Loni Anderson, 'WKRP in Cincinnati' Star, Dies at 79

"We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother and grandmother," Anderson’s family said in a statement.

"I remember we all did posters back then. Everybody always asks me, ‘What made you do a poster?’ I would say, 'Because someday my grandchildren will look at this. And I’ll be able to tell them that I really looked like that. What you saw is what you got," she told Fox News Digital in 2021.

"But you know, I had this discussion with Ann-Margret. Will there ever be a time when our names won’t be followed by ‘bombshell’ or ‘sex symbol?’ It becomes a part of your name," she continued. "And you know, I’d never thought I would reach that point. I was so serious. I was doing ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ for 53 weeks on tour. I never thought I would be Loni Anderson, sex symbol. But I embrace it. I think I was lucky enough to have been able to play so many different things and sex symbol was a part of it. I took whatever my career threw at me. So I embrace it. And my granddaughters think it’s a hoot!"

"We were friends first and friends last," Anderson told Closer Weekly at the time. "It’s time to move on."

The "WKRP in Cincinnati" actress insisted she and Reynolds put aside the hostility they endured when the marriage came to an end for the sake of Quinton.

"We have this wonderful child together," she said. "Having a son was a big event in our lives and so everything revolved around him."

"Loni was a class act. Beautiful. Talented. Witty. ALWAYS a joy to be around," Steve Sauer, President/CEO Media Four and Anderson’s manager for 30 years, said in a statement. "She was the ultimate working mother. Family first…and maintained a great balance with her career. She and I had wonderful adventures together that I shall forever cherish. I will especially miss that infectious chuckle of hers. She will be forever missed."