Loni Anderson Got Her Acting Start Playing Two Roles On ABC's Short-Lived '70s Cop Show

Three years before she landed her career-defining role as Jennifer Marlowe on the hit CBS sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati," the late Loni Anderson made her TV debut in the form of two very different guest spots on ABC's gritty action-procedural, "S.W.A.T."

Running for just two seasons between 1975 and 1976, the Aaron Spelling-produced drama followed Lt. Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson (Steve Forrest), and his tight-knit Special Weapons and Tactics team, as they handled heavily armed threats across Southern California. Anderson made her first professional TV appearance during Season 1, Episode 9, "The Steel-Plated Security Blanket." The plot centered on a trio of thieves who stole an armored car and hatched a plan to swipe $2 million worth of jewelry from the Miss American Beauty Pageant.

Anderson strutted onto the screen as the glowing Miss Texas. The episode also featured an early career Farrah Fawcett, who guest-starred as the radiant Miss New Mexico. After Fawcett's character wins the pageant, Miss Texas can be seen asking Miss Arizona, "Do we have to congratulate her?" But the celebration is eventually interrupted by the crooks, who take Miss New Mexico hostage.

Clearly making an impression on the producers, Loni Anderson returned for the Season 2 premiere, "Deadly Tide: Part 1." This time around, she swapped her pageant sash for some canvas and paint, playing an art teacher. The episode's plot follows Hondo's crew as they hunt down a dangerous gang of jewel thieves who pull off robberies and make clean getaways underwater using SCUBA gear. 

In her brief scene, Officer Dominic Luca (Mark Shera) approaches an art teacher who is teaching a scenic painting class on the docks not too far from a crime scene. He tells her, "I bet you started out as a model," to which she deflects with, "I bet I started out as a baby." After the flirtatious exchange, he then asks her if she's seen any of the suspects he's looking for. It's a brief scene, but Anderson's glowing on-screen charisma is on full display. 

While the 1975 crime drama only lasted for two seasons, "S.W.A.T." would later be rebooted in 2017, and spawn a 2025 spin-off with "S.W.A.T.: Exiles." As for Anderson, in the years that followed her debut in the 1975 original, she went on to make guest appearances on shows like "The Incredible Hulk," "Three's Company," and "The Love Boat." In 1978, she skyrocketed to mega-stardom as blonde receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on "WKRP in Cincinnati," a defining role that earned her multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and cemented her status as an '80s television legend.