Frank Bonner of ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’ dies at 79

LOS ANGELES — Frank Bonner, who played a brash salesman with an affection for polyester plaid suits on the TV comedy “WKRP in Cincinnati,” has died. He was 79.

Bonner died Wednesday from complications of Lewy body dementia, said his daughter, Desiree Boers-Kort. The actor died at his home in Laguna Niguel, south of Los Angeles.

He had been diagnosed about three years ago with the disease that leads to worsening mental and physical complications.

“WKRP in Cincinnati” aired from 1978 to -1982 and was set in a lagging Ohio radio station trying to reinvent itself with rock. The cast included Gary Sandy, Tim Reid, Howard Hesseman and Jan Smithers, alongside Bonner as subpar ad salesman Herb Tarlek.

Loni Anderson, who played the station’s empowered receptionist Jennifer, said she was “heartbroken” over his death.

“Frank Bonner was like family,” Anderson said in a statement. “He was one of the funniest men I had the pleasure of working with, and he was the nicest man I have ever known.”

Boers-Kort said her father valued his time on the sitcom in part because it led him toward the career he favored over acting — directing. After taking on that job for six episodes of “WKRP,” he went on to direct more than a dozen other 1980s and 1990s shows including “Simon & Simon,” “Who’s the Boss” and “Saved by the Bell: The New Class.”