Loretta Swit, best known for her portrayal of Major Margaret ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan on the legendary television show MAS*H, has died. She passed away in her home in New York City. She was 87 years old. Though death seemed to have been natural, no additional information has been released.
Swit’s career lasted many decades. She’ll certainly be best remembered for her groundbreaking role in MAS*H, which aired from 1972 to 1983. The series is a loose adaptation of Robert Altman’s 1970 film and Richard Hooker’s novel. It’s a vivid and unique portrayal of life in a mobile army surgical hospital during the Korean War. Swit replaced Sally Kellerman as Houlihan, who had played the character in the original film. Through her direction, the character evolved from a one-dimensional stereotype into a fully nuanced person.
Her choreography alone won her two Emmy Awards for her performances. They helped prove her incredible talent at injecting depth and humor into a character who once seemed to do little more than chase love interests. Swit herself noted the evolution of Houlihan over time, stating, “Around the second or third year I decided to try to play her as a real person, in an intelligent fashion, even if it meant hurting the jokes.”
Swit’s influence extended beyond her performances. She actively contributed to the character’s development. Her commitment to making Houlihan a real person had audiences and screenwriters falling in love. “To oversimplify it, I took each traumatic change that happened in her life and kept it,” she explained. “She was a character in constant flux. She never stopped developing.”
Besides her part in MASH, Swit temp starred as Christine Cagney in the Cagney & Lacey pilot movie. She left an indelible mark on the big screen with her roles in Race with the Devil and SOB. She appeared on episodic television, including a special two-part episode of The Love Boat featuring the entire original cast. Together with Alan Alda, she was one of the longest-serving cast members on MASH, which helped secure the show’s long-lasting legacy.
The series finale, which remains the end of the show to this day, aired on February 28th, 1983. It delighted those 100 million-plus people, astonishingly earning the record as the most-watched episode of any scripted series ever. It was celebrated for “the depth of its humor and the manner in which comedy is used to lift the spirit and, as well, to offer a profound statement on the nature of war,” according to a Peabody Award citation from 1975.
Loretta Swit’s legacy will be felt for decades to come. Her depiction of Major Houlihan brought joy and laughter to millions. In doing so, it opened the door for some of the most multifaceted female characters on TV in history.