Loni Anderson Will Chat “WKRP in Cincinnati” in Palm Springs Event
GREG ARCHER Amber Juarez Derrik J. Lang Isabelle Freguia Maggie Downs
Loni Anderson busted stereotypes with her role on “WKRP in Cincinnati”, and how that independence served her well in her personal life.
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Palm Springs Life
Loni Anderson was an established, “serious” actress when she morphed into the role of Jennifer Marlowe in WKRP in Cincinnati, putting her own spin on the character and busting stereotypes by playing a “smart” blonde. The hit 1970s CBS sitcom, which earned her three Golden Globe Awards and two Emmy Award nominations, launched her celebrity and transformed her into one of the most memorable sex symbols of the late 1970s and ‘80s.

PHOTOGRAPH BY RON GALELLA

Loni Anderson on being married to Burt Reynolds: “We’d been together through thick and thin with him in and out of addiction. It wasn’t a secret, he was a troubled guy, a mega movie star — No. 1 at the box office for five years. I was enamored of him when he first started asking me out, but I said no for about a year.”

“Bob and I are really connected,” she admits, “I first met him when I was a teenager. I told my mother, ‘He’s so funny. You could be just in the cabin in the woods, and you wouldn’t even need a TV.’ I wish she was here because here’s the cabin in the woods—now, during a time when you have to like somebody so much that you can spend every day with them and it’s still new, fresh, and you toast each other with your coffee every morning, and say, ‘Here’s to another day of us being together and making it the best day we can possibly make it.’”

Exactly. My ex-husband, who was up for the part of Andy Travis, said, “They’re going to call you in for this receptionist.” I looked at the script and said, ‘Yeah, but I don’t want to be window dressing.’ When they did call me in, I just kept saying no. After about the third time of calling for me to read, my agent, a smart man, said, “You know, this is MTM. They have other shows. So, I met with (producer) Hugh (Wilson) and Grant Tinker, and I was on my little soap box telling them, “I don’t want to play anything like that. I’m on the edge of becoming a blond but I’ve been a brunette all my life and I’m taken seriously as an actress. This is not the way I want to end up—as some air head blonde.”

Well, now I’m on the spot because I didn’t rehearse. I told them, “Well I think it’s about time glamorous women were smart.” In 1978, that was not a big thing. They asked me to read in that [smart] way, but it wasn’t written that way. I thought I was going to blow it. I read it and then—silence in the room. Afterward, I went to the parking lot and cried, thinking, “They’ll never have me back at MTM!” When I got home, my husband told me my agent called. I got the job. When I met with Hugh, he said, “I want to make Jennifer look like Lana Turner and be the smartest person in the room.” I went to the hair salon and said, “OK, make me a blonde. Platinum.”

It was a simpler time. We all gathered for “destination television,” which no longer exists. There were three networks. Three hours of prime time. That was it. But I also think what Hugh did with the show was make the humor come out of the story and not out of the joke because jokes get dated and a story that has a humor never goes out of style.

The crew and actors were cracking up over the voice I used. I was feeling very “full of myself.” But Steve pulled me aside and said, “You do that so well. You must stop, or you’ll never do anything else.”

The fact that I didn’t marry him until we decided to have a child [Quinton] was kind of indicative of how I felt about marriage. I didn’t think it was necessary, but it was necessary if we were going to adopt a child. We’d been together through thick and thin with him in and out of addiction. It wasn’t a secret, he was a troubled guy, a mega movie star—No. 1 at the box office for five years. I was enamored of him when he first started asking me out, but I said no for about a year.

His demons and drugs. What people don’t know is that he would call me in the middle of the night, and I’d think, “You just said the worst things in the world about me, and here you are?” After our divorce, I became more of a mother figure for him. He trusted me, but you have to blame somebody if things are going wrong. And, if you’re “altered,” who’s the closest person to blame? Me. So, I just kept quiet because when somebody is altered, that’s a war you can’t win. So, I just took the high road and thought, “It’s tabloid fodder that will go away and he won’t remember what he said. Depending on what day you caught Burt, it was wonderful—or horrible.

That I can say whatever I feel and it’s OK. This is who I am, and if you don’t like it, fine. And: Don’t hold onto any anger or resentment because it only makes you old and sick. Think of the best things instead of the worst. I learned that over the last three years since Burt died. In the end, we were in contact, and I thank him every day for all the wonderful things he brought into my life. Quinton, number one, but all the experiences and friends. Some of the greatest stories I have are because of Burt. So, I always say, “Thank you, Burt.” And to all those other experiences you’ve had in your life—take the best from them. Let the other stuff go.