LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Actress Lynne Marta, who appeared in the movies "Footloose" and "Joe Kid" and the television series "Love, American Style," has died at the age of 78, it was reported Tuesday.
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Marta died Thursday in her Los Angeles home after a battle with cancer, her friend Chris Saint-Hilaire told The Hollywood Reporter.
Marta was born in Somerville, New Jersey, on Oct. 30, 1945. Her career began in the 1960s with small guest-starring television roles. She appeared on the syndicated dance program "The Lloyd Thaxton Show" and landed a few episodes of "Gidget" and "The Monkees."
Marta eventually landed a job as a regular supporting player on the ABC anthology show "Love, American Style." Each stand-alone episode featured multiple stories of romance with various characters, stories and locations.
She also appeared in shows including "The F.B.I.," "Cannon," "Medical Center," "The Streets of San Francisco," "Barnaby Jones," "Trapper John, M.D." and Vega$.
Marta was also seen on episodes of "The Mod Squad," "The Rookies," and "Starsky & Hutch." She had a musical background and composed and sang the song "Nobody Loves You Quite Like You Do" for a 1978 episode of "Starsky & Hutch."
Marta had a relationship with "Starsky & Hutch" star David Soul, who died Jan. 4. She appeared with him in 1977 on his "David Soul and Friends" TV special.
Her first film role was a small supporting part in the 1971 drama "Red Sky at Morning." Other early '70s film roles came alongside Clint Eastwood in the John Sturges Western "Joe Kidd," and as the wife of a famous race car driver in "43: The Richard Petty Story." Marta also performed on the soundtrack for the racing film.
Marta portrayed Lulu Warnicker, the aunt of Kevin Bacon's Ren, in the popular 1984 movie "Footloose."
In addition to "Footloose," she had a role in the 1990 comedy "Three Men and a Little Lady" and the thriller "Time of Fear" in 2002.
Marta continued making TV appearances throughout the '80s and '90s, such as the TV movie "Sleeping with the Devil" and the soap opera "Days of Our Lives."
She lived on the same floor as actress Rebecca Schaeffer, who was fatally shot by obsessed fan Robert John Bardo in July 1989.
"The door shook, the wall shook," she said in testimony reported by the Los Angeles Times. "The cat went up into the air. I fell to my knees and crawled into the bedroom. Then, I heard Rebecca's first scream."
Marta's survivors include her sister, MJ.
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