Photo: Getty Images
Actress Loni Anderson, best known for her Emmy award-nominated role on the television comedy WKRP in Cincinnati, died Sunday (August 3) at the age of 79, just days before her 80th birthday, at a Los Angeles hospital where she had been treated for a prolonged illness, her longtime publicist Cheryl J. Kagan confirmed to the Associated Press.
“We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother and grandmother,” Anderson’s family said in a statement obtained by the AP.
Anderson played the role of Jennifer Marlowe, the receptionist whose beauty matched her intelligence, at the fictional AM radio station WKRP, which landed her two Emmy award nominations and three Golden Globe nominations during the show's run from 1978 to 1982. The Minnesota native made her acting debut with a small role in the 1966 film Nevada Smith starring Steve McQueen before landing guest roles on other television series in the 1970s including S.W.A.T. and Phyllis.
Anderson later starred in the films Stroker Ace alongside her eventual third husband Burt Reynolds, made a cameo as herself in the Steve Martin film The Lonely Guy and voiced the collie Flo in All Dogs Go to Heaven, as well as the television series Partners in Crime and Easy Street among numerous other roles.