‘WKRP in Cincinnati’ Star Loni Anderson Has Died

Emmy-nominated actress Loni Anderson has died. She was 79.

According to her publicist, Cheryl J. Kagan, she died at noon today in Los Angeles due to an “acute prolonged illness.”

Anderson is best known for her role as Jennifer in WKRP in Cincinnati and for her hectic, troubled marriage to Burt Reynolds.

In a 2020 interview, Anderson said she initially refused the role of Jennifer, as she didn’t want to play a dumb blonde.

“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 Hugh 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,’” she said.

Her character, commonly mistaken for the radio station’s “eye candy,” was actually the most productive member on staff at the fictional radio station where the show takes place.

Jennifer, in dodging all the “dumb blonde” stereotypes as the show progressed, became the main reason for many to watch the show. Anderson was nominated for an Emmy twice for the role and appeared in all but one episode during the show’s four-year run from 1978 to 1982.

Anderson met her future husband, Reynolds, when the two worked on The Merv Griffin Show in 1981. Their eventual breakup in 1994 was one of the most highly publicized moments of the 90s, full of tabloid drama and relentless infighting, and their divorce was so lengthy that their financial ties to each other only ended in 2015.

“Loni was a class act. Beautiful. Talented. Witty. ALWAYS a joy to be around,” Steve Sauer, Anderson’s manager of 30 years, said in a statement. “She was the ultimate working mother. Family first…and maintained a great balance with her career. She and I had wonderful adventures together that I shall forever cherish. I will especially miss that infectious chuckle of hers.”