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Loni Anderson
Actor

Loni Anderson

5 Aug 1945Born
3 Aug 2025Died
79Age at death
59Credits

Biography

Loni Kaye Anderson (August 5, 1945 – August 3, 2025) was an American actress who played the role of Jennifer Marlowe on the television sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati.

Anderson was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, August 5, 1945, the daughter of Maxine Hazel (née Kallin), a model, and Klaydon Carl "Andy" Anderson, an environmental chemist and grew up in suburban Roseville. As a senior at Alexander Ramsey Senior High School in Roseville in 1963, she was voted Valentine Queen of Valentine's Day Winter Formal. She attended the University of Minnesota.

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As she says in her autobiography, My Life in High Heels, her father was originally going to name her "Leiloni," but then realized to his horror that when she got to her teen years it was liable to be twisted into "Lay Loni." So it was changed to just plain "Loni." Anderson's most famous acting role came as receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on WKRP in Cincinnati. Her pinup photo in a bikini became one of the best-selling wall posters of the 1970s. She and husband Burt Reynolds made one film together, the 1983 stock-car racing comedy Stroker Ace, a huge box-office failure. Shortly after her divorce from Reynolds, she appeared as a regular in the final season (1993–1994) on the NBC sitcom Nurses. Anderson portrayed actress Jayne Mansfield in a made-for-TV biopic with Arnold Schwarzenegger as her husband, Mickey Hargitay. She teamed with Lynda Carter in a 1984 television series, Partners in Crime. Anderson made a series of cameo appearances on television shows in the late 1990s and early 2000s, such as the Spellmans' "witch-trash" cousin on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and Vallery Irons' mother on V.I.P. Anderson has been married four times; her first three marriages were to: Bruce Hasselberg (1964–1966), Ross Bickell (1973–1981), and actor (and one-time co-star) Burt Reynolds (1988–1993). On May 17, 2008, Anderson married musician Bob Flick, one of the founding members of the folk band The Brothers Four. The couple had met at a movie premiere in Anderson's native Minneapolis a few years after Flick's group hit No. 2 on the pop charts with "Greenfields" in 1960. The ceremony was attended by friends and family, including son Quinton Reynolds. She has two children: a daughter, Deidra Hoffman (from her first marriage), who is a school administrator in California; and a son, Quinton Anderson Reynolds (born August 31, 1988), whom she and Burt Reynolds adopted. Her autobiography, My Life in High Heels, was published in 1997.

She died at a Los Angeles hospital following a “prolonged” illness on August 3, 2025.

Known for

Filmography

  1. 2023Ladies of the '80s: A Divas ChristmasFilm: Lily Marlowe
  2. 2017Love You MoreSeries: Jean (1 episode)
  3. 2016My Sister is So GaySeries: Frances (13 episodes)
  4. 2012Baby DaddySeries: Nana Lyle (1 episode)
  5. 2007Back to the GrindSeries (1 episode)
  6. 2006So NoTORIousSeries: Kiki Spelling (10 episodes)
  7. 2003The MulletsSeries: Mandi Mullet-Heidecker (11 episodes)
  8. 1998A Night at the RoxburyFilm: Barbara Butabi
  9. 1998V.I.P.Series: Carol Irons (1 episode)
  10. 19983 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega MountainFilm: Medusa
  11. 1998Amazing Stories: The Movie IIIFilm: Love
  12. 1997Fast TrackSeries (1 episode)
  13. 1996Sabrina, the Teenage WitchSeries: Racine (1 episode)
  14. 1996CluelessSeries (1 episode)
  15. 1996E! True Hollywood StorySeries (1 episode)
  16. 1995Deadly Family SecretsFilm: Martha
  17. 1994Burke's LawSeries: Claudia Loring (1 episode)
  18. 1992Melrose PlaceSeries: Teri Carson (3 episodes)
  19. 1992MunchieFilm: Cathy Dobson
  20. 1992The Price She PaidFilm: Lacey
  21. 1991NursesSeries: Casey MacAfee (22 episodes)
  22. 1991The New WKRP in CincinnatiSeries (1 episode)
  23. 1991White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma ToddFilm: Thelma Todd
  24. 1990Coins in the FountainFilm: Leah Crawford
  25. 1990Blown AwayFilm: Lauren
  26. 1989All Dogs Go to HeavenFilm: Flo (voice)
  27. 1989Blondie & Dagwood: Second Wedding WorkoutFilm: Blondie Bumstead (voice)
  28. 1989Sorry, Wrong NumberFilm: Madeleine Stevenson
  29. 1989B.L. StrykerSeries (1 episode)
  30. 1988Too Good to Be TrueFilm: Ellen Berent
  31. 1988Whisper KillFilm: Liz Bartlett
  32. 1988NecessityFilm: Lauren LaSalle
  33. 1987Blondie & DagwoodFilm: Blondie Bumstead (voice)
  34. 1986StrandedFilm: Stacy Tweed
  35. 1986Easy StreetSeries (22 episodes)
  36. 1985A Letter to Three WivesFilm: Lora Mae Holloway
  37. 1985Amazing StoriesSeries: Love (1 episode)
  38. 1984Partners in CrimeSeries: Sydney Kovack (13 episodes)
  39. 1984My Mother's Secret LifeFilm: Ellen Blake
  40. 1983Stroker AceFilm: Pembrook Feeney
  41. 1982Country GoldFilm: Mollie Dean Purcell
  42. 1981SizzleFilm: Julie Davis
  43. 1980The Jayne Mansfield StoryFilm: Jayne Mansfield
  44. 1980The Fantastic FunniesFilm: Host
  45. 1978The Magic of David CopperfieldSeries (1 episode)
  46. 1978WKRP in CincinnatiSeries: Jennifer Marlowe (90 episodes)
  47. 1978Three on a DateFilm: Angela Ross
  48. 1977The Incredible HulkSeries: Sheila Cantrell (1 episode)
  49. 1977The Love BoatSeries: Kitty Scofield, Barbie, Kim Holland / Doris Wilson (2 episodes)
  50. 1977Three's CompanySeries (1 episode)
  51. 1976The McLean Stevenson ShowSeries (1 episode)
  52. 1976Vigilante ForceFilm: Peaches (uncredited)
  53. 1975The Invisible ManSeries: Andrea Hanover (1 episode)
  54. 1975S.W.A.T.Series (1 episode)
  55. 1974Police WomanSeries: Waitress (1 episode)
  56. 1974Harry OSeries (1 episode)
  57. 1973Barnaby JonesSeries: Joanna Morgan (1 episode)
  58. 1972The Bob Newhart ShowSeries: Leslie Greely (1 episode)
  59. 1966Nevada SmithFilm: Brunette Saloon Girl (uncredited)

Biography and credits from TMDB. This website uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.