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Suzanne Somers’ Son Bruce Expected to Get ‘Bulk of Her Fortune’ After Death
Suzanne Somers announced in July that 23 years after her first breast cancer diagnosis, she’d recently suffered a recurrence of the insidious disease. Though she vowed to “bat it down,” it eventually took her life on October 15 — one day before her 77th birthday. “We were in bed together, and her breathing was erratic, and I had been talking to her for hours,” her husband of 46 years, producer-manager Alan Hamel, recalls, detailing the Three’s Company star’s final hours. “There was no response except when I kissed her” — he felt it in her lips, he says — “and then around 5 o’clock in the morning, she was gone.”
She’s left behind an incredible legacy — and a jaw-dropping fortune. In addition to her memorable roles on the sitcoms Three’s Company in the ’70s and Step by Step in the ’90s, the Emmy nominee ran an exercise and health empire that made her richer than Hollywood ever did. “Suzanne might have been famous for playing a clueless blonde on TV, but she was far from it in real life,” says a source. “She was a savvy businesswoman who made millions over the years and amassed a $100 million fortune. Her ThighMaster sales alone raked in close to $300 million — and she wrote 27 books, some bestsellers. Now all eyes are on her will and how her money will be divided.”
Suzanne and second husband Alan, 87, never had kids together, but have children from previous marriages. “It’s believed that Suzanne’s husband and only son, Bruce [Somers, 57], will get the bulk of her fortune,” says the source. But Suzanne also has stepchildren, two siblings, two granddaughters and four step-grandchildren. “She adored them all, and they’re most likely in the will.”
But it’s not a given. “Of course, when someone this wealthy dies and there’s a will, things always get complicated,” says the source. And Suzanne has hinted at past family infighting. She once shared that she and Alan went through “stepfamily hell,” with the first decade of their marriage marked by arguments and conflicts. “It was always overprotective feelings toward our own individual children,” she said, adding that eventually they sought therapy since their parenting styles clashed. She had rules, Alan didn’t, “and we battled for years before we became united.”
Suzanne’s family came together in Palm Springs, California, where she and Alan lived, the day before her death in anticipation of celebrating her 77th birthday on October 16. Instead, they celebrated her life. “Suzanne was so loving. She embraced her entire family,” says the source. “It’s highly unlikely anyone will contest the will.”
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