I was too young to see the 1970 film “M*A*S*H” in theaters, but was a regular watcher of the television series that debuted in 1972 and ran for 11 seasons. As a Gen X kid, I got to know the character of Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan, expertly portrayed by Loretta Swit, and see her evolve from the butt of sexual jokes and innuendo to a multi-faceted and complex female lead.
“If you’re portraying a character for 11 seasons, the character has to have an arc,” said Steven Gorelick, former executive director of the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission. “Otherwise, you don’t have 11 seasons.”
And the “M*A*S*H” regular who evolved most was the character, played by Swit, who was originally called “Hot Lips” Houlihan. By the end of the show, she was “Margaret.”
“She took that role and made it her own,” Gorelick said.
That she did. Much like the character she portrayed, Swit was also complex. She started her adult life as a secretary while studying singing and acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Swit began on stage, but as a bright-eyed ingénue, she needed to distinguish herself from the pack. So, she moved toward musicals and light comedy, cutting her chops in roles in “The Odd Couple” and “Mame.”
Swit moved from New York to Los Angeles and was there for only two years before she landed the life-changing role on M*A*S*H, for which she will be forever known. Even after M*A*S*H ended its run, Swit embraced being remembered for the iconic “Hot Lips” role while continuing her already prolific stage career, as well as becoming an animal rights activist.
Swit actively posted on Instagram, and up until her death she was shouting happy birthday to friends and colleagues like M*A*S*H cast member Gary Burghoff (“Radar O’Reilly”), and close friends like Kim Fields, who portrayed “Tootie” in the 1980s television series, “The Facts of Life.”
You could say Swit died with her boots on. On Friday she quietly passed away at the age of 87.
RIP M*A*S*H legend Hot Lips Houlihan – Loretta Swit. She was 87 pic.twitter.com/2OABCuv4fP
— Kay Burley (@KayBurley) May 30, 2025
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.
Loretta Jane Szwed, professionally known as Loretta Swit, was born in 1937 in Passaic, N.J. Swit graduated high school in 1955 and went on to attend secretarial school. She managed to obtain a series of high-profile positions that were impressive in their own right: she was the assistant to Elsa Maxwell, a prominent gossip columnist. She moved to New York and became the secretary to Ghana’s United Nations ambassador, then moved on to be the secretary to the American Rocket Society, all while studying dance and acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
After some roles in New York and regionally on the East Coast, Swit made her way west with the 1967 national touring company of “Any Wednesday,” in a Los Angeles company of “The Odd Couple,” and a Las Vegas tour of “Mame.” In 1970, Swit settled in Los Angeles where she landed television roles in such (now) classics as “Mission: Impossible,” “Mannix,” “Gunsmoke,” and “Hawaii Five-O.” It was this exposure on the popular series of that day that brought Swit to the attention of the producers of M*A*S*H.
Swit became one of the original set of hybrid actors who balanced regular television roles while starring in films, and also performing on the Great White Way. In 1975, Swit appeared on Broadway in “Same Time, Next Year,” and performed in regional theater on a regular basis throughout her career. Swit’s films included “Stand Up and Be Counted,” “Freebie and the Bean,” “Race With the Devil,” “Beer,” “S.O.B.,” “Whoops Apocalypse,” “Forrest Warrior,” and “BoardHeads.”
Her television appearances included films like “Games Mother Never Taught You,” and “A Killer Among Friends,” as well as the popular series and variety shows of the ’70s and ’80s, like “The Muppet Show.” Swit told the story of when her career came “full circle,” after she nabbed a guest-starring role on Angela Lansbury‘s “Murder She Wrote.”
Swit said her career came full circle when, in 1994, she guest-starred on Murder, She Wrote alongside Lansbury. “Angie is one of two fan letters I’ve ever written in my life. The other was to Robert Mitchum,” she recalled. “She was just dazzling [in Mame]. Years later, when we met at a CBS function, I said, ‘You probably won’t remember this, but when I was in New York …’ I don’t think I got further than that and she stopped me and said, ‘I still have that letter.’”
Swit spent the balance of her life as a fierce champion on behalf of animals. In 2016, she founded the SwitHeart Animal Alliance to partner with other nonprofits and organizations to help protect, rescue, train, and care for animals, while also raising public awareness. Swit was also a celebrated watercolor artist and photographer. She compiled her work into art books and sold them to benefit her animal alliance and other animal organizations. Swit also parlayed jewelry design and a fragrance she created for the benefit of her causes.
Her last recorded Instagram post was on Memorial Day, posting a picture of herself as Nurse Margaret Houlihan, giving fitting remembrance to those who have fallen in service to our country.
Rest in Peace, Loretta.
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