CBS's WKRP in Cincinnati star Loni Anderson passed away on Sunday, August 3, 2025. She was 79 years old and would have celebrated her 80th birthday in a couple of days, on Tuesday, August 5. Her family confirmed her passing in a brief statement via the Associated Press, saying:"We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother, and grandmother."There is no specific cause of death shared. However, the outlet reported some details surrounding the actress' passing, per the statement shared by her longtime publicist, Cheryl J. Kagan. According to Associated Press, the actress passed away at a hospital in Los Angeles on Tuesday at noon after suffering from an "acute prolonged illness."Loni Anderson is best known for playing Jennifer Marlowe in the CBS sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati from 1978 to 1982. Her portrayal of the station's sharp-witted, blonde receptionist earned the late actress several accolades, including two Primetime Emmy nominations and three Golden Globe nominations.Loni Anderson's decades-long career and role in WKRP in CincinnatiBorn in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1945, Loni Anderson took after her model mother and became a beauty queen. That was before she ventured into show business, kicking off her acting career by appearing in the S.W.A.T. in 1975 for two episodes as Miss Texas. She followed that with one-off roles in various TV shows throughout the year, including in Harry O, Police Woman, and Police Story.Anderson also joined the cast of The Love Boat as a guest star before getting her biggest break in acting as Jennifer Marlowe in WKRP in Cincinnati in 1978. However, the late actress admitted that she initially turned down that role because she didn't see much depth in the character. According to her, Jenniffer was only "window dressing."But a conversation with show creator Hugh Wilson changed her character's story arc, convincing the late actress to take the project on. She said in a 2020 interview with Studio 10 that Wilson asked her how she wanted to create Jennifer Marlowe's story in the sitcom, to which she replied that she wanted to break the blonde stereotype, saying:"Let's make her look like Lana Turner and be the smartest person in the room."While an intelligent character in the sitcom, Anderson's Jennifer Marlowe is still a bubbly blonde, earning the actress a status as a TV s*x symbol. But instead of getting offended, the late actress once said that she embraces it and that it's part of her job. In an interview with Fox News in 2021, she reflected on her WKRP in Cincinnati fame and being touted as a s*x symbol, saying:"I’d never thought I would reach that point... I never thought I would be Loni Anderson, s*x symbol. But I embrace it. I think I was lucky enough to have been able to play so many different things and s*x symbol was a part of it."Loni Anderson also played doomed sirens in TV movies: White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd and The Jayne Mansfield Story opposite Fubar star Arnold Schwarzenegger.According to Loni Anderson's publicist, there is a private family service planned for the late actress at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. She is survived by her fourth husband, Bob Flick, her daughter Deidra, son Quinton, stepson Adam, and her in-laws and grandchildren.