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NEW YORK, N.Y. () — Loretta Swit, the two-time Emmy Award-winning actress best known for her role as Major Margret ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan on “M.A.S.H.” has died. She was 87.
Swit appeared in all but 11 episodes of the series, nearly four times longer than the Korean War itself. She pushed for a better representation for women.
“One of the things I liked, with Loretta’s prodding, was every time I had a chance to write for her character, we’d get away from the Hot Lips angle and find out more about who Margaret was. She became more of a real person,” Alda told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018.
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FILE – Actress Loretta Swit arrives at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ 3rd Annual Television Academy Honors in Beverly Hills, Calif., Wednesday, May 5, 2010. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File) -
FILE – Actress Loretta Swit poses in Los Angeles, Calif., on Nov. 21, 1983. (AP Photo/Wally Fong, File) -
FILE – Jamie Farr, left, and Loretta Swit present a tribute to “Mr. Rogers” at the 45th annual Daytime Emmy Awards on April 29, 2018, in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File -
FILE – Cast members from “M*A*S*H,” foreground from left, William Christopher, Jamie Farr, Loretta Swit and Henry Morgan, back row from left, Mike Farrell, Alan Alda and William Ogden Stiers, pose with their People’s Choice Award for best comedy series in Santa Monica, Calif., on March 19, 1982. (AP Photo/Doug Pizac, File)
The CBS show aired for 11 years from 1972 to 1983, revolving around life at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, which gave the show its name. The two-and-a-half-hour finale on Feb. 28, 1983, was watched by over 100 million viewers, at the time the most-watched episode of any scripted series ever.
“M.A.S.H.” won a Peabody Award in 1975 “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.”
