Remembering Loni Anderson: A Wyoming Radio DJ’s Tribute

The world lost yet another one of our exalted celebrities after the passing of actress Loni Anderson on Sunday, August 3rd, 2025, just two days before what would have been here 80th birthday.

Anderson was featured in many a television show throughout her career, which spans almost fifty years, but she was probably most known for playing the smoking hot receptionist, Jennifer Marlowe, the 1970s sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati.

That show is single-handled responsible for me wanting to get into radio (even if it did take me decades longer than I wanted to get my foot in the door), and wanting to become a disc jockey.

While several of the mostly male-led cast drove me to this obsession for radio, it was also refreshing to see an intelligent and classy blonde being betrayed for more than just her looks, especially during a time in this country when that wasn't always the case. Anderson's character help keep the fictional radio show's manager, Arthur Carlson (played by the late Gordon Jump), in line, and she would often respond with a quick and hilarious quip with the male actors, usually after they said something semi-chauvinistic.

You can get a real feel for her character in the video below.

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It would not be an exaggeration to say she was one of my first celebrity crushes (right up there with Lynda Carter who played Wonder Woman and Catherine Bach who played Daisy Duke in The Dukes of Hazard).

In addition to her many television and film rolls, she also lead her voice to the 1989 animated kid's film, All Dogs Go to Heaven.

We have been losing so many of our celebrities, and for this child of the 70s (and 80s), it has really hit home.

R.I.P. - Loni Anderson... you will be greatly missed.