Posted on 05/30/2025 12:50:21 PM PDT by DFG
Loretta Swit, the actress and animal activist forever known for her pioneering turn as the disciplined Maj. Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan on the acclaimed CBS sitcom M*A*S*H, has died. She was 87.
According to a police report, Swit died just after midnight Friday of suspected natural causes at her home in New York City, her publicist, Harlan Boll, announced.
Swit won two Emmys for her portrayal of the Army nurse — she was nominated 10 times, every year the show was on the air except the first — and appeared on 240 of the series’ 251 episodes during its sensational 11-season run.
Adapting the character from Sally Kellerman‘s film portrayal of the lusty powerhouse, Swit was one of only two actors (along with Alan Alda as Hawkeye Pierce) to have a role in both the pilot and series finale of M*A*S*H.
That finale, which aired Feb. 28, 1983, attracted a record of nearly 106 million viewers, and a 35-second kiss between Swit and Alda during that episode has been called the most expensive in television history, based on its length and the ad revenue per minute.
As a tough, by-the-book major, Swit’s Houlihan was a rare strong woman on television. “She was [unique] at the time and in her time, which was the ’50s, when [the Korean War] was happening,” Swit said in a 2004 discussion for the TV Academy Foundation website The Interviews: An Oral History of Television.
“And she became even more unique, I think, because we allowed her to continue to grow — we watched her evolve. I don’t think that’s ever been done in quite that way.”
(Excerpt) Read more at hollywoodreporter.com ...
She had a good, long run and Fame & Fortune. She was excellent as Major Houlihan.
Always loved the episodes most where you got to see her, ‘humanity’ under her bravado and military bearing.
But how she saw anything of value in Frank Burns always amazed me, LOL!
We know we’re getting old when people from our favorite TV shows start passing. :(
Yes. Heartbreaking.
He was also in “The Flim Flam Man” as the sheriff looking for Doodles the moonshiner, as I recall. One of George C Scotts masterpieces along with “Patton”.
It got increasingly more leftist through the years.
My dad never missed it and he served in France during the Korean War.
I watched “The Film Flam Man” about a year ago. I forgot he was the sheriff. Great movie!
“ RIP Loretta. You were better than Alda.”
Tougher too:)
Yeah...it made Army officers, in some cases, look like idiots. I’m sure there WAS some of that, but, I agree that it mocked the military, which is uncalled for.
One of the episodes I really remember was the one where BJ was awarded a decoration and how it kind of hit him hard because he didn’t know if the guy he was going to save was dead or alive. He spoke about how he and Hawkeye mock the military and it actually showed a different slant to it...him feeling guilty for doing that.
And, I’m not a fan of Alda’s politics at all. I’m sure they all shared those views but the other folks seemed to keep it to themselves mostly.
I’ll bet 106,000 million TVs were not tuned to MASH if that epsoide was so expensive after revenues...
Alan has been full of himself ever since; insufferable twit. I can take him small doses. MASH was hard for me to watch until I was in my 50s, but in the period it was aired, I wouldn’t watch if you paid me.
RIP
Such a loss
It was a wonderfully humorous show...
Top-notch entertainment scripting...
Yes indeed, but it barely represented the true conditions during the Korean War...
I am sure she was a slut. She had affairs with married men. She made no bones or tried to hide. If that’s the definition of strong then let the left go their.
Her name says it all - a “Major” Who la hand” and in majorly who all’s hands - but I liked her more than the sniveling doctor Frank she had affection for... Hot Lips says it all too.
Someone mentioned it was offensive to the military. WAC’s at the time thought she made them all look like war-whores in uniform. Of course she did, it was Hollyweird.
I never saw it when I was in the Army and not until long after; when I watched I was always aware that it was a kick in the nuts the military at the time. Right up there will calling us Baby Killers.
May she rest in peace. I enjoyed watching her on that show.
Tina Louise, who played "Ginger" in Gilligan's Island is the only main character from that show still alive today. She's 91.
Now that is depressing!
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She was not a fan of the show, and detested Alan Alda. She was more of a Tom Selleck fan.
Yes, she was! Alda got very annoying as the series proceeded.
I found Alda and Farrell very annoying as time went on.
Oh my love, my love….
RIP Major Houlihan
I watched “The Film Flam Man” about a year ago. I forgot he was the sheriff. Great movie!
+++++++++++++
Blast from the past. I loved the Flim Flam Man. Moonshine, railroads, old pickup trucks and a pretty girl somewhere in there.
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