Loni Anderson, Emmy-Nominated Star of WKRP in Cincinnati, Dies at 79
According to CinemaDrame News Agency, Loni Anderson, Emmy-nominated actress and former wife of Burt Reynolds, has died at the age of 79. On the CBS sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, she played Jennifer Marlowe, the receptionist at a radio station—a role that, along with her high-profile marriage and divorce from Reynolds in the 1980s, made her a subject of American tabloids.
Anderson starred in several television films, including The Jayne Mansfield Story (1980), opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger; White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd (1991); and a remake of Leave Her to Heaven. She also appeared in series such as SWAT and Police Woman.
In 2020, Anderson stated that she had not been satisfied with her role on the sitcom: “I’d say, ‘I don’t want to play this part because she just delivers messages and is only there for show.’ Hugh [Wilson, the series creator] said, ‘Well, what do you want to do?’ … I said, ‘Let’s make her like Lana Turner and the smartest person in the room.’”
Anderson was nominated for an Emmy for this role in 1980 and 1981, but those years the award went to Loretta Swit for MASH* and Eileen Brennan for Private Benjamin, respectively.
After WKRP in Cincinnati, Anderson appeared opposite Reynolds in the film Stroker Ace (1983). The two first met on The Merv Griffin Show in 1981, when Anderson was married to Ross Bickell and Reynolds to Sally Field, but they began dating a year later.
