Veteran TV Actress Dies From Cancer: Lynne Marta Was 78

An actress with a lengthy filmography in both TV and movies has passed away. Lynne Marta died from cancer at her home in Los Angeles on Jan. 11, according to friend Chris Saint-Hillaire (via The Hollywood Reporter). She was 78. Her TV credits included Days of Our Lives, Starsky & Hutch, Law & Order, Gunsmoke, Knight Rider, Designing Women, Kojak and The F.B.I.

Born in New Jersey in 1945, Marta began performing as a dancer on the syndicated The Lloyd Thaxton Show before going on to begin her TV career in 1966 with appearances on Gidget and The Monkees. Over the span of the next several decades, Marta would add dozens of acting credits to her name, taking guest roles on TV series throughout the ’60s and ’70s on Then Came Bronson, The Man and the City, The F.B.I., Dan August, Cannon, Mod Squad, The Rookies, Gunsmoke, Marcus Welby, M.D., Kojak, The Streets of San Francisco, Law & Order, and more. On the big screen, she the companion of Robert Duvall’s character in Joe Kidd (1972), a school teacher in Three Men and a Little Lady (1990), and aunt of Kevin Bacon’s character in Footloose (1984), starring opposite Sarah Jessica Parker and John Lithgow.

Marta’s other notable credits include working on 18 episodes of the first season of the ABC anthology series Love, American Style in 1969 through 1970. According to Deadline, Marta starred in 24 episodes of the soap Days of Our Lives between 1983 and 2003 and also appeared in The Young and the Restless. Her final role was in an episode of American Dreams in 2004.

PEOPLE reported in 1983 that Marta had an “open relationship” with her Starsky & Hutch co-star David Soul, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 80, while he was married to actress Karen Carlson. The outlet reported at the time, “all through the Starsky & Hutch years, David and Lynne lived together but spent time with other people.” Marta appeared in four episodes of the hit police series, which ran from 1975 to 1979.

Outside of acting, Marta notably served as a witness in the death of fellow actress Rebecca Schaeffer, who was shot and killed by an obsessive fan a few apartments down from Marta, in 1989. She is survived by her sister, MJ, and her cat, Mr. Peaches. In a Facebook tribute, her friend Joan Sobel wrote, “we lost a beautiful light today. My friend, Lynne Marta lost her good fight. A wonderfully talented actress and a beautiful singer whose voice was of the angels. A dear heart who adored her friends both human and furry. I will miss her terribly.”