Loni Anderson, the WKRP in Cincinnati star’s cause of death has been revealed.
According to a death certificate obtained by TMZ, she passed away from metastatic uterine leiomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer that typically begins in the uterus and can spread to other parts of the body.
No other contributing health conditions were listed. Anderson died on Aug. 3 in Los Angeles, just days before what would have been her 80th birthday.
At the time of her passing, her longtime publicist Cheryl J. Kagan shared that Anderson had died following “an acute prolonged illness.”
Anderson became a household name in the late ’70s for her role as Jennifer Marlowe, the witty and glamorous receptionist on WKRP in Cincinnati, the CBS sitcom centered on a quirky Ohio radio station.
The show ran from 1978 to 1982 and earned her two Emmy nominations along with three Golden Globe nods.
Her career extended well beyond that breakout role. She portrayed Jayne Mansfield in a 1980 TV movie opposite a then-unknown Arnold Schwarzenegger, and later appeared in the 1991 telefilm White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd.
Her television credits spanned across several popular series of the era, including S.W.A.T., The Incredible Hulk, The Love Boat, Police Woman, Barnaby Jones, The Bob Newhart Show and Three’s Company.
In later years, she returned to television with projects like The New WKRP in Cincinnati, Empty Nest, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Clueless.
Beyond her acting, Anderson’s personal life also drew public attention. She shared a highly publicized 12-year relationship and six-year marriage with Burt Reynolds, whom she met while working on the 1983 film Stroker Ace.
The pair married in 1988 but divorced five years later.
In 1995, Anderson released her autobiography My Life in High Heels, which became a New York Times bestseller.
She described the memoir as being about “the growth of a woman, a woman who survives. It’s about my childhood, the death of my parents, my career, my divorces, and my children. Then of course, the trauma of my marriage to Burt.”
Her final onscreen appearance came in 2023 with the Lifetime film Ladies of the 80’s: A Divas Christmas, where she starred alongside Linda Gray, Donna Mills, Morgan Fairchild and Nicollette Sheridan.
Anderson’s passing marks the loss of a television icon who left an enduring mark on Hollywood with her wit, talent and resilience.
