Loni Anderson. Credit :
CBS via Getty
Loni Anderson has died, just days before her 80th birthday.
The actress’ longtime publicist, Cheryl J. Kagan, said she died at a Los Angeles hospital following a “prolonged” illness, per the Associated Press.
“We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother and grandmother,” Anderson’s family said in a statement.
Anderson was best known for her role as Jennifer Marlowe on the CBS sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, which aired for four seasons on CBS, from 1978 to 1982. She received three Golden Globe nominations and two Emmy nominations for the series.
From left: ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’ stars Howard Hesseman, Loni Anderson and Jan Smithers. CBS via Getty
In 2021, the St. Paul, Minn., native opened up about becoming a sex symbol on the show, which chronicled the misadventures of the employees at a radio station in Ohio.
“I never thought I would be Loni Anderson, sex symbol. But I embrace it,” she told Fox News.” I think I was lucky enough to have been able to play so many different things and sex symbol was a part of it.
She added, “I took whatever my career threw at me. So I embrace it. And my granddaughters think it’s a hoot!”
The cast of ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’ in 1980: From left: Jan Smithers, Richard Sanders, Loni Anderson, Tim Reid, Gary Sandy and Gordon Jump. CBS Photo Archive/Getty
Following the show’s success and becoming a household name, she went on to star in the 1983 race car comedy Stroker Ace. During filming, she fell in love with costar Burt Reynolds.
The pair became a Hollywood power couple and tied the knot in 1988 during a top-secret ceremony at Reynolds’ ranch in Jupiter, Fla., which was documented by PEOPLE.
“I’m a very lucky man,” he said at the reception, which followed a 20-minute ceremony. “I’m surrounded by love and dear friends, and I married my best friend today.”
Anderson added, “I feel like Cinderella. I married Prince Charming.” The two later adopted a son, Quinton.
Loni Anderson and Burt Reynolds at the 1992 Emmys. Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty
Their contentious relationship ended in divorce in 1994. Reynolds told PEOPLE in a revealing 2015 interview that marrying Anderson in 1988 “was a really dumb move on my part.“
“I should have known that you don’t marry an actress,” he said at the time. “It wasn’t lollipops and roses.”
Expanding on what tore the two apart in his 2015 memoir But Enough About Me, Reynolds wrote of Anderson, “She bought everything in triplicate, from everyday dresses to jewelry to china and linens. ‘I never wear a dress after it has been photographed,’ she said. ‘I have to dress like a star.’ “
He added, “I gave her a platinum American Express card with a $45,000 credit limit. She maxed it out in half an hour.”
Anderson addressed the divorce in a 1995 interview with SFGate, claiming Reynolds physically abused her at least a dozen times while he was allegedly under the influence of drugs. “Burt always said no one would ever believe me because he was Mr. Wonderful and the world loved him,” she said of the physical abuse.
She also accused him of not always paying his $15,000 in child support on time. It wasn’t until 2015 that Reynolds wrote a $154,520 check that finally ended his divorce from Anderson, according to TMZ at the time.
Loni Anderson in 2021. Rodin Eckenroth/Getty
Despite their bad blood, Anderson paid her respects to her late ex-husband shortly after his death in 2018, telling FOX News, “Quinton and I are extremely touched by the tremendous outpouring of love and support from friends and family throughout the world. Burt was a wonderful director and actor. He was a big part of my life for 12 years and Quinton’s father for 30 years. We will miss him and his great laugh.”
Following their divorce, Anderson made television appearances on shows including Nurses, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and V.I.P. She also played Tori Spelling‘s mother in 2006’s So noTORIous.
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In 1995, Anderson released her autobiography My Life in Heels, which detailed her relationship with Reynolds and her struggles to keep her family together.
She was married four times. In 1964, she wed Bruce Hasselberg, and they shared a daughter, Deirdra. She and Hasselberg divorced in 1966. Next she was married to actor Ross Bickell from 1974 to 1981, followed by Reynolds. In 2008, she married musician Bob Flick.
Anderson is survived by husband and two children.
