Actor Loretta Swit, who played head nurse Margaret ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan on all eleven seasons of the popular TV show M*A*S*H has died at the aged of 87.
The actor passed away from natural causes at her home in New York. Alongside her memorable role on the dramedy set in the Korean War, Swit was also the first actor to play the role of Christine Cagney in Cagney & Lacey.
Swit has been credited with paving the way for strong female characters on television show with co-star Alan Alda recalling how she worked with writers to transform the part of Margaret Houlihan from a comic foil to a well rounded character.
Swit was nominated for 10 Emmy Awards for her role on M*A*S*H, winning the award twice.
She is one of four actors who stayed with the popular show for its entire eleven season run from 1972 until 1983. Alan Alda who played lead character Benjamin ‘Hawkeye’ Peirce, Jamie Farr who played cross-dressing soldier Maxwell Klinger, and William Christopher who played chaplain Father John Mulcahy were also onboard for the whole series, but only Alda and Swit appeared in both the first and final episode.
Alda, who is currently appearing in the Netflix series The Four Seasons, paid tribute to his former costar on social media.
“Loretta was a supremely talented actor. She deserved all her 10 EMMY nominations and her 2 wins. But more than acting her part, she created it. She worked hard In showing the writing staff how they could turn the character from a one joke sexist stereotype into a real person — with real feelings and ambitions.
“We celebrated the day the script came out listing her character not as Hot Lips, but as Margaret. Loretta made the most of her time here.” Alda said.
In the film version of M*A*S*H which was directed by Robert Altman, actor Sally Kellerman played the part of Margaret Houlihan. When it came time to continue the story via the TV series most of the roles were recast with only Gary Burghoff who played Corporal Walter ‘Radar’; O’Reilly made the transition to the small screen.
Swit began acting in New York in the late 1960s and appeared in plays on Broadway and in touring productions. She got her start in Hollywood as a guest actor on television shows including Hawaii Five-O, Gunsmoke and Mission: Impossible. M*A*S*H however was her big breakthrough making her a household name.
In 1980 she made a memorable appearance as the guest star on The Muppet Show. In the episode she sang the Carole King song I Feel the Earth Move while a giant monster actually mad ethe earth move. In the episode Swit steps in for Miss Piggy who has had a falling out with Kermit the Frog.
Another memorable role for the actor was playing Christine Cagney in the TV movie Cagney & Lacey. The film was a huge success and producers decided to spin it off into a series but Swit was unable to continue in the role due to contract disputes. Meg Foster took over the role, but was replaced after six episodes by Sharon Gless who stayed with the show for its remaining six seasons.
Outside her acting career Swit was an advocate for animal welfare fiving her time to many charity organisations. She gave her time to serving on the boards of Actors and Others for Animals and The Wildlife Waystation and as a spokesperson for the Humane Society.
Later in her career she regularly performed the one-woman play Shirley Valentine, in fact she gave over 1,000 performances of the Willy Russell play.
