Actress Bonnie Franklin Dies In Los Angeles [VIDEO]

Sad news today out of Los Angeles as the family of actress Bonnie Franklin reported that she has died at the age of 69.  Last September the family announced that she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and she lost her battle today in her home.

Bonnie was best know for her role in the popular sitcom 'One Day At A Time'.  The show ran for 9 years before ending its run in 1984.   According to Entertainment Weekly, the show was developed by Norman Lear and co-created by Whitney Blake – herself a former sitcom star and single mother raising future actress Meredith Baxter – the series was groundbreaking for its focus on a young divorced mother seeking independence from a suffocating marriage.

It premiered on CBS in December 1975, just five years after the network had balked at having Mary Tyler Moore play a divorced woman on her own comedy series, insisting that newly single Mary Richards be portrayed as having ended her engagement instead.

On her own in Indianapolis, Ann Romano was raising two teenage girls – played by Mackenzie Phillips, already famous for the film American Graffiti, and a previously unknown Valerie Bertinelli. One Day At a Time ran on CBS until 1984, by which time both daughters had grown and married, while Romano had remarried and become a grandmother.

I can remember watching this show growing up as it was a favorite of my sisters.  I was outnumbered and they controlled the TV more times than not.  That's also why I know way too much about 'Little House On The Prairie'.

Here's a trip down memory lane.  RIP Bonnie.