Suzanne Somers’ husband, Alan Hamel, is paying tribute to his wife one day after her death.
The actress, best known for playing ditzy blonde Chrissy Snow opposite John Ritter on the classic TV sitcom “Three’s Company,” died Sunday at the age of 76 after a decades-long battle with cancer.
Hamel, 87, took to her Instagram account on what would have been Somers’ 77th birthday, to express what spending a lifetime of love with the “Step by Step” actress has meant to him.
“Love, there is no version of the word love that is applicable to Suzanne. The closest version in words isn’t even close,” Hamel begin the post, which was accompanied by three photos of the couple smiling together during happier times. “It’s not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction. Unconditional love does not do it.”
“I’ll take a bullet for you doesn’t do it. I weep when I think about my feelings for you,” Hamel continued in the tribute. “Feelings.. that’s getting close, but not all the way. 55 years together, 46 married and not even one hour apart for 42 of those years. Even that doesn’t do it. Even going to bed at 6 o’clock and holding hands while we sleep doesn’t do it. Staring at your beautiful face while you sleep doesn’t do it. I’m back to feelings.”
“There are now words,” he wrote in conclusion. “There are no actions. No promises. No declarations. We are one. I am in love with you, my beautiful Suzanne, for all of eternity. Alan.”
In one of the photos, the actress plants a loving kiss on Hamel’s cheek as she pulls him closer for an embrace. In the next snapshot, the couple are seen outdoors on a what appears to be a safari tour. Hamel is seated behind his wife giving her a hug and holding her hand.
In the third and final picture, the Hollywood couple grin from ear to ear as they hug one another. Somers’ hands are wrapped around his waist while he pulls her head closer to his.
Somers’ longtime publicist, R. Couri Hay, confirmed her death to Page Six on Sunday.
“Suzanne Somers passed away peacefully at home in the early morning hours of October 15th. She survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years,” Hay said in a statement
“Suzanne was surrounded by her loving husband Alan, her son Bruce, and her immediate family.”
Somers and Hamel tied the knot in 1977 after nearly a decade of dating. She has a son, Bruce, 57, from her marriage to Bruce Somers, which ended in 1968. She was also a stepmom to Hamel’s children, Stephen and Leslie Hamel, whom he shared with ex-wife Marilyn Shapiro. The divorcees were married from 1958 to 1971.
In addition to her iconic roles on “Three’s Company” (1977-1981) and as Carol Foster Lambert on “Step by Step” (1991-1998) opposite Patrick Duffy, Somers wowed audiences as Sheriff Hildy Granger in “She’s the Sheriff” (1987-1989).
Somers’ family will gather this week to “celebrate her extraordinary life” and she will be remembered at a memorial next month.
