Of all the sunny blondes of the 1970s, Suzanne Somers was the sunniest. She had the face, the figure, the hair, the smile, the giggle, the wiggle, and enough good humor to make her breakout “dumb blond” character on “Three’s Company” lovably watchable rather than cloying or offensive.
Being a bombshell can bring a certain level of success, but it takes a special kind of charisma and drive to remain famous for more than 50 years. Ms. Somers’s alchemy derived from a combination of innocent sex appeal, nostalgia (for the pop culture ’70s fun she represented) and a canny understanding of the American cult of personality.
She figured out early on how to make herself the center of a vast business enterprise, merchandising everything from her physical appearance right down to her hormone levels, her gut bacteria levels, her marriage, even her protracted battle with breast cancer. Yes, she was a saleswoman, but not in an unpleasantly aggressive way. And she seemed so happy about everything she did, with an air of disarming innocence that deflected any sense of manipulation or personal need.
Suzanne Somers, Original Influencer?
