Loni Anderson

Loni Anderson, the two-time Emmy-nominated star of the classic CBS sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, died on Aug. 3 at age 79. Born in Saint Paul, Minn., in 1945 to an environmental chemist and a model, Anderson slowly rose through the ranks of show business with bit parts on series like S.W.A.T., Barnaby Jones, and The Bob Newhart Show. Her big break came in 1978 with a plum role on WKRP in Cincinnati, in which she played Jennifer Marlowe, the fictional station's clever, enterprising, and endlessly enthusiastic receptionist. The actress went on to reprise her role on The New WKRP in Cincinnati for two years, joined the main cast of Nurses, a spinoff of Golden Girls spinoff Empty Nest, and appeared in guest roles in films A Night at the Roxbury and series like Melrose Place and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Anderson is survived by her husband, folk musician Bob Flick; her son, Quinton Anderson Reynolds; daughter Deidra Hoffman and son-in-law Charlie Hoffman; and numerous stepchildren, grandchildren, and step-grandchildren.