Loni Anderson Cause of Death: How Did the ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’ Star Die?

Actress Loni Anderson, best known for starring on WKRP in Cincinnati, died on Sunday, August 3, just days before her birthday, according to the Associated Press. Anderson would have turned 80 years old on August 5.

Her longtime publicist, Cheryl J. Kagan, confirmed her death to the AP, and Anderson’s family said in a statement, “We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother and grandmother.”

Kagan told Variety that Anderson died in a Los Angeles-area hospital after a battle with a “prolonged illness.”

Anderson played Jennifer Marlowe, the receptionist on the CBS sitcom that aired from 1978 to 1982. She co-starred with Frank Bonner, Howard Hesseman, Gordon Jump, Tim Reid, Gary Sandy and Jan Smithers.

Anderson earned two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy for her work on the show. She was also nominated three times for a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical. The show almost didn’t get Anderson in the role because she didn’t like how one-dimensional the part was, she recalled in a 2020 interview.

Instead, she wanted to turn the idea of the “dumb blonde” on its head.

“I went in and sat on my little soapbox and said, ‘I don’t want to play this part because she’s just here to deliver messages and is window dressing.’ Then [creator Hugh Wilson] said, ‘Well, how would you do it?’ … He said, ‘Let’s make her look like Lana Turner and be the smartest person in the room.’”

The actress’s other credits included The Love Boat, Partners in Crime, Easy Street, Nurses, and Melrose Place. She also played the iconic 1950s/1960s star Jayne Mansfield in The Jayne Mansfield Story in 1980. Anderson’s last acting credit was in the 2023 TV movie Ladies of the ’80s: A Divas Christmas alongside Morgan Fairchild, Linda Gray, Donna Mills and Nicollette Sheridan.

Anderson also famously co-starred with Burt Reynolds in the film Stroker Ace in 1983, and the two were married from 1988 to 1994. Anderson is survived by her husband, musician Bob Flick, a daughter, Deidra, from her marriage to Bruce Hasselberg in the 1960s, and a son, Quinton, from her marriage to Reynolds. Reynolds died in 2018 at the age of 82.