This Is Why Loni Anderson Didn’t Get Hired on ‘Three’s Company’
Before achieving sitcom legend status on WKRP in Cincinnati, Loni Anderson was nearly cast as another classic comedy character from the 1970s. She was one of the actresses up for the part of Three’s Company’s Chrissy Snow, the character famously brought to life by Suzanne Somers.
Anderson, who passed away Sunday at the age of 79, was strongly considered for the role. John Ritter, for one, liked her audition. But in the book Come and Knock on Our Door, per The Hollywood Reporter, Ritter revealed that Anderson ultimately lost the part because she was “too beautiful, too savvy. No one would believe she couldn’t live in her own apartment, that she would have to struggle to get the rent paid.”
Considering the battles that Somers had with producers over pay raises, Anderson was better off on WKRP, where she asked for — and got — a significant salary hike after the show killed in the ratings.
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Another reason Anderson was fortunate not to get the role? It appeared to be cursed. For the original pilot of Three’s Company, Susanne Zenor was hired to play Samantha, the character who eventually became Chrissy. ABC thought the pilot was so-so, and, as a result, fired all of the roommates except for Ritter.
Another pilot was ordered, this time with Denise Galik as the blonde roommate. Just days before that pilot filmed, Galik was also fired and replaced — not by Somers but by yet another actress, Susan Lanier. Joyce DeWitt joined this version as Janet, but once again, producers had to find another actress to play the Chrissy character.
Somers was finally cast and became a breakout star, so popular with viewers that she believed she deserved equal pay with her costar, Ritter. Producers disagreed, eventually axing Somers and replacing her with a succession of blonde actresses: Jenilee Harrison, playing Chrissy’s clumsy cousin Cindy Snow, then Priscilla Barnes as sassy nurse Terri.
That makes six different actresses who got a turn as the third roommate. With that much volatility, who needed the Three’s Company gig?
Ironically, Anderson was cast on Three’s Company — in Season Two, she played Susan, a stewardess who arrived to rekindle an old flame with Jack. It was an unremarkable episode, but the appearance was one of the guest shots that caught the eye of WKRP producers, helping earn her that audition.
It was the better part. Anderson’s role as Jessica Marlowe earned her two Emmy nominations, which is exactly two more than Somers ever got for Three’s Company.
