Loni Anderson, who is best known for playing receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on the CBS hit sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, passed away on Sunday. She was just days away from turning 80 years old.
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The actress’ longtime publicist, Cheryl J. Kagan, revealed to the Associated Press that she died at a Los Angeles hospital following a prolonged illness. Anderson’s family also issued a statement about her passing.
“We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother, and grandmother,” the family shared.
Loni Anderson starred in WKRP in Cincinnati alongside Gary Sandy, Howard Hesseman, Jan Smithers, and Frank Bonner from 1978 to 1982. According to IMDb, the show followed the misadventures of the staff of a struggling Top 40 rock radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Anderson’s role earned her two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe nominations. She also appeared in the show’s spinoff series, The New WKRP in Cincinnati, in the early 90s.
Other shows she appeared in were The Love Boat, Three’s Company, Easy Street, The Mullets and Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
Two years after WKRP in Cincinnati ended, Loni starred in the 1993 comedy film, Stroker Ace, alongside her third husband, Burt Reynolds. The duo struck up a romance and later married in 1988. She was previously married to Bruce Hasselberg from 1964 to 1966 and Ross Bickell from 1974 to 1981.
However, Anderson and Reynolds had a messy divorce in 1994. She went on to marry her fourth and final husband, Bob Flick, one of the founding members of The Brothers Four, in 2008.
Anderson is survived by Flick, as well as her daughter, Deidra, from her marriage to Hassellberg, and her son, Quinton, whom she adopted with Reynolds.
Loni Anderson Once Opened Up About How Her Relationship With Burt Reynolds Was ‘Tabloidy’
During an interview with AP, Loni Anderson spoke about her relationship with Burt Reynolds.
“I think back to the beginning of our relationship, it was so, oh, gosh, tabloidy,” she stated. “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 also said that their son, Quinton, was “the best decision” she and Reynolds had ever made in their entire relationship.
Reynolds passed away on Sept. 6, 2018, at the age of 82. He didn’t remarry after his divorce from Anderson.