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Loretta Swit, Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan on ‘M*A*S*H,’ Dies at 87
Hollywood Reporter ^ | 05/30/2025 | Lisa De Los Reyes

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 ...


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: hotlips; hotlipsobit; lorettaswit; lorettaswitobit; mash
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1 posted on 05/30/2025 12:50:21 PM PDT by DFG
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To: DFG

That finale was an amazing show. Rest in peace, Margaret.


2 posted on 05/30/2025 12:52:44 PM PDT by Luke21
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To: DFG

Aww! Sorry to hear that. RIP Ms. Swit.


3 posted on 05/30/2025 12:52:48 PM PDT by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
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To: DFG

This is sad to hear. Loved her in that role.


4 posted on 05/30/2025 12:52:58 PM PDT by woweeitsme
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To: DFG

RIP Major Houlihan.

She was in Hawaii Five 0, Mannix, and Mission Impossible among so many other things.


5 posted on 05/30/2025 12:56:09 PM PDT by wally_bert (I cannot be sure for certain, but in my personal opinion I am certain that I am not sure..)
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To: DFG

MASH was great television when television was still good.


6 posted on 05/30/2025 12:57:07 PM PDT by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: DFG

I saw her in about ‘98 in San Francisco.
Didn’t look very good as Hollywood surgery had made a mess of her face.
RIP


7 posted on 05/30/2025 12:57:15 PM PDT by Zathras
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To: DFG; lightman

Memory eternal!


8 posted on 05/30/2025 12:57:26 PM PDT by Honorary Serb (Kosovo is Serbia! Free Srpska! Abolish ICTY!)
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To: DFG

RIP Loretta. You were better than Alda.


9 posted on 05/30/2025 12:58:40 PM PDT by circlecity
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To: Magnum44

Agree with this. Even though it had a liberal slant, I still enjoyed it because it really gave some reality in a sense to war and how much it sucks.


10 posted on 05/30/2025 12:58:50 PM PDT by woweeitsme
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To: DFG

Needless to say, MASH was one of the greatest TV shows of all time.


11 posted on 05/30/2025 12:58:53 PM PDT by Dan in Wichita
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To: Magnum44

“MASH was great television when television was still good.”

When America was still America,


12 posted on 05/30/2025 1:02:14 PM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: DFG

Hard to believe, but I guess our TV and movie stars are forever young in our minds. Rest in peace, Loretta, and thanks for the tears and laughter over the years.


13 posted on 05/30/2025 1:05:40 PM PDT by fidelis (Ecce Crucem Domini! Fugite partes adversae! Vicit Leo de tribu Juda, Radix David! Alleluia!)
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To: circlecity

Radar’s teddybear was better than the preachy Alda


14 posted on 05/30/2025 1:06:31 PM PDT by Don W (When blacks riot, neighborhoods and cities burn. When whites riot, nations and continents burn)
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To: Magnum44

When Wayne Rogers left and they brought in Mike Farrell I thought it lost some edge.

Larry Linville left which kind of soften the jokes with no Frank to pick on.

Harry Morgan was a good replacement for the Colonel.

Gary Burghoff, Radar, was the only actor both in the movie and TV series.


15 posted on 05/30/2025 1:06:47 PM PDT by Fledermaus ("It turns out all we really needed was a new President!")
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To: DFG

That was one of the many extremely effective leftwing shows, easy to watch and heavy on the casting/writing imagery and messaging.


16 posted on 05/30/2025 1:06:52 PM PDT by ansel12 ((NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon, bemoaning the pro-Russians from Vietnam to Ukraine.))
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To: Dan in Wichita
Needless to say...

Then why did you say it?

Just joshin' with you, Dan. 😁

17 posted on 05/30/2025 1:07:30 PM PDT by fidelis (Ecce Crucem Domini! Fugite partes adversae! Vicit Leo de tribu Juda, Radix David! Alleluia!)
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To: DFG

I liked the show when I was younger but it’s lost its appeals in reruns

This show should have closed it’s doors after Colonel Blake was killed
and Trapper John left. The latter years were just tired rehashing old story lines but with new targets.

Sally kellerman was a sexier pick for”Hot Lips”!

And notice how their liberal attacks on Burns and later Winchester are never considered “bullying”
This might still be made only because both are considered “fair targets”
The movie was far better than the show.


18 posted on 05/30/2025 1:10:51 PM PDT by RedMonqey (Trump, the once and future president!)
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To: RedMonqey

I agree, it doesn’t age well.


19 posted on 05/30/2025 1:11:53 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: dfwgator

Glad I’m not the only one.
But another show during that same era is still entertaining, “All In Family”
Archie was meant to the buffoonish bigot but seems to always get the best lines, despite the producers leftist bias
But in MASH, Alsa had to be the center character with all the best lines
It got tiresome.


20 posted on 05/30/2025 1:18:21 PM PDT by RedMonqey (Trump, the once and future president!)
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