“Farewell to Loni Anderson: Iconic Jennifer Marlowe of WKRP Dies at 79”

Loni Ander­son (August 5, 1945 – August 3, 2025) passed away at age 79, just two days shy of her 80th birth­day. She died at a Los Ange­les hos­pi­tal fol­low­ing a pro­longed ill­ness, accord­ing to her long­time pub­li­cist

Career & Legacy

Loni Ander­son rose to fame as Jen­nifer Mar­lowe, the wit­ty and glam­orous recep­tion­ist on WKRP in Cincin­nati (CBS, 1978–1982)—a role that earned her three Gold­en Globe nom­i­na­tions and two Emmy nods Omni+15Wikipedia+15EW.com+15. Ini­tial­ly writ­ten as a stereo­typ­i­cal “dumb blonde,” the char­ac­ter was rewrit­ten at Anderson’s insis­tence to become smart, empow­er­ing, and beloved—symbolic of her pro­gres­sive approach to tele­vi­sion com­e­dy The Wash­ing­ton Post.

She began her act­ing career with a small, uncred­it­ed part in Neva­da Smith (1966), fol­lowed by guest roles on shows like S.W.A.T., Police Woman, and Three’s Com­pa­ny. Her guest appear­ance on Three’s Com­pa­ny helped secure her break­out gig on WKRP thesun.co.uk+8Vulture+8Wikipedia+8.

🎬 Beyond WKRP

Fol­low­ing her sit­com suc­cess, Ander­son co-starred with Burt Reynolds in the 1983 com­e­dy Stro­ker Ace, and their high-pro­file romance led to mar­riage in 1988 before their divorce in 1994. They adopt­ed a son, Quin­ton Reynolds EW.com+10Wikipedia+10People.com+10.

Her lat­er career includ­ed roles in TV movies like The Jayne Mans­field Sto­ry and White Hot: The Mys­te­ri­ous Mur­der of Thel­ma Todd, guest appear­ances on series such as Nurs­es, Sab­ri­na the Teenage Witch, and the 2023 Life­time hol­i­day film Ladies of the ’80s: A Divas Christ­mas Wikipedia+6The Dai­ly Beast+6timesofindia.indiatimes.com+6.

Her mem­oir My Life in High Heels, pub­lished in 1995, can­did­ly explored her rise to fame, chal­lenges in Hol­ly­wood, and her evolv­ing iden­ti­ty as a woman who “sur­vives” with for­ti­tude thesun.co.uk+5The Dai­ly Beast+5Wikipedia+5.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Personal Life & Advocacy

Born in St. Paul, Min­neso­ta, Ander­son over­came ear­ly setbacks—including work­ing as a high-school teacher to sup­port her­self and her young daughter—before pur­su­ing act­ing full-time IMDb+8Wikipedia+8Biography+8. She mar­ried four times: to Bruce Has­sel­berg (1964–66), Ross Bick­ell (1974–81), Burt Reynolds (1988–94), and musi­cian Bob Flick (mar­ried in 2008), remain­ing with him until her pass­ing The Wash­ing­ton Post+9Wikipedia+9Wikipedia+9.

Ander­son became a heart­felt advo­cate for COPD aware­ness, inspired by her par­ents who both suf­fered from the dis­ease. She served as a spokesper­son for COPD Togeth­er begin­ning in 1999 EW.com+2Wikipedia+2timesofindia.indiatimes.com+2.

💬 Remembrances

Her pass­ing elicit­ed heart­felt trib­utes:

• Mor­gan Fairchild called her “the sweet­est, most gra­cious lady” and expressed shock at the loss ABC7 Los Angeles+9ABC+9Vulture+9.
• Col­leagues and fans alike hon­ored her lega­cy, prais­ing her com­bi­na­tion of warmth, intel­li­gence, and comedic flair