US sitcom star Loni Anderson passed away on Sunday (August 3), aged 79.
Her publicist, Cheryl J Kagan, said in a statement that the actor died in a hospital in Los Angeles following a “prolonged” illness, just two days short of her 80th birthday. “We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother and grandmother,” Anderson’s family said in a statement.
Tributes have come in from the entertainment world, with Barbara Eden, star of the iconic sitcom I Dream Of Jeannie, describing her as “a real talent, with razor smart wit and a glowing sense of humor” as well as being “one in a trillion”.
The news just came through that my dear friend Loni Anderson has passed.
Like many, I am absolutely stunned and heartbroken. Our friendship has spanned many years, and news like this is never easy to hear or accept.
What can I say about Loni that everyone doesn’t already… pic.twitter.com/zjKPiCpMXZ
— Barbara Eden (@Barbara_Eden) August 3, 2025
Anderson is best known for the sitcom WKRP In Cincinnati, which ran from 1978-82. She starred as Jennifer Marlowe, the receptionist of a struggling radio station trying to reinvent itself through rock music. Her character was known for being glamorous but also one of the most intelligent people at the station, eschewing the expectations of a receptionist at the time in order to save her bosses on many occasions.
Anderson was nominated for three Golden Globes and two Emmys for the role, appearing in all but one of the show’s 90 episodes.
Outside of the sitcom, the star was a regular on TV from the ’70s to the mid-’90s. She would appear on episodes of long-running comedy-drama The Love Boat, Steven Spielberg’s anthology Amazing Stories, and ’90s favourite Sabrina The Teenage Witch.
In film, she would star as Hollywood icon Jayne Mansfield in 1980’s The Jayne Mansfield Story. She co-starred alongside a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played her second husband Mickey Hargitay. She would also play the mother of Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan’s characters in the 1998 comedy A Night At The Roxbury.
In her personal life, Anderson was married four times, most famously to Burt Reynolds from 1988 to 1994. The pair’s relationship and subsequent divorce, which resulted in lawsuits, was followed closely by the tabloid press.
Loni Anderson is survived by her husband Bob Flick, daughter Deidra Hoffman, son Quinton Anderson Reynolds, and stepson Adam Flick, as well as four grandchildren.
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