Alan Hamel started dating Hollywood actress Joanna Cassidy two years after his wife Suzanne Somers died.
And now the 89-year-old Hollywood veteran has told the Daily Mail that he has reached a huge milestone with the 80-year-old star who has appeared in movies like Blade Runner and TV shows such as The Rockford Files.
They have started living together.
‘I started commuting to Los Angeles to be with Joanna and she started commuting to Palm Springs to be with me,’ began the producer.
‘I would describe us as living together “light.” And when she needs a few days alone at her home, she’s OK that I see my girlfriends, who are only good friends, no romance.’
And Somers would have been okay with this relationship, said Hamel: ‘When Suzanne passed she made it clear that I should not be moping around and find love again at a time that was right for me.’
Alan Hamel started dating Hollywood actress Joanna Cassidy two years after his wife Suzanne Somers died. And now the 89-year-old Hollywood veteran has told the Daily Mail that he has reached a huge milestone with the 80-year-old star
Hamel showing off his fit physique while at home in Palm Springs, California
And they have also hit their one year anniversary, which they intend to celebrate.
Hamel also shared how he came to romance the redheaded icon. ‘After Suzanne passed in 2023, I was living alone for the first time in my life and although I didn’t like it, I accepted that being alone was my reality going forward,’ he said.
‘My son, Stephen Hamel, a movie producer met a woman at a screening and suggested to her that she and my dad would enjoy one another,’ he added.
‘When Stephen told her his dad’s name, Joanna said that she had guested on my talk show in Canada in 1978, plus she and Suzanne got to know each other doing the miniseries Hollywood Wives in 1985.’
And then they felt sparks.
‘We got together and instantly found great resonance between us. Our first date lasted three days,’ shared the All In The Family actor.
‘This was a new experience for both of us. Joanna had not dated for many years nor had I.’
And he feels good about where he is in life.
They have started living together. ‘I started commuting to Los Angeles to be with Joanna and she started commuting to Palm Springs to be with me,’ began the producer. ‘I would describe us as living together “light”‘
‘I don’t think of the past very much with the exception of my 55 years with Suzanne and I don’t think of the future very much since I have no idea what that will be, but I am totally involved and thinking about my greatest asset, the time and today,’ he shared.
‘I do not know where our relationship is going, but I am so grateful and blessed to have Joanna in my life along with my extraordinary family.’
He also explained what makes him click with Cassidy. ‘We really love to date. Sometimes, it’s casual at a local joint with great food. Sometimes we go dancing at a bar with great people watching and live music and within seconds, Joanna goes into her zone and starts dancing, the dancers around her stop dancing and stare at this woman who is soaking up all the light in the room.
‘Then, there is the night when we get all dressed up, have a cocktail at Big Al’s Bar and head out to one of my two favorite restaurants.’
Three’s Company Somers died in October of 2023 at the age of 76.
Hamel and Cassidy were first seen together in Malibu in June 2025. The Toronto-born Hamel and Cassidy were pictured walking arm-in-arm.
Somers died after a battle with cancer at the age of 76 on October 15, 2023. The couple of 55 years was pictured in 2018 in Palm Springs, California
Somers would have been okay with this new relationship, said Hamel: ‘When Suzanne passed she made it clear that I should not be moping around and find love again at a time that was right for me’
Cassidy has been divorced for more than 50 years since the end of her marriage to ex-husband Kennard C. Kobrin.
In Hollywood Wives, which was broadcast in February of 1985, Cassidy played the role of Marilee Gray while Somers played Gina Germaine in the Jackie Collins project.
A logline for the miniseries described it as ‘a three-part, six-hour adaptation of Jackie Collins’ book about a group of very wealthy, attractive, snobbish women who are caught up in the low life and high society of Hollywood.’
Somers, best known for playing Chrissy Snow on the television show Three’s Company, died after a battle with cancer at the age of 76 on October 15, 2023.
Hamel spoke with Daily Mail last October to mark the one-year anniversary of the beloved star’s death, explaining his sense of grief after more than a half-century of marriage to the Hollywood star.
In Hollywood Wives, which was broadcast in February of 1985, Cassidy played the role of Marilee Gray while Somers played Gina Germaine in the Jackie Collins project
They felt sparks immediately. ‘We got together and instantly found great resonance between us. Our first date lasted three days,’ shared Hamel
‘Missing Suzanne is probably not a powerful enough word because for the past 55 years we didn’t even spend one hour apart,’ he said. ‘It’s heartbreaking.’
He added, ‘Suzanne and I were so close that she said when I wasn’t in the room she would miss me and I would miss her too – even though we were in the same house.
‘We would actually go to sleep holding each other’s hands which was so special to me.’
He spoke about life changes following the passing of his longtime partner.
‘Now for the first time in 55 years I’m alone; I have not lived alone much in my life – the only time was for two weeks and I hated it,’ he told Daily Mail last fall. ‘I was very young and I just didn’t like it.’
The actress, who also appeared on the ABC series Step By Step, was alongside Hamel, her son Bruce and other immediate family in Palm Springs, California when she died, Hamel previously said.
