Loni Kaye Anderson (born August 5, 1945) is an American actress. She played receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on the CBS sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–1982), which earned her three Golden Globe Awards and two Emmy Award nominations. Early life Anderson was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of Klaydon Carl "Andy" Anderson, an environmental chemist, and Maxine Hazel (née Kallin), a model. She grew up in suburban Roseville, Minnesota. As a senior at Alexander Ramsey Senior High School in Roseville, she was voted Valentine Queen of the Valentine's Day Winter Formal of 1963. As she says in her autobiography, My Life in High Heels, her father was originally going to name her Leiloni, but realized that when she got to her teen years, it was likely to be twisted into "Lay Loni"—so it was changed to simply Loni. Career Her acting debut came with a bit part in the film Nevada Smith (1966), starring Steve McQueen. After that, she was virtually unemployed as an actress for nearly a decade, before she finally received guest roles on television series in the mid-1970s. She appeared in two episodes of S.W.A.T., then on the sitcom Phyllis, and the detective series Police Woman and Harry O. She auditioned well for the role of Chrissy on the popular sitcom Three's Company. She did not win the role, but in 1978 guest-starred as Susan Walters on a season two episode, an appearance that brought her to the attention of the ABC network. Anderson's most famous acting role came as the sultry receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–1982). She was offered the role when producers saw a poster of her in a red swimsuit—a pose similar to Farrah Fawcett's famous 1976 poster. The sitcom's creator, Hugh Wilson, later said Anderson got the role because her body resembled Jayne Mansfield's, and because she possessed the innocent sexuality of Marilyn Monroe. Although the series suffered in the Nielsen ratings throughout most of its four-year run, it had a strong following among teens, young adults and disc jockeys. Owing to her rising popularity as the series' so-called "main attraction", Anderson walked out on the sitcom during the 1980 summer hiatus, requesting a substantial salary increase. While she was renegotiating her contract, she starred in the CBS made-for-television film The Jayne Mansfield Story (1980). When the network agreed to her requests, she returned to the series and