Hamel co-hosted the Canadian children's television series Razzle Dazzle (1961–64). The show featured a talking turtle, Howard. In the late 1960s he hosted two syndicated game shows which aired on all the ABC owned and operated TV stations as well as others: Wedding Party (1968) and Anniversary Game (1969), where he first met Suzanne Somers, whom he later married in 1977.[1] From 1971 to 1973, Hamel hosted Mantrap, a weekday daytime panel show, from BCTV in Vancouver for CTV Television Network stations in Canada, and syndicated in the U.S.A..[2] In the late 1970s, he hosted The Alan Hamel Show, a popular daytime talk show on CTV. People magazine considered him "Canada's leading TV talk show host".[3] During that time, he hosted the ill-fated People television series on CBS for a few months in 1978.[4][5] After Hamel stepped down as host in 1980, fellow Canadian Alan Thicke took over and the show was retitled The Alan Thicke Show and, later, Don Harron continued the franchise as host of his own eponymous talk show that aired in the same time slot.
For several years during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Hamel was a commercial pitchman for American Stores, a coast-to-coast chain of supermarkets. Specifically, he did advertisements for Alpha Beta stores in the western United States, and also appeared in occasional spots for Acme Markets in the northeastern United States.
Hamel eventually became a producer, often working on projects involving his wife.[1] He occasionally performed as an actor as well, also sometimes on Somers' shows.[6]
Personal life
Hamel has two children, a son Stephen and a daughter Leslie, from his first marriage to Marilyn Hamel.[7] He met his second wife, actress and author Suzanne Somers while she worked as a prize model on The Anniversary Game, a game show he hosted.[3] Although he was already married, they began a relationship which led to an abortion.[8] Hamel and Somers lived together for about ten years before finally marrying in 1977.[7][9][10] A rabbi and a Catholic priest officiated at their wedding.[3] Hamel is stepfather to Bruce Somers Jr., Suzanne Somers' son from a previous teen marriage.[3] Suzanne Somers died on October 15, 2023.[11]
