R.I.P. Loretta Swit, Portrayed 'Hot Lips' Houlihan

Loretta Swit, beloved by MASH* fans as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, has passed away at 87, her publicist Harlan Boll confirmed to Entertainment Weekly. She died early Friday.

Swit rose to fame as the spirited head nurse in the CBS comedy’s Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, earning two Emmys from 10 nominations over the show’s 11-year run. Her character’s beauty and allure were central to the scripts, notably in her humorous, long-running affair with Major Frank Burns (Larry Linville). Swit, however, pushed for depth, eventually urging writers to end the affair, citing its demeaning nature.

“They were making her smarter and him sillier,” she once said. “I told them, ‘She’d break it off with Frank—it’s going nowhere, and she has no respect for his skills as a doctor.’”

Swit took pride in Houlihan’s evolution into a strong feminist figure. “She was ambitious, caring, and wanted to be the best nurse in Korea,” Swit noted. “She was a trailblazer.”

Born in New Jersey, Swit honed her acting and singing at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her early career included theater roles, like a Pigeon sister in a Los Angeles production of The Odd Couple with Don Rickles and Ernest Borgnine. She appeared on TV in Ironside, Love, American Style, and Hawaii Five-0, and originated Det. Christine Cagney in the Cagney & Lacey TV movie before Sharon Gless took over in the series.