‘Three’s Company’: Joyce DeWitt Couldn’t Understand Suzanne Somers’ All Business Approach to Acting
Actor Suzanne Somers had a highly publicized feud with her Three’s Company castmates. But upon reflecting on their grudge, Somers felt that her business mind got in the way of her professional relationships.
Suzanne Somers felt she was resented for not being a serious actor
Somers’ exit from Three’s Company wasn’t an amicable one. The Three’s Company star left the series after five seasons because of a pay dispute. This resulted in a rift between Somers and the Three’s Company cast that took many years to repair.
But according to the late Somers, there was some tension between herself and the Three’s Company cast before her departure. In an interview shared by Foundation Interviews, Somers confided that she let her co-stars immediately know what her career goals were. Whereas her castmates had a natural passion for acting, Somers made it clear she was only working for the money.
“I announced to everybody when I walked into rehearsal, I said, ‘I just want you all to know something. I’ve never studied acting, I don’t know anything about comedy. I’m hoping that this stays on for five years so I can make some money. So that I can have a life, and I’m very grateful for the job,” she recalled.
But Somers shared that her growing popularity with the show created animosity among her co-workers. She claimed they were upset with the attention she was getting despite her little experience and passion for the film industry.
Years later, she would reconcile with her Three’s Company crew. She apologized to Joyce DeWitt personally for the misunderstanding decades earlier.
“I always saw this as a business,” Somers once told DeWitt according to ABC News. “In a group of serious actors, I probably pissed you all off. And if I did, I’m really sorry. I just really needed money at the time.”
DeWitt, who played Janet Wood on the film, also confided that she couldn’t relate to Somers’ way of thinking at the time.
“I didn’t have a business head. So I didn’t understand someone who did,” she said.
Suzanne Somers and Joyce DeWitt reunited after John Ritter’s death
It took many years for Somers and DeWitt to reconcile. Before the pair were able to bury the hatchet, Somers made peace with Ritter first. According to Somers herself, Ritter originally reached out to her to see if she’d be interested in working together. At the time, Ritter’s proposed project would also see Somers collaborating with DeWitt.
“Before John died, I had reconciled with him in a telephone call. He had called me to ask if I would do a guest shot on his show, Eight Simple Rules. It was supposed to be a dream sequence where Joyce and I would be in his dream,” Somers once told TV Party.
But Somers still had a lot of resentment towards DeWitt back then, and declined the opportunity.
“I was so touched that he would reach out and call me after so many years, and it was uncomfortable for me to tell him that I didn’t want to do it,” she said. “Because of my immaturity at the time, I didn’t have the wisdom to see it for the opportunity that it was. Instead, childishly I did not want to be on screen with Joyce. At that point she had said so many awful things about me in print, on TV and radio that I just didn’t like her. I take responsibility for my small mindedness.”
Somers told Ritter that she hoped to work with him on a different project. She would never get the opportunity to, as Ritter would die not too soon afterwards. The unexpected loss of the comic actor helped put things in perspective for the remaining Three’s Company stars.
“When he died a month later, I was deeply sorry and felt it was time to bury the hatchet. So, I asked my PR agent to call Steve Binder who was producing the Emmys that year,” she said. “We suggested that during the show a large black and white photo of John would drop down, and then Joyce and I [dressed in beautiful black gowns] would come from opposite sides of the stage and have sort of a “Three’s Company” reunion as the eulogy. Our idea was rejected.”
