Loni Anderson Bio, Career, Net Worth

Who is Loni Anderson?

Loni Anderson is a renowned American actress. Known for her portrayal of Jennifer Marlowe on the CBS sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, Loni Anderson made her acting debut in the 1966 film Nevada Smith. Anderson is a three-time Golden Globe Awards-nominated and a two-time Emmy Award-nominated actress.

Loni Anderson
Loni Anderson Biography

Quick Facts

Full NameLoni Kaye Anderson
Also Known AsLoni Anderson
BirthdayAugust 5, 1945
Sun signLeo
Age 78 years old
TraitsPositive – Ambitious, generous, and creative
Negative-  Arrogant, lazy, and stubborn
BirthplaceSaint Paul, Minnesota, USA
NationalityAmerican
ReligionChristian
EthnicitySwedish, Norwegian, German, English, and Scottish
GenderFemale
Sexual OrientationStraight
Height5 feet 6 inches
EyesHazel
Measurements37-25-35 inches
HairBlonde
UniversityUniversity of Minnesota
ParentsKlaydon Carl “Andy” Anderson (father)
Maxine Hazel (mother)
SiblingsAndrea Sams (sister)
Marital statusMarried
Husband’s NameBob Flick
ChildrenDeidra Hoffman (daughter)
Quinton Anderson Reynolds (son)
Profession Actress
Net WorthUSD 12 million
Currently living inLos Angeles, California, USA

Fun Facts

  • Loni Anderson, who is known for her signature blonde hair, was actually born with jet black hair. She later dyed her hair blonde after relocating to Los Angeles in order to become an actress. 
  • Anderson has been married four times. The actress is currently married to musician Bob Flick. 
  • Loni Anderson got married to Hollywood actor Burt Reynolds in 1988. The couple divorced in 1994 and their lengthy divorce battle gained the focus of the American media. Their divorce is considered one of the nastiest divorces in Hollywood.  
  • In 2014, Loni auctioned off everything that her ex-husband Burt Reynolds had given her including a risqué nude portrait of herself named ‘Loni In The Sky With Diamonds.’ 
  • Originally, Loni’s father had considered naming her Leiloni but he decided to simply name her Loni after realizing that her friends would probably twist the name into “Lay Loni” in her teenage years. 
  • Her autobiography, My Life in High Heels, was published in 1997.

Loni Anderson Bio/wiki

Birthday and Personality Traits

Loni Anderson was born on August 5, 1945. She was born in  Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. 

Since Loni was born on August 5, her sun sign is Leo. People having this sign are known for their ambitious, generous, and creative nature. However, they also tend to be arrogant, stubborn, and lazy. 

Loni Anderson Nationality, Religion, and Ethnicity

Loni Anderson is an American. However, she has Swedish, Norwegian, German, English, and Scottish roots. Likewise, when it comes to religion, Loni is a Christian. 

Loni Anderson Height, Measurements, and Appearance

Loni Anderson stands tall at the height of 5 feet and 6 inches. The Hollywood diva is known for her hazel-colored eyes and signature blonde hair. 

Her measurements are 37-25-35 inches. Likewise, her shoe size is  8 (US), and her dress size is 2 (US). 

Educational Background

Loni Anderson attended Alexander Ramsey Senior High School, located in Roseville, Minnesota. She was pretty popular in school. Loni was voted the Valentine Queen of the Valentine’s Day Winter Formal of 1963 during her senior year of high school.

Following her high school graduation, Loni joined the University of Minnesota, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree. During this time, she participated in several beauty contests, which she also won. 

Loni Anderson Early Life and Parents

Loni Anderson was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. Her full name is Loni Kaye Anderson. She is the daughter of Klaydon Carl “Andy” Anderson and Maxine Hazel. 

Loni’s father Klaydon Carl “Andy” Anderson, was an environmental chemist. Her mother, Maxine Hazel, was a model. Loni has a sister named Andrea Sams when it comes to siblings.

Andy and Maxine raised Loni in suburban Roseville, Minnesota. Even though Anderson is known for her blonde locks, she was born with jet black hair. 

Loni Anderson young photo

Likewise, her father initially considered naming her Leiloni. However, upon realizing that in her teen years, her peers would probably twist the name into “Lay Loni,” he decided to name her Loni simply.

Loni Anderson Relationships and Dating History

Loni Anderson is not only famous for her successful acting career and her Hollywood femme fatale image, but the actress is also equally famous for her colorful personal life and romantic relationships.

Bruce Donald Hasselberg

Before stepping into the world of glitz and glam, Loni got married to a Californian school administrator named Bruce Donald Hasselberg. 

Hasselberg and Anderson got married on July 10, 1964. However, their relationship could not last very long. The couple also welcomed their daughter Deidre. However, even the birth of their little one could not solidify their marriage.

In 1966, Loni Anderson separated from Bruce Donald Hasselberg, and the same year, the former couple settled the issue of their daughter’s custody.

Ross Bickell

After her divorce from Hasselberg, Loni exchanged wedding vows with actor Ross Bickell. 

Ross Bickell and Loni Anderson walked down the aisle on January 28, 1974. After their wedding, the couple relocated to Los Angeles, California, to actively pursue film and television work. 

Unfortunately, Anderson and Bickell’s union did not last very long. The duo called it quit on August 20, 1981. 

Burt Reynolds

Following her bitter separation from Ross Bickell, Loni Anderson found love again with actor Burt Reynolds. Anderson and Reynolds’ relationship became the talk of the town, and the pair was considered one of the hottest Hollywood couples at the time. 

After dating each other for six years, Anderson and Reynolds exchanged wedding vows on April 29, 1988. The couple separated in 1993. 

Bob Flick

It took some time for Anderson to overcome the trauma of her failed marriage with Burt Reynolds. Eventually, the blonde beauty settled down with one of the founding members of the folk band The Brothers Four, Bob Flick.

Flick and Anderson had initially met at a movie premiere in Minneapolis in 1963. Many years later, they fell in love and tied the knot on May 17, 2008. 

Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson relationship

Loni Anderson and Burt Reynolds started dating each other in 1981 shortly after meeting each other for the first time on The Merv Griffin Show sets. Their relationship grabbed a lot of media attention. After dating each other for six years, the happy couple tied the knot in an intimate 20-minute-long ceremony held on Reynolds’ Florida ranch. 

Since the couple had been a glamourous fixture in Hollywood managing to remain at the center of the American media,  five helicopters flew overhead their wedding venue along with the curious media patiently waiting outside Reynolds’ ranch. 

Loni Anderson and Burt Reynolds wedding photo
Loni Anderson and Burt Reynolds wedding photo

Reynolds and Anderson’s marriage seemed to be perfect from the outside. However, the reality was something else entirely. 

In 1993, Burt Reynolds announced his separation from Loni Anderson. Following his announcement, a rep for Burt Reynolds divulged the intimate details of Reynolds and Anderson’s marriage and said their relationship was “irretrievably broken.” 

After Reynolds’ divorce announcement, the already sour relationship between the former couple turned even sourer. Reynolds publicly bashed Loni and revealed that the couple was no longer having sex which caused a strain in their marriage. 

The Navajo Joe actor said during an appearance on “Good Morning America: Evening Edition,”

“I don’t see how she can be in total shock when you have not … if your husband has not touched you in the biblical sense … in almost three years. How can you be surprised?”

Furthermore, he publicly attacked Anderson by calling her a bad mother and an underemployed actress with low self-esteem. He accused her of being unfaithful towards him and claimed he had caught her cheating on him.

It was later revealed that even Reynolds wasn’t faithful towards Anderson. However, the actor cheated on her after discovering her extramarital affairs

While Loni Anderson initially told the press that she would not engage in a media war with her former husband for the sake of her son’s well-being, she later revealed that “there was pain” and “abuse” in their marriage due to Reynolds’ drug use.

Despite the media circus surrounding their divorce, the former lovebirds left the divorce court in 1994 hand-in-hand and smiled at the cameras. After that, however, their separation was anything but amicable. 

The lengthy divorce battle cost Reynolds more than $2 million, according to LA Times. The Golden Globe Award-nominated actor paid about $47,000 a month in divorce-related expenses and had to buy Loni Anderson a house while also paying $15,000 in monthly child support. 

However, this wasn’t the end of their nasty divorce. Reynolds sometimes failed to pay the $9,000 mortgage on the house he bought for Loni Anderson. Likewise, he could not pay the $15,000 monthly child support times. Finally, in 1995, the actor declared bankruptcy before fully paying Anderson the money he owed her.

Decades after their divorce, lawyers were still working on their case. Then, in September 2015, Burt Reynolds finally wrote Anderson a $154,520 check which finally ended the lengthy and nasty divorce battle. Even after this, Reynolds managed to bash Anderson one last time before his death and called his decision to marry her a “dumb move.”

Loni Anderson Children

Loni Anderson is an accomplished actress and is also a doting mother to her two children. Anderson has a daughter named Deidra Hoffman, who she welcomed shares with her former husband, Bruce Hasselberg. Deidra Hoffman was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2009. 

Loni Anderson with her son, Quinton Anderson Reynolds
Loni Anderson with her son, Quinton Anderson Reynolds

Loni Anderson and her third husband, Burt Reynolds, adopted a child named Quinton Anderson Reynolds, who was born on August 31, 1988. Quinton Anderson Reynolds works as an emergency medical technician (EMT). 

Loni Anderson Career

Loni, who had developed an interest in acting during her college years, apprenticed in local commercials and theater shows before her big break. During this time, she was still dark-haired, and she was yet to go blonde which would eventually establish as one of the most prominent sex symbols in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In the early 1970s, Loni Anderson was a part of many productions such as “Born Yesterday,” “Send Me No Flowers,” “Can-Can,” “The Star-Spangled Girl,” and “Fiddler on the Roof.” In 1966, Loni Anderson made her acting debut in the film “Nevada Smith” starring Steve McQueen. 

Following her debut, Loni struggled with finding work. She was virtually unemployed for almost a decade. Loni worked as a teacher to support her college education and provide for her baby daughter Deidre.

Anderson decided to relocate from Minnesota to Los Angeles in 1975. She decided to go blonde after moving to Los Angeles. 

Fortunately, this decision helped her secure minor but forgettable roles in TV series such as S.W.A.T., Police Woman, Barnaby Jones, The Bob Newhart Show, and Three’s Company. Through these roles, Loni was able to cement herself in the minds of the audiences as a sexy siren. 

1978 was the turning point in Loni Anderson’s career. She was cast as the sexy receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on WKRP in Cincinnati in 1978. 

She had also auditioned well for the role of Chrissy on the ABC sitcom Three’s Company. Although she couldn’t secure a role, in 1978, she guest-starred as Susan Walters on a season two episode of the sitcom. 

Loni Anderson bagged the role of Jennifer Marlowe after the producers of WKRP in Cincinnati saw a poster of her in a red swimsuit. Since her body shape was similar to Jayne Mansfield’sand since she was innocently sexy like Marilyn Monroe, the sitcom’s creator, Hugh Wilson, gave the role to Loni. 

Even though WKRP in Cincinnati didn’t fare well in the Nielsen ratings throughout its run, the sitcom gathered a strong fan following, especially among American teenagers, young adults, and disc jockeys. Loni Anderson, in particular, became a pop culture phenomenon. She was even named as the series’ “main attraction.” 

However, in 1980, Loni temporarily quit the sitcom after requesting a substantial salary increase. During the contract renegotiations, she bagged the starring role in the CBS made-for-television film The Jayne Mansfield Story, released in 1980.

Anderson eventually returned to the series after the network agreed to her salary increase requests. However, the popular sitcom was canceled in 1982.

In 1983, Loni Anderson starred in Stroker Ace alongside actor Burt Reynolds. However, the film was a critical and box office failure. After that, she appeared in The Lonely Guy and voiced Flo in the animated movie All Dogs Go to Heaven.

Loni Anderson and Burt Reynolds', Stroker Ace Poster
Loni Anderson and Burt Reynolds’, Stroker Ace Poster

Loni worked alongside Wonder Woman actress Lynda Carter in Partners in Crime’s TV series. During the mid-to-late 1980s, Anderson appeared in many television adaptations of classic Hollywood films, including A Letter to Three Wives and Sorry, Wrong Number.

Anderson played the role of comedian actress Thelma Todd in the television movie White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd, for which she received great praise from the audience and excellent critical review. Although Anderson had attempted to co-star with her husband Burt Reynolds on his new CBS sitcom Evening Shade, the network decided to replace Anderson with Marilu Henner. 

The actress was also offered to play the role of  Delta Burke’s replacement in the CBS sitcom Designing Women. Still, since the network refused to agree with Anderson’s salary requests, the casting decision never came to fruition.

Loni Anderson also reprised her role of Jennifer Marlowe on two episodes of The New WKRP in Cincinnati, which was a sequel to the original series. In 1993, Anderson played the role of Casey MacAffee in the NBC sitcom Nurses. In addition, she guest-starred on many television series, including Sabrina the Teenage Witch and VIP. 

Filmography

Loni Anderson Film:

YearTitleRole
1966Nevada SmithBrunette Saloon Girl
1976Vigilante ForcePeaches
1983Stroker AcePembrook Feeny
1984The Lonely GuyHerself
1989All Dogs Go to HeavenFlo
1992MunchieCathy
19983 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega MountainMedusa
1998A Night at the RoxburyBarbara Butabi

Loni Anderson Television films:

YearTitleRole
1977The Magnificent Magical Magnet of Santa MesaMrs. Daroon
1978Three on a DateAngela Ross
1980The Jayne Mansfield StoryJayne Mansfield
1981SizzleJulie Davis
1982Country GoldMollie Dean Purcell
1984My Mother’s Secret LifeEllen Blake
1985A Letter to Three WivesLora Mae Holloway
1986StrandedStacy Tweed
1987Blondie & DagwoodBlondie Bumstead (Voice)
1988NecessityLauren LaSalle
1988Whisper KillLiz Bartlett
1988Too Good to Be TrueEllen Berent
1989Sorry, Wrong NumberMadeleine Stevenson
1989Blondie & Dagwood: Second Wedding WorkoutBlondie Bumstead (Voice)
1990Coins in the FountainLeah
1990Blown AwayLauren
1991White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma ToddThelma Todd
1992The Price She PaidLacey
1994Gambler V: Playing for KeepsFanny Porter
1994Without WarningActress in the opening movie segment
1995Deadly Family SecretsMartha

Television series:

YearTitleRole
1975SWAT.Miss Texas
1975SWAT.Art Teacher
1975The Invisible ManAndrea Hanover
1975Harry OLinzy
1975PhyllisRita
1975Police WomanWaitress
1976Police StoryWaitress
1976Barnaby JonesDee Dee Danvers
1976Barnaby JonesJoanna Morgan
1976The McLean Stevenson ShowMrs. Swenson
1977The Bob Newhart ShowLeslie Greely
1977The Love BoatBarbie
1978–82WKRP in CincinnatiJennifer Marlowe
1978The Incredible HulkSheila Cantrell
1978Three’s CompanySusan Walters
1980The Love BoatPassenger
1980Fantasy IslandKim Holland
1984Partners in CrimeSydney Kovak
1985Amazing StoriesLove
1986–87Easy StreetLK. McGuire
1990B.L. StrykerDawn St. Claire
1991–92The New WKRP in CincinnatiJennifer Marlowe
1993Empty NestCasey MacAfee
1993–94NursesCasey MacAfee
1995Burke’s LawClaudia Loring
1995Women of the HouseLoni Anderson
1996Melrose PlaceTeri Carson
1997Sabrina, the Teenage WitchRacine
1998CluelessBarbara Collier
1999Movie StarsAudrey Wyatt
1999VIP.Carol Irons
2001Three SistersJanet
2003–04The MulletsMandi Mullet-Heidecker
2006So NotoriousKiki Spelling
2016Baby DaddyNana Lyle
2016–18My Sister Is So GayFrances
2017Love You MoreJean Carlyle-Dixon

Loni Anderson Awards and Nominations:

YearAwardCategoryNominated workStatus
1981Primetime EmmyOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Variety or Music SeriesWKRP in CincinnatiNominated
1980Primetime EmmyOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Variety or Music SeriesWKRP in CincinnatiNominated
1982Golden Globe AwardsBest Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or MusicalWKRP in CincinnatiNominated
1981Golden Globe AwardsBest Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or MusicalWKRP in CincinnatiNominated
1980Golden Globe AwardsBest Actress in a Supporting Role – Television SeriesWKRP in CincinnatiNominated
1983 Razzie Award Worst ActressStroker AceNominated
2007California Independent Film FestivalLifetime Achievement Award Herself Won
2016 LA Web Fest Outstanding Achievement AwardSupporting Actor: ComedyMy Sister Is So GayNominated

Loni Anderson Net Worth and Lifestyle

As of 2021, Loni Anderson’s net worth is approximately USD 12 Million. Owing to such astonishing net worth, there is no doubt that she leads quite a lavish lifestyle. 

Anderson earned a jaw-dropping USD 20,000 per episode from her work on the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati in her heyday. Currently, the blonde bombshell lives in her lavish  2,345 square feet mansion in Los Angeles, California, worth USD 2.6 Million.

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