LOS ANGELES (AP) — Loni Anderson, who played a struggling radio station’s empowered receptionist on the hit TV comedy “WKRP in Cincinnati,” died Sunday, just days before her 80th birthday. Anderson died at a Los Angeles hospital following a prolonged illness, said her longtime publicist, Cheryl J. Kagan.

Loni Anderson -- known for her role as receptionist Jennifer in "WKRP in Cincinnati" and for her real-life marriage to late actor Burt Reynolds -- has died.

She received two Emmy noms for being "the smartest person in the room" on the CBS sitcom and tons of tabloid attention for her 1988-94 marriage to Burt Reynolds.