Bonnie Franklin, Star of "One Day at a Time" Dies of Prancreatic Cancer at 69 - East Idaho News
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Bonnie Franklin, Star of “One Day at a Time” Dies of Prancreatic Cancer at 69

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(LOS ANGELES) — GETTY E 092512 BonnieFranklin?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1362168929400Photo by Jim Spellman/WireImageBonnie Franklin, best known for her role as a single mom on the ’70s-’80s sitcom One Day at a Time died at her Los Angeles home Friday morning surrounded by her family of complications from pancreatic cancer, which was diagnosed last August. She was 69 years old.

The actress revealed her diagnosis in September, and that she was undergoing treatment.

On One Day at a Time, which was developed by Norman Lear and aired from 1975 to 1984, Franklin was groundbreaking as Ann Romano, the single mother of two daughters, who were played by Valerie Bertinelli and Mackenzie Phillips.

The show was an anthem for a generation grappling with difficult issues never portrayed before on a sitcom. When the show was in its prime, millions tuned into watch TV’s first realistic portrayal of a divorced mother struggling to raise her teenage daughters.

“The truth of the matter was…we were reflecting what was out there. It just hadn’t been on television before,” Franklin told ABC’s Good Morning America last year when the cast reunited. “You can do all these heavyweight subjects that are important, but you have got to do it with humor.”

Franklin was nominated for an Emmy and two Golden Globes for her role on the show. She also directed two episodes.

Franklin was born January 6, 1944, in Santa Monica, California. Her mother and father were Jewish immigrants, from Romania and Russia respectively. She got her start on television at age 9 tap dancing with Donald O’Connor on the Colgate Comedy Hour.

Before her role in One Day at a Time, she starred in several theater productions in New York, even earning a Tony nomination in 1970 for her show-stopping performance in the original production of the Broadway musical Applause.

The actress was married to playwright Ronald Sossi from 1967 to 1970. She married film producer Marvin Minoff in 1980 after they worked on the movie Portrait of a Rebel: Margaret Sanger, together. Their marriage lasted until Minoff’s death in 2009. Franklin had no children.

A private memorial service will be held Monday.

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