A video taken of Walford that same year is truly shocking: Barely a decade after entering Biosphere, as a vigorous real-life version of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, he had been reduced to a stooped, jittering old man, hunched over and barely able to walk on his own.</p><p>He had already been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, from which he eventually died in 2004. Although immortality had eluded him, Walford had packed more living into his seventy-nine years on earth than most of us could fit into three lifetimes.</p><p><em>From the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1455527440/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1455527440&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thebusiinsi-20&amp;linkId=2LD4PB5BVHX2QTTQ">SPRING CHICKEN</a> by Bill Gifford. Copyright © 2016 by Bill Gifford. Reprinted by permission of Grand Central Publishing, New York, NY. All rights reserved.</em></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nasas-experiments-on-human-blood-in-space-2016-4">How NASA's groundbreaking work on human blood can predict your reaction to certain drugs</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="ZleWo0MzE6drFXTHxbvb68fMi00EXpGk" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'ZleWo0MzE6drFXTHxbvb68fMi00EXpGk',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

The haunting true story of a man who spent 2 years in a self-contained 'Biosphere' and nearly fell apart

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/551964c969beddc9368c0359-1200-600/biosphere.png?maxX=800" border="0" alt="biosphere" width="800" style="color: #000000;"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156025775X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=156025775X&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thebusiinsi-20&amp;linkId=FJBKE4PAO6WEAZLH">Spring Chicken</a></span></p><p class="caption">Before and after photos of Roy Lee Walford.</p></img></div><p></p></div></p><p>Part hipster, part artist, part Svengali, and part scientist, Roy Lee Walford had long been fascinated by aging, even as a teenager. He was an actor, a writer, and an adventurer who followed the latest research in caloric restriction and life extension.</p><p>In the early 1990s, Walford got the chance to be part of something that would radically change his career, and his life.</p><p>In one of his periodic restless phases, he signed on as chief medical officer for Biosphere 2, the famous (or infamous) earthbound "space station" that was being built in the desert north of Tucson.</p><p>"I find it useful to punctuate time with dangerous and eccentric activities," he explained to the Los Angeles Times.</p><p>Funded by the venturesome oil heir Ed Bass, who considered himself an environmentalist, Biosphere 2 was a glass-enclosed, 3.15-acre terrarium that was designed to replicate the major ecosystems of earth.</p><p>Walford and seven other "Terranauts" would spend two years inside the hermetically sealed chamber, living off the food they produced in their extensive organic gardens and indoor fish farm.</p><p>They would receive nothing from outside, not even air or water, which would be recycled by the indoor ecosystem. When the crew entered the Biosphere on September 26, 1991, Walford cut a striking figure in his Star Trek-style uniform, which perfectly matched his Spock-like ears and shiny dome. Things soon took an unexpected turn, however, when the explorers discovered that they could not produce enough food to feed themselves.</p><p>Spotting an opportunity to turn lemons into diet lemonade, Walford decided that this was the perfect chance to study caloric restriction in people: Henceforth, the eight crew members would be placed on a sharply reduced ration of less than eighteen hundred calories per person per day, at first. As team physician, Walford would monitor its effects on them.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55198c2fecad04501088dea1-326-497/screen shot 2015-03-30 at 1.46.10 pm.png" border="0" alt="spring chicken"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1455527440/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1455527440&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thebusiinsi-20&amp;linkId=6KN7NMFEOQ2HCD4J">Amazon</a></span></p><p class="caption">This story comes from "Spring Chicken: Stay Young Forever (or Die Trying) by Bill Gifford.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Normally, humans are hardwired to cheat on any kind of diet, which is another reason it is so difficult to study caloric restriction. But now the Biosphere had presented Walford with eight captive lab rats, for two years. Their so-called healthy starvation diet was heavy on fruits (they grew bananas, papayas, and kumquats), and a long list of vegetables, nuts, and legumes, plus a handful of eggs, dairy from their goats, and a very small amount of tilapia and chicken.</p><p>Only 10 percent of their calories came from fat, and they ate meat only on Sundays. All this was supposed to fuel them through eighty-hour weeks of serious manual labor, including tending the crops, maintaining heavy equipment, pruning back vines that climbed the glass-steel walls, and even donning scuba gear to clean the fish tanks.</p><p>Not surprisingly, the Terranauts lost weight like sumo wrestlers in a steam room, shedding pounds until their average BMI dropped below twenty for men and women alike (or in scientific terms, "really skinny"). One man lost 58 pounds, going from a portly 208 to a sleek 150.</p><p>They lost weight so fast that Walford grew concerned that their fat cells were releasing toxins, like pesticides and pollutants, back into their bodies. They were indeed, he found, but the strict diet and heavy physical workload also caused more immediate problems, like that they were starving.</p><p>According to crew member Jane Poynter, who wrote a memoir revealingly titled <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156025775X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=156025775X&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thebusiinsi-20&amp;linkId=FJBKE4PAO6WEAZLH"><em>The Human Experiment: Two Years and Twenty Minutes Inside Biosphere 2</em></a>, it became accepted practice to lick one's plate clean after every meal, so as not to miss a single precious calorie.</p><p>The supply of bananas, the tastiest item on the menu, had to be kept under lock and key. Saddest of all, the Terranauts would occasionally peer through binoculars at tourists eating at the on-site hot-dog stand, like monks watching porn.</p><p>"Roy was having a whale of a time, however," Poynter deadpanned, "because this was his life's work."</p><p>When the eight Terranauts emerged from the Biosphere, in September 1993, pomp and ceremony competed with sheer relief that the long, intensely scrutinized project was finally over.</p><p>Though it had begun in an atmosphere of gee-whiz optimism- this is how we'll live on Mars! - the project had endured withering skepticism and a spate of negative press, including a Village Voice takedown that explored the project's roots in a strange organization called Synergia, which the paper characterized as a cult.</p><p>Two years of confinement had divided the crew into bitter, warring factions; the tension and drama inside the Bubble actually helped inspire the reality TV series Big Brother. The meager diet had not helped morale, either. Opening the "seal" was meant to be a joyful day for all concerned. At least now they'd be able to visit the hot-dog stand.</p><p>For Walford, though, the end of the Biosphere marked the beginning of a dark new chapter of his life. He had been fit and vibrant when he entered the capsule, looking far younger than his sixty-seven years. Two years inside had ravaged his body. Perhaps it was the lack of food, perhaps something else, but in photos taken in the Biosphere, Walford is thin to the point of emaciation, his eyes haggard and sunken.</p><p>He'd lost 25 pounds from an already-lean 145, and he looks much older than the post- Biosphere version of himself, on the right.</p><p>But the real damage was invisible. In the six months after leaving the Biosphere, Walford fell into a deep depression, drinking his way through a bottle of vodka every four days. He had injured his back while working in the compound, and he could barely walk, at first.</p><p>Something seemed to have changed in his brain, as well: Just three years after leaving the Biosphere, he began experiencing episodes of "freezing," where he would simply stop walking, and fall down. Soon he required a walker.</p><p>Despite his illness, though, Walford's mind remained sharp, and he stuck to his diet, insisting that it had slowed its progression, rather than hastened it. As late as 2001, he touted the benefits of caloric restriction to Alan Alda, who then hosted a TV show for Scientific American, insisting that caloric restriction would "let me live longer than I would otherwise."</p><p>He said he hoped to live to be 110 years old, just like Suzanne Somers.</p><p>But physically, he was a wreck. A video taken of Walford that same year is truly shocking: Barely a decade after entering Biosphere, as a vigorous real-life version of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, he had been reduced to a stooped, jittering old man, hunched over and barely able to walk on his own.</p><p>He had already been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, from which he eventually died in 2004. Although immortality had eluded him, Walford had packed more living into his seventy-nine years on earth than most of us could fit into three lifetimes.</p><p><em>From the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1455527440/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1455527440&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thebusiinsi-20&amp;linkId=2LD4PB5BVHX2QTTQ">SPRING CHICKEN</a> by Bill Gifford. Copyright © 2015 by Bill Gifford. Reprinted by permission of Grand Central Publishing, New York, NY. All rights reserved.</em></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/white-house-nasa-trip-jupiter-europa-2015-2">Why a NASA mission to Jupiter's famous icy moon is now a priority</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="t5YmI3czqtlGgTLoEHDwxpM12bbWl8Cd" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 't5YmI3czqtlGgTLoEHDwxpM12bbWl8Cd',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

You Searched For "Suzanne Somers" and got 8 results

Suzanne Somers, star of 'Three's Company' and 'Serial Mom' dead at 76

Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert

Suzanne Somers faced an 'almost naked' home intruder while filming a video about her makeup brand

Amanda Krause

Wall Street Journal Enlists Noted Health Policy Expert Suzanne Somers To Critique Obamacare

Josh Barro

The crazy story of how Suzanne Somers was fired for asking for equal pay on 'Three's Company' at the peak of her fame in 1980

Aly Weisman

Matthew Perry was honored with a heartbreaking musical tribute at the 2024 Emmys

Tufayel Ahmed

A leak in our bathroom caused toxic mold, and no amount of renovation could fix it. Eventually we had to move.

Carol Milberger

The haunting true story of a man who spent 2 years in a self-contained 'Biosphere' and nearly fell apart

Bill Gifford, "Spring Chicken"

The haunting true story of a man who spent two years in a self-contained 'Biosphere' and nearly fell apart

Bill Gifford, "Spring Chicken"