Loni Anderson’s cause of death: ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’ star dead at 79
Anderson received two Emmy nominations for playing a struggling radio station’s empowered receptionist on the hit TV comedy “WKRP in Cincinnati.”
WASHINGTON — Actress Loni Anderson, who played Jennifer Marlowe on the hit TV comedy “WKRP in Cincinnati” and was once married to the late Burt Reynolds, died Sunday at the age of 79.
Anderson’s death came just two days before what would have been her 80th birthday.
While an official cause of death has not yet been released, her longtime publicist said the actress died at a Los Angeles hospital following a “prolonged illness.” No further details about the illness have been publicly disclosed by her family or agent.
“We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother and grandmother,” Anderson’s family said in a statement released to the Associated Press.
Anderson was born Aug. 5, 1945, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her father was an environmental chemist, and her mother was a model. She married four times, most recently to Bob Flick in 2008.
She earned two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe nominations for playing the station’s receptionist in “WKRP in Cincinnati.”
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 their messy breakup in 1994.
Her final acting credit came in 2023, when she co-starred in Lifetime’s “Ladies Of The 80s: A Divas Christmas” with Linda Gray, Donna Mills, Morgan Fairchild and Nicollette Sheridan. The Lifetime original movie followed five soap opera actresses who reunite to shoot the final Christmas episode of their long-running show.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
