M*A*S*H Star Loretta Swit Dead At 87: Alan Alda Pays Tribute To His 'Supremely Talented' Co-Star
Loretta Swit, who won two Emmys playing "Hot Lips" Houlihan on the classic CBS sitcom M*A*S*H, has died at the age of 87, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Swit died just after midnight on Friday of suspected natural causes at her New York City home, her publicist Harlan Boll says.
A native of New Jersey, Swit trained as an actor, dancer and singer, landing early guest roles on shows like Hawaii Five-O, Gunsmoke and Mission: Impossible. Then she booked the role of head nurse Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan on M*A*S*H, which debuted on CBS in 1972. A comedy following military doctors and nurses during the Korean War (and mirroring the then-current Vietnam War), M*A*S*H became a smash hit, climbing into the Nielsen Top 10 and eventually running for 11 seasons.
Swit's Houlihan was a tough-as-nails nurse who did things by the book and disapproved of the immature antics displayed by the likes of Alan Alda's Hawkeye. She softened in later seasons, though, and the two even shared a long kiss in the series finale. Swit earned 10 Emmy nominations for best supporting actress in a comedy for her work on M*A*S*H, taking home the trophy in 1980 and 1982.
After M*A*S*H ended in 1983 (with a series finale that drew more than 100 million viewers), Swit went on to make guest appearances on shows like The Love Boat and Murder, She Wrote. She also played the role of Christine Cagney in the original TV movie of Cagney & Lacey, but she wasn't able to continue with the series due to contractual obligations, with Sharon Gless eventually taking over the role.
Swit reunited with her M*A*S*H co-stars Alda, Gary Burghoff (Radar), Jamie Farr (Klinger) and Mike Farrell (B.J. Hunnicutt) for a 50th anniversary special, M*A*S*H: The Comedy That Changed Television, that aired on Fox in 2024.
Alda remembered Swit fondly in a message posted to X: "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."