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 rose to fame for refusing to portray the stereotypical "dumb blonde" character on the sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati."