She was Jayne Mansfield. She was Thelma Todd. She was most importantly, WKRP’s all-powerful receptionist Jennifer Marlowe. The St. Paul, Minnesota native was, impossibly, just two days shy of her 80th birthday at the time of her passing this Sunday. Loni Anderson was my #2 screen siren, in order of appearance – and in 1984, God Almighty answered my prayers and paired her with my Number One – Lynda Carter – in a good, but sadly short-lived TV series. Separately and together, Loni and Lynda made my school days a bit more tolerable.
That Loni became famous for being Burt Reynolds’ wife was and is a source of chagrin. It was a role that all but killed her career; she deserved better. Loni was known for her bosom (ironically surgically reduced long before she became a star), but my attraction – my sentimentality – went beyond a pretty face, a blonde wig and glorious cleavage. From the beginning, I guessed that Loni parlayed a lot of her true nature, her personality, into the character of Jennifer Marlowe: kind, compassionate and really smart. I still believe that.
Upon waking from this Sunday’s nap, my wife informed me in passing of her passing. It seemed that my heart stopped, just for a split second. Deborah didn’t know; how could she? My wife never saw my bedroom closet’s door, circa 1980 – and wasn’t alongside me in marveling at a woman who commanded, not stole, every scene she graced in one of the great tv shows of my generation.
Loni, you were really something else.
