Popular 1980s actress Loni Anderson, best known for her role as the intelligent receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on the hit CBS sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati,” died Sunday at a Los Angeles hospital. She was 79 years old, passing just two days before what would have been her 80th birthday on August 5.
Anderson died at noon following what her longtime publicist, Cheryl J. Kagan, described as “an acute prolonged illness.” Her family released a statement expressing their grief: Anderson’s family told the Associated Press, “We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother and grandmother.”
Born Loni Kaye Anderson on August 5, 1945, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, she was the daughter of Klaydon, an environmental chemist, and Maxine, a model. Anderson graduated from Alexander Ramsey Senior High School in Roseville in 1963 and finished runner-up in the 1964 Miss Minnesota pageant while studying art at the University of Minnesota.
Anderson’s breakthrough came in 1978 when she was cast as Jennifer Marlowe on “WKRP in Cincinnati,” which aired from 1978 to 1982. The show followed the misadventures of employees at a struggling Ohio radio station attempting to reinvent itself with rock music. Anderson initially hesitated about the role, feeling the character was merely decorative, but creator Hugh Wilson worked with her to develop Jennifer into what Anderson described as someone who would “look like Lana Turner and be the smartest person in the room.”
As the station’s empowered receptionist, Anderson’s character used her intelligence and sex appeal to deflect unwanted business calls and often kept the station running despite her colleagues’ incompetence. Her portrayal earned her two Emmy Award nominations in 1980 and 1981, though she lost to Loretta Swit of “M*A*S*H” and Eileen Brennan of “Private Benjamin,” respectively. She also received three Golden Globe nominations for the role.
Anderson starred in all but one of the show’s 90 episodes during its four-season run through April 1982. The cast included Gary Sandy, Tim Reid, Howard Hesseman, Frank Bonner, Gordon Jump, Richard Sanders, and Jan Smithers.
Following “WKRP,” Anderson appeared in numerous television movies and series. She portrayed doomed Hollywood sex symbols in two telefilms: “The Jayne Mansfield Story” in 1980, alongside an untested Arnold Schwarzenegger, and “White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd” in 1991. From 1988 to 1990, she starred in TV movie remakes of classic films including “Leave Her to Heaven,” “Sorry, Wrong Number,” and “Three Coins in the Fountain.”
In 1983, Anderson co-starred with Burt Reynolds in the race car comedy “Stroker Ace,” directed by Hal Needham. The two had first met in 1981 on “The Merv Griffin Show” and began dating a year later. Their relationship became one of Hollywood’s most publicized romances.
Anderson and Reynolds married on April 29, 1988, at his 160-acre ranch in Jupiter, Florida. The ceremony took place at 1:53 p.m. in a cream-colored chapel built specifically for the occasion, with 65 guests including celebrities Perry Como, Ann-Margret, and Jim Nabors in attendance. The couple adopted a son, Quinton Anderson Reynolds, in August 1988.
Their marriage ended in a highly publicized and contentious divorce in 1994, marked by allegations of assault, infidelity, and substance abuse. The legal proceedings took place in Martin County, Florida, where the couple had an estate in Hobe Sound. Reynolds was ordered to pay $11,000 monthly in alimony and cover a $1.3 million mortgage on Anderson’s California home. The financial strain contributed to Reynolds’ 1996 bankruptcy filing, where he owed more than $10 million, some of it to Anderson.
The legal dispute dragged on for over two decades, finally ending in 2015 when Reynolds paid off the settlement after selling the Hobe Sound estate for $3.3 million. Despite their acrimonious split, Anderson paid respects to Reynolds following his death in 2018, acknowledging his role as a father to Quinton for 30 years.
Anderson appeared in several other television series throughout her career, including “Easy Street,” “Partners in Crime,” “Nurses,” “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” and “V.I.P.” In 1995, she published her autobiography, “My Life in High Heels,” which became a New York Times bestseller and detailed her relationship with Reynolds and struggles to keep her family together.
Anderson was married four times throughout her life. Her first marriage was to Bruce Hasselberg in 1964, with whom she had a daughter, Deidra, before divorcing in 1966. She then married actor Ross Bickell from 1974 to 1981, followed by her marriage to Reynolds. In 2008, she married musician Bob Flick.
Anderson is survived by her husband Bob Flick, daughter Deidra and son-in-law Charlie Hoffman, son Quinton Anderson Reynolds, grandchildren McKenzie and Megan Hoffman, stepson Adam Flick and his wife Helene, and step-grandchildren Felix and Maximilian.
