Blonde bombshell, actress Loni Anderson, has died just days before she would have turned 80.
Anderson was best known as her character Jennifer Marlowe, the receptionist of the fictional radio station “WKRP.”
Her publicist said that Anderson died at a Los Angeles hospital after a prolonged illness, The Associated Press reported.
The family released a statement which read, “We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother and grandmother.”
“WKRP in Cincinnati” aired from 1978 to 1982 and also starred Gary Sandy, Tim Reid, Howard Hesseman, Frank Bonner and Jan Smithers. Anderson earned two Emmy and three Golden Globes nominations.
Anderson’s character was the brains behind the station’s success.
“I was against being like a blond window dressing person, so I made my feelings known,” she said in 2017, according to the Times. “And, as we know, Jennifer was the smartest person in the room.” She added, “She just turned into a great groundbreaking kind of character for women to be glamorous and smart.”
She also appeared in two episodes of the show’s sequel, “The New WKRP in Cincinnati,” airing from 1991 to 1993, The New York Times reported.
She also appeared on the big screen alongside her future husband, Burt Reynolds, in “Stroker Ace.” The couple broke up in 1994 and had been the subject of tabloid fodder during their relationship, the AP reported.
They adopted a son, Quinton Reynolds, whom Anderson called “the best decision that we ever made in our entire relationship.”
“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,” she told the AP in 2021 during the unveiling of a bronze bust of her ex-husband at his gravesite.
Anderson was married four times.
The actress was born on Aug. 5, 1945, in St. Paul, Minnesota, to an environmental chemist father and a model mother.
Her first role came in Steve McQueen’s 1966 film “Nevada Smith” and had guest roles on shows such as “S.W.A.T.” and “Police Woman,” but her big break came in “WKRP in Cincinnati.”
After “WKRP,” she appeared in several made-for-TV movies, including 2023’s “Ladies Of The 80s: A Divas Christmas” opposite Linda Gray, Donna Mills, Morgan Fairchild and Nicollette Sheridan.
Overall she had more than 60 acting credits over her career, the Times reported
Anderson leaves behind her husband, Bob Flick, two children, a stepson, their spouses and four grandchildren and step-grandchildren.
© 2025 Cox Media Group
