Meredith Baxter

Bonnie Franklin, the pert, redheaded actress whom millions came to identify with for her role as divorced mom Ann Romano on the long-running sitcom "One Day at a Time," has died.She died Friday at her home due to complications from pancreatic cancer, family members said in a statement. She was 69. Her family had announced she was diagnosed with cancer in September.Franklin was a veteran stage and television performer before "One Day At a Time" made her a star.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 divorcee on her own comedy series, insisting that newly single Mary Richards be portrayed as having ended her engagement instead.On her own in Indiana...

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