Loni Anderson is an American actress known for her role as a receptionist in the sitcom ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’. Besides this sitcom, she has appeared in numerous TV roles and films. Here’s everything you need to know about Loni Anderson as we offer her complete story.
Loni Anderson’s Early Life
Loni Anderson was born on August 5, 1946, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She is a daughter of a model, Maxine Hazel, and an environmental chemist, Klaydon Carl Anderson. Her mother had a huge influence on Loni’s life. She decided to become an actor at the age of 9 but had to work hard to realize her dream.
Loni attended the ‘Alexander Ramsey Senior High School’ in Roseville. During her high school education, she has won numerous beauty competitions. Then, after graduating in 1963, he attended the ‘University of Minnesota’, where she studied art.
While at college, she fell in love with Bruce Hasselbeck. They got married in 1964 and soon after the wedding they had a daughter, Deidra. However, she had to raise her daughter as a single mother because she got divorced in 1966. Hence, she had to work as a school teacher and had a hard time devoting to her career as it was quite hard to raise a child on her own.
Loni Anderson’s Personal Life
Loni Anderson was married four times, from 1964-1966 with Bruce Hasselbeck, then from 1973-1981 to Ross Bickell, and from 1988- 1993 to Burt Reynolds with whom she adopted a son. Since 2008, she has been married to musician Bob Flick.
In 1997, Loni Anderson published her autobiography, ‘My Life in High Heels’ as her life has been the subject of rumors. She is involved in numerous charitable organizations, especially the ones about spreading awareness about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Loni Anderson’s Career
Loni started with a small role in ‘Nevada Smith,’ where she acted alongside with Steve McQueen. After this film, she didn’t have any luck with auditions and didn’t have any quality project for more than ten years. During that time, she used to work as a teacher.
However, that started to change in the mid-1970s. Hence, she took part in several guest TV roles, appeared in small roles in two episodes of ‘S.W.AT.’ and in an episode of ‘Police Woman.’ Her big comeback happened in 1976in the film ‘Vigilante Force.’
Next, she starred in a guest role in two episodes of the sitcom ‘Three’s Company’ in 1978 which helped her get a role in the sitcom ‘WKRP in Cincinnati.’ This sitcom was a huge success to her and he won several ‘Golden Globe’ and ‘Emmy Award’ nominations. After this sitcom, she appeared in multiple series and films, including ‘The Love Boat,’‘The Incredible Hulk,’‘Fantasy Island,’‘Sizzle,’ and ‘The Jayne Mansfield Story.’
Loni Anderson’s first major role happened in 1983 for the film ‘Stroker Ace.’ Unfortunately, the film became a huge failure. Then, her career followed in some commercial and critical failure series and sitcoms, such as ‘Easy Street,’ ‘Whisper Kill,’ and ‘Too Good to be True.’
Her big comeback with a leading role happened on the comedy-drama film ‘Munchie’ in 1992. After that, many series followed, including ‘Nurses,’‘Melrose Place,’ and ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch.’
In 2003, she played a key role in the sitcom ‘The Mullets.’ However, the sitcom was cancelled due to poor ratings. After that, she hasn’t been involved in many projects. There have been only some small appearances in various series like ‘Baby Daddy,’ ‘Love You More,’ and ‘My Sister Is So Gay.’
