Iconic ’80s Actress Passes Away

Loni Anderson, star of the hit 1970s series “WKRP in Cincinnati” and ex-wife to Burt Reynolds, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday. She was 79.

Anderson died at her Los Angeles home following a “prolonged” illness, according to a statement by her longtime publicist Cheryl J. Kagan.

“We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother and grandmother,” Anderson’s family said in a statement.

“WKRP in Cincinnati” became a sleeper hit in the spring of 1978 about a struggling Ohio station trying to reinvent itself with a new focus on rock music. As the station’s executive assistant, Anderson finds herself empowered to take on new risks, roles, and responsibilities to save the heartwarming station beloved by her and her colleagues.

The show ran four seasons and helped to establish other notable names of the era, including Gary Sandy, Tim Reid, Howard Hesseman, Frank Bonner, and Jan Smithers.

Using her wits and stiletto shoes, Anderson’s character, Jennifer Marlowe, deflected the solicitors seeking her boss with sexy charm and kept the station running in spite of others’ incompetence. She was nominated for two Emmys and three Golden Globes for her time on the show.

Later, Anderson married Reynolds after the future couple worked together on the set of 1983’s “Stroker Ace.” That was long before their messy and public divorce in 1994.

Out of the toxic marriage came their son Quinton, who Anderson said in 2021 was “the best decision that we ever made in our entire relationship” while unveiling a bronze statue at Reynolds’s Hollywood gravesite.

“I think back to the beginning of our relationship, it was so, oh, gosh, tabloidy. We were just a spectacle all the time. And it was hard to have a relationship in that atmosphere. And somehow, we did it through many ups and downs,” Anderson told the Associated Press.

Fallout from her messy divorce compelled Anderson to release her 1995 autobiography “My Life in High Heels,” which she billed as the story about “the growth of a woman, a woman who survives.”

“I think if you’re going to write about yourself, you have to do it warts and all,” Anderson told the AP while promoting the book. “You may not even tell the nicest things about yourself, because you’re telling the truth.”

Her fourth and final marriage was to folk singer Bob Flick in 2008, whom she had known for decades.

Born Aug. 5, 1945, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Anderson’s father was an environmental chemist, while her mother was a model. She landed her first on-camera role in the 1966 film “Nevada Smith” starring Steve McQueen.

She spent the majority of her early career on the small screen, taking guest parts in hit series like “S.W.A.T.” and “Police Woman,” the NY Post reported. She appeared in a number of notable made-for-TV movies as well, such as “A Letter to Three Wives” and “White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd.”

Anderson is survived by Flick, her daughter Deidra, and son-in-law Charlie Hoffman, son Quinton Anderson Reynolds, grandchildren McKenzie and Megan Hoffman, stepson Adam Flick and wife Helene, and step-grandchildren Felix and Maximilian.