The cause of death for Loni Anderson is now known. The twice Emmy-nominated star of WKRP in Cincinnati passed away from metastatic uterine leiomyosarcoma, an aggressive and rare cancer that often starts in the uterus and can spread to other parts of the body, according to a death certificate obtained by TMZ. There were no other contributing factors listed.
Anderson died Aug. 3 in Los Angeles, just days before her 80th birthday.
Her longtime publicist, Cheryl J. Kagan, told Deadline at the time that Anderson died as the result of “an acute prolonged illness.”
Anderson was best known for her portrayal of Jennifer Marlowe, the clever receptionist on sitcom WKRP In Cincinnati, about the eccentric staff of a struggling Top 40 rock radio station in Ohio, which aired from 1978-to 1982 on CBS. She received two Emmy nominations and three Golden Globe noms for the role.
Anderson also portrayed Jayne Mansfield in a 1980 TV film opposite a then-unknown Arnold Schwarzenegger. She went on to appear in 1991’s telefilm White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd. Her other TV credits include S.W.A.T., The Incredible Hulk, The Love Boat, Police Woman, Barnaby Jones, The Bob Newhart Show and Three’s Company, and in later years, The New WKRP in Cincinnati, Empty Nest, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Clueless.
Anderson also is known for her 12-year relationship and six-year marriage to Burt Reynolds. The two met on 1983’s Stroker Ace and began dating shortly afterward, tying the knot in 1988. They divorced five years later.
In 1995, she penned the New York Times bestselling autobiography, My Life in High Heels, which she said was 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,” per the Associated Press.
Her last credit was Lifetime’s Ladies of the 80’s: A Divas Christmas (2023) with Linda Gray, Donna Mills, Morgan Fairchild and Nicollette Sheridan.
Erik Pedersen contributed to this report.
