Who were Loni Anderson’s parents? Actress became COPD advocate after devastating illness claimed parents' lives

The personal life of Loni Anderson, who recently passed away after suffering a prolonged illness, has gained attention among her fans.

The actress was best known for her role as Jennifer Marlowe on the late 1970s TV show WKRP in Cincinnati. According to a report in The Daily Beast, she died in a Los Angeles hospital on August 3, 2024, surrounded by her family and loved ones.

According to her IMDb bio, her mother was Maxine Hazel Kallin, a former model, and her father was Klaydon Carl "Andy" Anderson, an environmental chemist. She was born to them on August 5, 1945, in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Her parents suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as mentioned in a report by The New York Post. After experiencing the horror of their demise due to the disease, Loni Anderson became a COPD advocate, raising awareness about it.

Anderson is survived by her fourth husband, folk singer and musician Bob Flick, a founding member of the folk band The Brothers Four. The couple got married in 2008.

She is also survived by her daughter, Diedra Hoffman, son Quinton Anderson Reynolds, her daughter’s husband, Chris Hoffman, their kids - Megan and McKenzie, stepson Adam, and step-grandchildren Felix and Maximilian.

Keep reading to know more.

How did Loni Anderson’s parents die?

Loni Anderson’s parents, Maxine Hazel Kallin and Klaydon Carl "Andy" Anderson, were chain smokers and smoked “over four packs of cigarettes a day” since their teenage years, Anderson revealed in an interview, per The New York Post.

She believed that their early deaths were a result of their unhealthy lifestyle. She said that her mother, Maxine, died of liver and pancreatic cancer at the age of 58, and her father fell victim to prostate cancer and passed away at the age of 53. They are described as part of the 1950s cocktail-and-cigarette generation.

“I can still see my mother in a big picture hat, a cigarette in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. She’d wave her hands while she talked, and suddenly, zzztt, there’d be a cigarette hole burned into the hat brim,” Loni Anderson shared.

Her father was diagnosed with chronic bronchitis in his early 30s, and in his 40s, his breathing rate deteriorated to the point that the doctors warned him to quit smoking or he would need an oxygen tank. In his later years, he quit smoking but eventually started to smoke again after his cancer diagnosis.

She recalled how, during his last days, he took help from his nurse to light a cigarette. Her mother continued to smoke after being diagnosed with chronic bronchitis, but quit after her diagnosis of cancer. Loni Anderson and her sister, Andrea, were also diagnosed with asthma.

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After becoming the caregiver of her parents, Loni Anderson joined the National Lung Health Education Program, which raised awareness of COPD and the harmful effects of smoking. She described how she was shocked to witness that her parents continued to smoke despite their severe respiratory symptoms.

She said in an interview that after experiencing the addiction of her parents towards smoking, she decided to make her son, who never got to know his grandparents, “a part of my fight.”

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