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Who Is Loni Anderson?
Loni Anderson is an American actress who’s big break came in 1978, when she landed a role on the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati and became a sex symbol almost overnight. Her role in the 1983 stock-car racing comedy Stroker Ace changed her life again.
While on set, she fell in love with co-star Burt Reynolds, who was a star at the time, and her marriage to Reynolds put the duo in the spotlight as a Hollywood power couple.
Loni Anderson Early Life
Loni Kaye Anderson was born on August 5, 1946, in St. Paul, Minnesota, to Carl Anderson and Maxine Kallin. From a young age, Anderson stood out as a brunette beauty. Anderson is Valentine Queen of her school’s winter formal.
Loni Anderson study career
Anderson entered the University of Minnesota in 1963 to study art. She worked her way through school by winning beauty pageants—namely the Miss Roseville beauty pageant contest, which allowed her to represent her hometown at the Miss Minnesota competition.
Loni Anderson is a runner-up for the crown, but had won several times, Miss County Style Ford and Queen of the Hole-In-One titles.
However, the romance was short-lived, and Anderson and Hasselbeck divorced in 1966. It was a difficult time for Anderson, who had to take a teaching job to support herself and her new baby while completing her college education.
Transition to Acting
Anderson also developed an interest in acting and started making appearances in local commercials and theater shows. Still dark-haired, she played in several early 1970s productions such as Born Yesterday, Send Me No Flowers, Can-Can, The Star-Spangled Girl and Fiddler on the Roof.
In 1973, Anderson remarried to another aspiring actor, Ross Bickell. The ambitious couple decided to move away from Minnesota to Los Angeles in 1975 to pursue more film and TV work.
Loni Anderson Personal Life and Son
Anderson’s high-profile marriage to Reynolds began blissfully enough. The couple adopted son Quinton together, but then the relationship dissolved quickly into a nasty divorce.
Shortly after their split, Anderson began making television appearances again, such as the final season of the NBC sitcom Nurses (1993-1994).
Hollywood Starlet
Anderson’s big break in showbiz came in 1978, when the actress landed a role on the popular sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati.
Actor Howard Hesseman, who played the character of Dr. Johnny Fever, and Anderson, who played sultry radio station receptionist Jennifer Marlowe, became the breakaway stars of the show.
Loni Anderson became a sex symbol almost overnight, and a pinup photo of the actress in a bikini was one of the best-selling posters of the 1970s.
Yet, far from a dumb blonde, Anderson insisted that she be able to play her character as a bright, sensitive woman before signing for the part.
Loni Anderson on career in recent years
In recent years, Anderson has made guest appearances on television sitcoms such as Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and V.I.P. In 1997, she published her autobiography My Life in High Heels.
