Hollywood actress Lynne Marta, best known for her role as the aunt of Kevin Bacon's character in 1984's "Footloose," passed away last week at the age of 78, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Her death was revealed by her close friend, Chris Saint-Hilaire, who shared that Marta died in her home in Los Angeles, California, on January 12 following a lengthy battle with cancer.

Marta passed just about a week after the death of her ex-boyfriend, David Soul, one of the stars of "Starsky & Hutch," one of dozens of popular TV series she made guest appearances on.

A "beautiful light" extinguished

The passing of Marta was also confirmed by a touching tribute from her friend, Hollywood editor and producer Joan Sobel, who wrote in a Facebook post, "We lost a beautiful light today. My friend, Lynne Marta lost her good fight."

"A wonderfully talented actress and a beautiful singer whose voice was of the angels. A dear heart who adored her friends both human and furry. I will miss her terribly," Sobel added.

Born in 1945 in New Jersey, Marta got her start in the entertainment industry in the 1960s with a gig as a teen dancer on "The Lloyd Thaxton Show," and in 1966 made appearances in TV shows like "Gidget" and "The Monkees."

Her first steady job came in 1969 when she appeared in 18 episodes as a player on the "Love, American Style" anthology program.

Appeared on dozens of popular TV series

According to Marta's IMDb page, the actress had 68 credited appearances during her decades-long career in Hollywood, including films like 1984's "Footloose," 1972's "Joe Kidd" alongside actors Clint Eastwood and Robert Duvall, and 1990's "Three Men and a Little Lady" alongside actors Ted Danson, Steve Guttenberg, and Tom Selleck.

Most of her work was single guest appearances on popular TV series, including "Mod Squad," "Gunsmoke," "Marcus Welby, MD," "Kojak," "The Rockford Files," "CHiPs," "Knight Rider," "Law & Order," "The Young & The Restless," "ER," and most recently, "American Dreams," plus many more.

Marta also scored repeat appearances on several TV shows, such as "The F.B.I.," "Medical Center," "Barnaby Jones," "Starsky & Hutch," "Charlie's Angels," "Designing Women," and "Days of Our Lives," among others.

It was on "Starsky & Hutch" that Marta met and developed what came to be a long-running "open relationship" with that show's star David Soul, according to People magazine, and though Soul was married to another actress named Karen Carlson at the time, "David and Lynne lived together but spent time with other people."

Famously witnessed and testified about a murder

THR noted that Marta also had a much darker claim to fame in that she witnessed the 1989 murder of popular actress Rebecca Schaeffer, who lived nearby in the same apartment building, by an obsessed fan named Robert John Bardo.

Marta called 911 as the murder was occurring and later testified at Bardo's trial in 1991 and helped secure his conviction.

She never had any children and is survived only by her sister MJ and her cat named Mr. Peaches, per THR.