Bombshell actress Loni Anderson dies days before 80th birthday
Anderson died at a Los Angeles hospital following a 'prolonged' illness, her longtime publicist, Cheryl J. Kagan, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. She was surrounded by her loving family.
'We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother and grandmother,' Anderson's family said in a statement.
Over four decades, Anderson starred in various TV shows and films, including Swat, Three on a Date, Three's Company, The Incredible Hulk, The Love Boat, The Bob Newhart Show, and more.
Growing up in St. Paul, Minnesota, Anderson's greatest ambition was to be an actress. In 1975, Anderson moved to Los Angeles, where she quickly began making a name for herself. She landed the role of the titillating and intelligent Jennifer Marlowe in 1978 and cemented her status as a beloved TV sex symbol.
'I remember we all did posters back then. Everybody always asks me, 'What made you do a poster?' I would say, 'Because some day my grandchildren will look at this. And I'll be able to tell them that I really looked like that.' What you saw is what you got,' she told Fox News Digital in 2021.
'But you know, I had this discussion with Ann-Margret. Will there ever be a time when our names won't be followed by 'bombshell' or 'sex symbol?' It becomes a part of your name,' she continued. 'And you know, I'd never thought I would reach that point. I was so serious. I was doing Fiddler on the Roof for 53 weeks on tour. I never thought I would be Loni Anderson, sex symbol. But I embrace it.'
'I think I was lucky enough to have been able to play so many different things and sex symbol was a part of it. I took whatever my career threw at me. So I embrace it. And my granddaughters think it's a hoot!'
In 1982 she co-starred in Stroker Ace, a feature film with then-future husband Burt Reynolds. Loni and Burt adopted their son Quinton Anderson Reynolds in August 1988.
In 2019, Anderson said she and Reynolds - who died in 2018 from a heart attack - made peace before his death with the help of their son.
'We were friends first and friends last,' Anderson told Closer Weekly at the time. 'It's time to move on.'
The WKRP in Cincinnati actress insisted she and Reynolds put aside the hostility they endured when the marriage came to an end for the sake of Quinton.
'We have this wonderful child together,' she said. 'Having a son was a big event in our lives and so everything revolved around him.'
On top of TV and film, Anderson was a prominent member of the musical theatre community and became a New York Times best-selling author with her 1995 autobiography, My Life In Hells.
'Loni was a class act. Beautiful. Talented. Witty. ALWAYS a joy to be around,' Steve Sauer, President/CEO Media Four and Anderson's manager for 30 years, said in a statement. 'She was the ultimate working mother. Family first…and maintained a great balance with her career. She and I had wonderful adventures together that I shall forever cherish. I will especially miss that infectious chuckle of hers. She will be forever missed.'
On May 17, 2008, Anderson married Bob Flick, a founding member of the 1960s folk group The Brothers Four.
Anderson is survived by her husband, daughter Deidra and son-in law Charlie Hoffman, son Quinton Anderson Reynolds, grandchildren McKenzie and Megan Hoffman, stepson Adam Flick and his wife Helene, step-grandchildren Felix and Maximilian.
A private family service will be held at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery followed by A Celebration of Life at a future date.
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"We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother and grandmother," Anderson's family said in a statement. WKRP in Cincinnati aired from 1978-1982 and was set in a lagging Ohio radio station trying to reinvent itself with rock music. The cast included Gary Sandy, Tim Reid, Howard Hesseman, Frank Bonner and Jan Smithers, alongside Anderson as the sexy and smart Jennifer Marlowe. As the station's receptionist, the blonde and high-heeled Jennifer used her sex appeal to deflect unwanted business calls for her boss, Mr Carlson. Her efficiency often kept the station running in the face of others' incompetence. The role earned her two Emmy Award and three Golden Globe nominations. Anderson starred on the big screen alongside Burt Reynolds in the 1983 comedy Stroker Ace and the two later married and became tabloid fixtures before divorcing in 1994. Their son, Quinton Reynolds, was "the best decision that we ever made in our entire relationship", she said during the unveiling of a bronze bust at Reynolds' Hollywood grave site in 2021. "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 detailed their tumultuous marriage in the 1995 autobiography, My Life in High Heels, which she said was 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." She married four times, most recently to Bob Flick in 2008. Anderson was born August 5, 1945, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her father was an environmental chemist and her mother was a model. Her first role as an actress was a small part in the 1966 film Nevada Smith, starring Steve McQueen. Most of her career was spent on the small screen with early guest parts in the 1970s on S.W.A.T. and Police Woman. After WKRP, Anderson starred in the short-lived comedy series Easy Street and appeared in made-for-TV movies including A Letter to Three Wives and White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd. In 2023 she co-starred in Lifetime's Ladies Of The 80s: A Divas Christmas, with Linda Gray, Donna Mills, Morgan Fairchild and Nicollette Sheridan. "I am heartbroken to hear of the passing of the wonderful Loni Anderson!" Fairchild wrote on X. "The sweetest, most gracious lady! I'm just devastated to hear this." 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. A private family service is planned at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Kagan said. Loni Anderson, who played a struggling radio station's empowered receptionist on the hit TV comedy WKRP in Cincinnati has died, just days before her 80th birthday. Anderson died at a Los Angeles hospital following a "prolonged" illness, her longtime publicist, Cheryl J Kagan said on Sunday. "We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother and grandmother," Anderson's family said in a statement. WKRP in Cincinnati aired from 1978-1982 and was set in a lagging Ohio radio station trying to reinvent itself with rock music. The cast included Gary Sandy, Tim Reid, Howard Hesseman, Frank Bonner and Jan Smithers, alongside Anderson as the sexy and smart Jennifer Marlowe. As the station's receptionist, the blonde and high-heeled Jennifer used her sex appeal to deflect unwanted business calls for her boss, Mr Carlson. Her efficiency often kept the station running in the face of others' incompetence. The role earned her two Emmy Award and three Golden Globe nominations. Anderson starred on the big screen alongside Burt Reynolds in the 1983 comedy Stroker Ace and the two later married and became tabloid fixtures before divorcing in 1994. Their son, Quinton Reynolds, was "the best decision that we ever made in our entire relationship", she said during the unveiling of a bronze bust at Reynolds' Hollywood grave site in 2021. "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 detailed their tumultuous marriage in the 1995 autobiography, My Life in High Heels, which she said was 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." She married four times, most recently to Bob Flick in 2008. Anderson was born August 5, 1945, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her father was an environmental chemist and her mother was a model. Her first role as an actress was a small part in the 1966 film Nevada Smith, starring Steve McQueen. Most of her career was spent on the small screen with early guest parts in the 1970s on S.W.A.T. and Police Woman. After WKRP, Anderson starred in the short-lived comedy series Easy Street and appeared in made-for-TV movies including A Letter to Three Wives and White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd. In 2023 she co-starred in Lifetime's Ladies Of The 80s: A Divas Christmas, with Linda Gray, Donna Mills, Morgan Fairchild and Nicollette Sheridan. "I am heartbroken to hear of the passing of the wonderful Loni Anderson!" Fairchild wrote on X. "The sweetest, most gracious lady! I'm just devastated to hear this." 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. A private family service is planned at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Kagan said.
