Loni Anderson

Some Lesser Known Facts About Loni Anderson

• Loni Anderson was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota and grew up in suburban Roseville, Minnesota. She had English and Swedish ancestry from her parents’ side.

• Her father originally wanted to name her Leilani, but he realised that during her teenage years, the name could be twisted into “Lay Lani.” Therefore, it was changed to simply Loni.

• In an interview, Loni mentioned that both her parents were chain smokers from a young age and smoked four packs of cigarettes a day.

• Loni was very beautiful from a young age and was crowned Valentine Queen at her high school’s winter formal in 1963. After that, she began participating in beauty pageants, including Miss Roseville, and was a runner-up for Miss Minnesota.

• Among her other, less prestigious titles were Miss Thermo-Jac Clothing, Miss Thom McCann Shoes, Miss County Style Ford, Miss No Frost Eskimo, and Queen of the Hole-In-One.

• Her interest in acting started early; she performed in local theatre before moving to Hollywood.

• While studying at the University of Minnesota, she performed in plays such as Fiddler on the Roof.

• Anderson’s acting debut came with a short role in the film Nevada Smith (1966). After that, she was mostly unemployed as an actress for nearly a decade. Then, she received guest roles on television series in the mid-1970s.

• During her struggling years, she also worked as a schoolteacher to support herself and her daughter while completing her college education.

• Anderson’s most famous acting role was as the sultry receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–1982). She was offered the role after producers saw a poster of her in a red swimsuit featured in a magazine.

• Although the series struggled in the TV ratings for most of its four-year run, it maintained a strong following among teens, young adults, and disc jockeys.

• Due to her rising popularity as the show’s main attraction, Loni Anderson walked out during the summer of 1980 and demanded a huge salary increase. When the network agreed to her requests, she returned to the series and remained with it until its cancellation in 1982.

• During that time, in addition to her acting career, Anderson became known for her vibrant personal life, particularly her relationship with and marriage to actor Burt Reynolds.

• Loni had acted in several TV films and series throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Some of her famous roles were The Jayne Mansfield Story (1980), Stroker Ace (1983), All Dogs Go to Heaven (voice, 1989), White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd (1991), Nurses (1993), and Ladies of the ’80s: A Divas Christmas (2023).

• In an interview, Loni mentioned that despite her talent and serious work in television and films, she was being seen only as a “blonde bombshell.”

• In 1994, her divorce from her third husband, Burt Reynolds, was widely covered by the media, especially the custody issues over their son Quinton.

• In 1995, Loni wrote her autobiography titled “My Life in High Heels” along with two other writers.

  

• In an interview, Loni mentioned that growing up with parents who both smoked, she and her sister, being passive smokers, witnessed the effects of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a lung disease often caused by smoking. In 1999, she became a spokesperson for a COPD support organisation named “COPD Together”.

• In an interview, Loni mentioned that she had a huge collection of Snow White miniatures and other Disney items, including animation art, dolls, music boxes, plates, and dachshund figures (which she got from her mother).