Suzanne Somers’ Cause of Death Revealed

Actress and author Suzanne Somers died at her California home on Oct. 15 at age 76. Now, authorities have shared her official cause of death.

By Lindsay Weinberg Oct 27, 2023 12:33 AMTags
Watch: Suzanne Somers' Cause of Death Revealed

More information is coming to light on the death of Suzanne Somers.

The Three's Company actress died Oct. 15 at age 76 following a 23-year battle with an "aggressive form" of breast cancer, her publicist R. Couri Hay previously shared in a statement.

Now, authorities have determined that the cancer also spread to her brain, listing Somers' official cause of death as "breast cancer with metastasis to the brain" in a death certificate obtained by The Blast Oct. 26.

Somers' manager also confirmed her official cause of death to E! News.

Additionally, the document stated that the author had underlying conditions of hypertension (high blood pressure) and hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluids in the brain, which she experienced for more than a year prior to her passing. 

The document noted that a biopsy was performed but not an autopsy. 

On Oct. 15, Somers died at her California home with her immediate family—including her husband Alan Hamel and son Bruce Somers Jr.—close by. 

"We were in bed together and her breathing was erratic, and I had been talking to her for hours," Hamel told NBC News in an interview published Oct. 16. "There was no response except when I kissed her, she responded, and then around 5 o'clock in the morning, she was gone."

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Prior to her death, the Step by Step star had been in Chicago seeing specialists about her medical condition, and had appeared to be doing better, according to her husband.

"All of a sudden she wasn't responding and she wasn't eating and she wasn't taking her meds," he continued. "As I know her so well I thought, ‘I wonder if I should call 911?' And I knew that she wouldn't want that and that she did not want to go to a hospital."

Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

Her family celebrated what would have been her 77th birthday on Oct. 16, sharing a video on her Instagram page of them singing in front of a pink heart cake with bright candles.

"Thank you for the out-pouring of love and affection for Suzanne," the caption read. "So many of you have asked what you can do to support our family. The most comforting gesture for us is to hear how Suzanne affected all of your lives."

Somers first faced health challenges in her 20s, recalling that she "had cancer three times" while acting on the sitcom Three's Company from 1977 to 1981. "They call it severe hyperplasia in your uterus," she told CBS News in 2020. "I didn't make a big deal about it."

Then, in her 30s, she was diagnosed with skin cancer after discovering "a malignant melanoma in my back." Her battle with breast cancer began in 2000.

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