Footloose and Starsky & Hutch star Lynne Marta dies at 78, only weeks after the death of her ex David Soul

Footloose and Starsky & Hutch star Lynne Marta has died at the age of 78. Her death comes only weeks after her former partner actor David Soul, who starred in Starsky & Hutch, died at the age of 80. The pair had a relationship when he was still married at the time to actress Karen Carlson and she told People in 1983 that they had an ‘open relationship’.

Lynne Marta’s friend Chris Saint-Hilaire told The Hollywood Reporter that the actress had passed away at her Los Angeles home after a battle with cancer. As well as starring in Footloose and Starsky & Hutch, The Hollywood Reporter stated that “The New Jersey native also showed up on episodes of such Aaron Spelling-produced series as The Mod Squad, The Rookies, Starsky & Hutch, Charlie’s Angels, Vega$ and Matt Houston and on Quinn Martin productions like The F.B.I., Dan August, Cannon, The Streets of San Francisco, Barnaby Jones, The Manhunter and Caribe.”

Lynne Marta starred opposite Clint Eastwood in the 1972 film Joe Kidd and played the character of Elma, who was the partner of landowner Frank Harlan, who was played by Robert Duvall. In the hit film Footloose, she played the role of Lulu Warnicker, who was the aunt of Kevin Bacon’s character Ren. 

Lynne Marta was married to the late actor Brick Huston between 1968 to 1975 and he passed away in 2018. She is survived by her sister MJ and her cat, Mr. Peaches. 

Lynne Marta was a witness to the murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer. The New York Post reported that “Marta lived in an apartment down the hall from actress Rebecca Schaeffer and in July 1989, heard Schaeffer be murdered by an obsessed fan.” In her testimony Marta said that “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 went on to say in her testimony that “There was a smell I’ll never forget: the smell of gunfire. It was quiet except for light moaning.”

How to watch Starsky & Hutch

It is possible to buy Starsky & Hutch on Amazon Video, Apple TV and Microsoft Store as download

How to watch Footloose

 Footloose is available to watch on Paramount+ (subscription required)