‘Footloose’ actress Lynne Marta has died aged 78.
The star, who played Lulu Warnicker in the hit 1984 film alongside Kevin Bacon, 65, was also a TV regular, and passed away at her Los Angeles home from cancer on Thursday. (11.01.24)
Her death came to light on Tuesday (16.01.24) night when her friend Chris Saint-Hilaire told The Hollywood Reporter of her passing.
The New Jersey-born actress and singer appeared on episodes of smash TV shows including ‘The Mod Squad’, ‘Starsky and Hutch’ and ‘The Streets of San Francisco’.
Born 30 October, 1945 in Somerville, New Jersey, Lynne was the youngest of two daughters.
Her dad George, was commissioner of air and water pollution for the State of New Jersey and she started her career on the syndicated teen dance series ‘The Lloyd Thaxton Show’ and appeared in episodes of ‘Gidget’ and ‘The Monkees’ in 1966.
In 1973 she starred in a pilot for an ABC sci-fi series, ‘Genesis II’, written by ‘Star Trek’ creator Gene Roddenberry, which was not picked up.
Her other TV roles included parts on ‘Kojak’, ‘The Rockford Files’, ‘Knight Rider’, ‘Law and Order’ and soap operas such as ‘The Young and the Restless’ and ‘Days of Our Lives’.
She also appeared in the 1990 box office hit ‘Three Men and a Little Lady’.
Lynne had what People in 1983 described as an “open relationship” with ‘Starsky and Hutch’ star David Soul while he was married to actress Karen Carlson, with the magazine saying: “All through the ‘Starsky and Hutch’ years, David and Lynne lived together but spent time with other people.”
In July 1989, Lynne was in her apartment a few feet down the hall from where young actress Rebecca Schaeffer was fatally shot by obsessed fan Robert John Bardo.
She said in court testimony: “The door shook, the wall shook. The cat went up into the air. I fell to my knees and crawled into the bedroom. Then, I heard Rebecca’s first scream.
“She was still screaming while I was talking to 911. By the time I got to the door, she was wailing. I opened the small hatch in my door. There was a smell I’ll never forget: the smell of gunfire. It was quiet except for light moaning.”
Lynne is survived by her sister, MJ.