Three’s Company

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This series follows three single roommates living together in an apartment in Santa Monica, California.

Jack Tripper (John Ritter), Chrissy Snow (Suzanne Somers) and Janet Wood (Joyce DeWitt) are good – and platonic – friends. The landlord of the apartment building, Stanley Roper (Norman Fell), has been told that Jack is gay, and would not have let him move in with the girls if he thought otherwise. His wife, Helen Roper (Audra Lindley), knows the truth but keeps it to herself.

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Jack Tripper (John Ritter) – Former Navy man Jack is training to become a chef. He met Janet and Chrissy after crashing a party they had thrown the night before and then passed out in their shower, where they discover him the next morning. It turns out to be a lucky break – previously staying at the YMCA, Jack is invited to move into the apartment to replace the girls’ departing roommate. Little does he know that he’ll have to pretend to be gay, a cover story that Janet makes up on the spot to get her landlord, Mr. Roper, to agree to the arrangement. Jack is well known for being accident-prone, but despite this he has a real way with the ladies. He’s also a loyal friend and protective of his two roommates. 

Chrissy Snow (Suzanne Somers) – Chrissy is the dumb blonde of the group, quick to laugh at her own jokes, but not always able to understand everyone else’s. The daughter of a Fresno preacher, she came to Los Angeles, later settling in Santa Monica, in order to make her fortune and has never lost her innocence. She loves all her friends and family, and has promised to return to Fresno one day. You won’t miss Chrissy if she’s crying and her laugh is just as loud, finishing with a great big snort.

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Janet Wood (Joyce DeWitt) – Intelligent and reliable, Jack and Chrissy often look to Janet for advice. She is originally from Speedway, Indiana and as a plant lover has the perfect job at the “Arcade Flower Shop”. Despite being the most clear thinking of the group, she has her own insecurities – particularly about her small chest. Janet’s father is an Italian American and she speaks the language, though not fluently. She’s also a college graduate, although we are never told what subject her degree is in.

Stanley Roper (Norman Fell) – Mr. Roper is the landlord and a man of traditional ideas. He loves his wife, Helen, but doesn’t hold with putting his emotions on display. They often bicker, although Helen usually comes out on top. He is not a man who enjoys the thought of sex with his wife, which adds to the problems in their already strained marriage. He is friendly toward the trio of roommates, but is also pretty stingy and isn’t above using the threat of rent increases to get a favor from them now and again. Though he has no particular problem with Jack or gay people, that doesn’t stop him making jokes at his expense.

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Helen Roper (Audra Lindley) – Helen is the wife of landlord and building owner Stanley Roper. Though she loves her husband, she wants more from their marriage – and especially their sex life. She is fond of Jack, Chrissy and Janet, whom she refers to as “the kids”, and knowing that Jack is not, in fact, gay, she never allows her husband to find out their secret.

Cindy Snow (Jenilee Harrison) – Cindy is the cousin of Chrissy, also from Fresno. She says she grew up feeling like she was always “playing second fiddle” to Chrissy, because she was so beautiful. Clearly brains don’t run in the Snow family, though Cindy isn’t quite as dim-witted as her cousin. She is, though, very clumsy and Jack is usually the one on the receiving end of her blunders.

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Terri Alden (Priscilla Barnes) – When Cindy leaves to attend UCLA, Terri is the roommate who replaces her. Blonde like Cindy, this is where the similarities end: Terri is a registered nurse, hardworking, dedicated and intelligent. Although she and Jack don’t get off on the right foot, they warm up to each other after a short while.

Larry Dallas (Richard Kline) – Used car salesman Larry is Jack’s best friend and neighbor. He shares Jack’s love of chasing women, but unlike his friend he’s prone to telling lies to get their attention. Of Greek descent, Larry’s real last name is the decidedly less glamorous Dalliapoulos.

Ralph Furley (Don Knotts) – Mr. Furley becomes landlord of the building after his brother buys it from Stanley Roper. He too believes that Jack is gay because Mr. Furley insists that his brother, Bart, would never tolerate single men and women living together. Despite not having had a date for year, he considers himself a ladies man, and though fearful of his brother also believes himself to be “macho”. Mr. Furley’s love of outrageous leisure suits means you’ll see him coming a mile off.

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Main Cast

Character	Actor
Jack Tripper	John Ritter
Janet Wood	Joyce DeWitt
Chrissy Snow	Suzanne Somers
Stanley Roper	Norman Fell
Helen Roper	Audra Lindley
Terri Alden	Priscilla Barnes
Cindy Snow	Jenilee Harrison
Ralph Furley	Don Knotts
Larry Dallas	Richard Kline

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Additional Cast

Character	Actor
Lana Shields	Ann Wedgeworth
Frank Angelino	Jordan Charney
Jim the Bartender	Paul Ainsley
Mike the Bartender	Brad Blaisdell
Dean Travers	William Pierson
Felipe Gomez	Gino Conforti
Linda	Anne Schedeen
Gambel	Mickey Deems
Marge Andrews	Sheila Rogers
Didi	Shell Kepler
Dr. Tom Miller	Jeffrey Tambor
Phillip Dawson	David Ruprecht
Reverend Snow	Peter Mark Richmond
Arlene Price	Sondra Currie
Michael	Michael Bell
Roland Wood	Macon McCalman
Chauffeur	Joe George
Shirley	Tori Lysdahl
Martha	Irene Tedrow
Barbara Howard	Taaffe O’Connell
Chuck	Britt Leach
Mrs. Alden	Mina Kolb
Vicky Bradford	Mary Cadorette
James Bradford	Robert Mandan

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Trivia

Three’s Company is based on the British sitcom Man About the House.

During the show’s pilot episode, Jack says, “Well, you know you have to learn to trot before you can gallop…who said that?” This was Ritter’s way of paying homage to his father, the late, great Tex Ritter.

Three’s Company was set only minutes from the beach in Santa Monica.

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Like her character Janet, Joyce DeWitt grew up in Speedway, Indiana.

Audra Lindley performed in many Broadway plays, including On Golden Pond, Horse Heavens and Long Day’s Journey Into Night.

John Ritter died on September 11, 2003. He became ill during taping of his series 8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter, and was taken across the street to Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center. His symptoms were chest pains, vomiting and extreme sweating and they diagnosed and treated him for a heart attack. Unfortunately, Ritter’s condition continued to worsen, and after further examination they determined that he was suffering from an aortic dissection. Sadly, he died during surgery, six days short of his 55th birthday, one week before his and wife Amy Yasbeck’s 4th wedding anniversary and – particularly poignantly – on his daughter Stella’s 5th birthday.

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Actor Billy Crystal auditioned for the role of Jack Tripper.

Norman Fell served as a tail gunner on a “Liberator” bomber aircraft in the Pacific for the United States Army during World War II. He is credited with having shot down two Japanese fighter aircraft.

Priscilla Barnes (Terri Alden) had actually auditioned for the part of Cindy Snow, the character that she was later hired to replace. She was turned down for the role in favor of actress Jenilee Harrison.

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One of four children, Suzanne Somers was dyslexic and grew up terrified of her alcoholic and abusive father. She got pregnant and subsequently married the baby’s father, Bruce Somers, at only nineteen years of age. They divorced a short time later and Somers, now a single mother, began working as a model where she was soon to meet her future husband, Alan Hamel. Though he was married at the time, the two started dating and Somers soon became pregnant. Because Hamel was still married, they decided that she should have an abortion. Nine years later, in 1977, Somers and Hamel married and they are still together today.

Don Knotts played Deputy Barney Fife in the popular television series The Andy Griffith Show, back in the 1960’s. He received a total of 5 Emmy Awards for this role.

The Three’s Company theme song was composed by Sesame Street music composer Joe Raposo.

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Richard Kline served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War and was struck by lightning during his time there.

In 2012, Joyce DeWitt appeared on the talk show Suzanne Somers: Breaking Through, and reminisced with her about their time on Three’s Company. Somers apologized for the conflict between them and they then exchanged stories about the last time they had each spoken to former cast mate John Ritter before his death.

The show’s first opening sequence has Jack (John Ritter) falling off his bike when he is distracted by a woman with dark hair. The woman he sees is actually Suzanne Somers wearing a dark wig. In the second opening sequence, a little boy walks up to Janet (Joyce DeWitt) as she is feeding a goat. The little boy is John Ritter’s son, Jason.

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Before Jenilee Harrison decided to get into show business, she was a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Rams football team.  

Don Knotts was ranked #27 on TV Guide’s list of “50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time”.

John Ritter won both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for his performance as Jack Tripper.

Suzanne Somers starred opposite actor Patrick Duffy in the popular show Step By Step from 1991-1998.

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Norman Fell received a Golden Globe Award for his role as Stanley Roper in Three’s Company.

Three’s Company shot three pilots and went through several cast changes at the insistence of ABC’s Fred Silverman, before it was finally brought to television.

Audra Lindley was married twice and had five children with her first husband, Dr. Hardy Ulm. Her second marriage was to actor James Whitmore.

Actor Don Knotts has been quoted as saying that John Ritter was the “greatest physical comedian on the planet.”

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The series was always shot twice in a row with two different audiences every Friday. There were retakes on only the rarest of occasions, due to the strictness of the producers. Priscilla Barnes once said, “Our bosses were very, very controlling. If my hair was too blond, I’d get called up in the office.”

The September 29, 2003 issue of People magazine featured not one but two covers in order to memorialize both Johnny Cash and John Ritter, who had died only a day apart. All the magazines distributed to the central and southwest United States (with the exception of Florida) had Cash on the cover, and the rest had a photograph of Ritter. The latter was sadly a particularly appropriate shot, as he was waving good-bye.

Suzanne Somers was named “Las Vegas Female Entertainer of the Year” in 1986.

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Don Knotts had a troubled childhood. The youngest of four children, he was born when his mother was 40 years old. His father, William, had a breakdown due to suffering from alcoholism and schizophrenia, combined with the stress of having a child so late in life. William would often terrorize his son and wife with a knife, causing the young Don to become a quiet and introverted child. His father died of pneumonia when Don was only 13 years old.

Chrissy’s (Suzanne Somers) full name is Christmas Noelle Snow.

Joyce DeWitt was arrested for drunken driving on July 4, 2009. Reportedly, police pulled her over after she drove past a barrier near a park. After failing a sobriety test she was arrested, booked at the police station, cited and released on her own recognizance. She later pleaded no contest to one charge, a second being dismissed in exchange for her plea. She was ordered to undergo a nine month alcohol program, was placed on three years of probation and ordered to pay a fine of $510 plus penalty assessments.

For decades, it was popular Hollywood lore that Norman Fell and actor Jack Klugman had been feuding bitterly for more than 40 years. In reality, the two had grown up together in the Philadelphia area and were friends.  

John Ritter was president of his student body in high school and later went to college with the intention of going into politics. He changed his mind after the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.  

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The characters of Stanley (Norman Fell) and Helen Roper (Audra Lindley) were spun off into their own series after three seasons, with the promise from ABC that if their show did not make it past season one, they would be able to return to Three’s Company. Their series, The Ropers, lasted a total of a season and a half, so ABC did not have to bring them back and instead kept Ralph Furley (Don Knotts) as the new landlord.  

Jenilee Harrison played the role of Jamie Ewing Barnes on the incredibly popular television series Dallas.

Priscilla Barnes originally wanted to be a dancer, but a severe accident while performing on the stage of the Hollywood Bowl meant it was not to be. She fractured her jaw and broke her leg.

Suzanne Somers and John Ritter ended the breach that had occurred between them when they were on Three’s Company only a short time before Ritter’s death.

The opening sequence of Three’s Company was shot at the Santa Monica Pier before the larger amusement park was built next to it. After Priscilla Barnes joined the cast they re-shot the opening sequence at the Los Angeles Zoo in Griffith Park.

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Don Knotts is the sixth cousin of actor and acclaimed director Ron Howard, of Happy Days fame.

Audra Lindley died unexpectedly in October 1997, after a long battle with leukemia. Though she had been previously diagnosed with the disease she was in the middle of treatment so there was no immediate concern when she checked herself into the hospital feeling ill after taping an episode of the television series Cybill, on which she had recently gained a recurring role. It was a great shock when she died the very next day, with a script for the next episode at her bedside. She was 79 years old.

Joyce DeWitt was working as a secretary before she joined Three’s Company. Some time after her audition, ABC offered her the opportunity of two comedy pilots, but she had only 24 hours to decide which one. Luckily she chose Three’s Company, as the other series never sold.  

During season five, Suzanne Somers demanded a pay increase from $30,000 to $150,000 per episode, along with a 10% cut of the show’s profits. When she was refused, she began not showing up for work. Both John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt then refused to work with her and her part was cut to just a few short minutes at the end of each show. Even this was taped at a different time, since by then Ritter and DeWitt wanted no contact with her at all. Somers was fired a short time later.

John Ritter was born with a birth defect called a coloboma, which is a hole in one of the structures of the eye. The hole can be found in either the choroid, iris, retina or optic disc.

Actress Priscilla Barnes said that the time she worked on Three’s Company was the most miserable in her professional career because of the poisonous backstage atmosphere.

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The character of Cindy Snow (Jenilee Harrison) continued to appear in the last set of opening credits, even after her character exited the show. She is briefly seen entering the zoo with the rest of the group.

Don Knotts served in the United States Army during World War II. He was not, as urban legend has it, a drill instructor for the Marine Corp. on Parris Island, but spent most of his time entertaining the troops.

Priscilla Barnes got her first real break in the mid 1970’s when Bob Hope hired her to accompany him on his trips to entertain military troops.

Suzanne Somers’ beachfront home in Malibu, California was burned to the ground by a wildfire in January 2007.

In 2004, Paul Hennessy, the character played by John Ritter in his last television series, 8 Simple Rules, was ranked at #48 in TV Guide’s list of the “50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time”.

Jenilee Harrison has been married to Bruce Oppenheim since 1993. Oppenheim was formerly married to actress Cybill Shepherd.

The character of Larry Dallas (Richard Kline) was originally supposed to appear in only one episode. Thanks to Kline’s chemistry with Ritter, the producers made him a recurring character and later a member of the cast.

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Norman Fell was married three times and had three children, including an adopted baby boy named Kasey, who was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Don Knotts joined Andy Griffith in the series Matlock, nearly three decades after they appeared together so successfully in The Andy Griffith Show.

John Ritter was married twice. The first time was to actress Nancy Morgan, with whom he had three children. The second was to actress Amy Yasbeck, with whom he had one child, a daughter. He and Yasbeck were still happily married upon his death.

Three’s Company debuted midseason in 1977 and was not given much hope of success; in the 60’s and 70’s airing midseason was the kiss of death for most programs. Three’s Company shocked everyone, breaking records at the time as the highest-rated midseason show to be broadcast on network television.

Suzanne Somers has published a number of books, including a series of self-help books, two autobiographies, a book of poetry and four diet books.

Audra Lindley quit school at the age of just fifteen.

The only cast member to appear in every single episode of Three’s Company was John Ritter.

NBC aired a two-hour docudrama in May 2003 called Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Three’s Company. Other actors and actresses portrayed the characters and it covered the series from beginning to end, including the drama – onscreen and off. Although neither appeared in it, both John Ritter and Suzanne Somers had some input, and Joyce DeWitt co-produced and narrated the film.

Many years after Three’s Company ended, Don Knotts appeared with John Ritter for the last time in Ritter’s series 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. Knotts was the last actor from Three’s Company to work with Ritter before his death. The two had remained in contact for years and Knotts received a call about his friend’s death while he was on stage in Kansas City. He attended the funeral four days later.  

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Joyce DeWitt refused to work bare-legged when shooting the series and always wore tights or pantyhose. This attracted the attention of hosiery manufacturers, and led to her becoming the spokeswoman during the late 1970’s for pantyhose company “L’eggs”.

Priscilla Barnes was a “Penthouse Pet of the Month” for March 1976, under the name of Joanne Witty. She later sued Penthouse when they re-published her nude photographs under her real name.

In March 2010 the Thoracic Aortic Disease Coalition, in partnership with the John Ritter Foundation, announced the creation of “The Ritter Rules.” This is a list of life-saving reminders that can help recognize, treat and prevent thoracic aortic dissection. Ritter’s wife, Amy Yasbeck, also worked with Dr. Dianna M. Milewicz at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston to establish the John Ritter Research Program in Aortic and Vascular Diseases. This aims to prevent premature deaths from aortic dissection by identifying gene mutations that could predispose certain people to suffering from the condition.

Suzanne Somers was the spokeswoman in the 1980’s for the piece of exercise equipment known as “The Thighmaster.”

At the end of the second show in the first season, John Ritter utters the line, “Goodnight, John Boy.” This was a nod to Ritter’s time playing the part of Reverend Fordwick in The Waltons.

Several years before Don Knotts’s death, he suffered from macular degeneration in both his eyes, which caused him to become virtually blind. Despite this, he still carried out some live performances.

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In the late 1980’s, Priscilla Barnes was set to play the title role in the series She’s the Sheriff. Unfortunately, she could not accept because of her commitment to Three’s Company. Ironically, the actress hired in her place was none other than Suzanne Somers.

John Ritter’s incredible talent for “physical schtick” was lauded by legendary actress and comedienne, Lucille Ball, who hosted a tribute to him on Three’s Company. Later, Ritter appeared in an episode of Ball’s last comedy series, Life with Lucy. Ball claimed that during the shooting of one of the scenes she had to yell “cut” because he had made her laugh so hard, and said it was only the third time in her entire career that she’d had to do this.

Despite the fact that Norman Fell was an actor for approximately 40 years, his best known role did not come until he was cast as Stanley Roper.

Due to her dyslexia, Suzanne Somers painted one shoe red and the other black when performing in a Las Vegas show to help her learn the choreography of the dance numbers. She later founded the Suzanne Somers Institute for the Effects of Addictions on Families in Palm Springs, California and won the Humanitarian Award from the National Council on Alcoholism in 1991.

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Jenilee Harrison has been a spokeswoman in a large number of infomercials.

Richard Kline has been married twice and has one child.

John Ritter had one brother, Tom, who was born in 1947 with cerebral palsy. Ritter later helped raise money for the disease.