Loretta Swit, who played libido-driven Maj. 'Hot Lips' Houlihan on 'MASH,' dies at 87

Loretta Swit, the Emmy-winning histrion champion known for her clip arsenic Maj. Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan connected the TV mentation of “MASH,” died Friday successful her New York City apartment, her typical confirmed to The Times. She was 87.

Swit was recovered by her housekeeper astir 10 a.m., according to publicist Harlan Boll, who said helium had been connected the telephone with her astatine 11 p.m. section clip Thursday nighttime — 2 a.m. Friday successful New York. Her doorman saw her driblet thing successful the message astatine 4 a.m. Friday, New York time, Boll said, and six hours later, she was gone.

The histrion — calved Loretta Jane Szwed connected Nov. 4, 1937, successful Passaic, N.J. — loved playing Hot Lips truthful overmuch that she was the lone performer different than Alan Alda who stayed connected the bid from its aviator successful 1972 done its much-watched finale successful 1983. “MASH,” acceptable during the Korean War, was a sitcom but besides much than that to Swit.

“There is, I think, an quality down the humor,” she told The Times successful 1977. “The assemblage is huge, and they merit to beryllium entertained connected the highest level we tin achieve.”

Though her portrayal of the libido-driven blond successful fatigues and Army boots catapulted Swit to household-name status, she had been successful acting since earlier her 8th day successful signifier productions and musicals successful New York. She near location astatine 17 to enactment successful the theater, temping astatine secretarial jobs portion studying astatine the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

A confessed workaholic, Swit moved easy from drama to drama, acting successful “Same Time, Next Year,” “Mame” and “The Odd Couple” earlier moving to Los Angeles to prima successful “MASH.” She appeared successful iconic bid specified arsenic “Hawaii Five-O,” “Mission: Impossible” and “Mannix,” and had a productive tv vocation until precise recently.

Her astir caller TV quality was arsenic herself successful the 2024 Fox tribute peculiar “MASH: The Comedy That Changed Television.”

Her theatre enactment was plentiful, and successful summation to Broadway, off-Broadway, determination and nationalist work, included shows successful Southern California. She joined Harry Hamlin successful “One November Yankee” astatine the NoHo Arts Center successful 2012, 3 years aft doing a speechmaking of the play with a antithetic histrion astatine the Pasadena Playhouse.

“MASH” filmed its outdoor scenes astatine Malibu Creek State Park, wherever the acceptable was re-created for fans’ enjoyment successful 2008.

“It’s thrilling to beryllium honored successful this way,” Swit told The Times that year. “I deliberation if I had to sum it up, what we’re astir arrogant of is that we made everybody travel together. And I deliberation this volition besides bring radical together.”

Swit was nominated for 10 Emmys for her Hot Lips relation and won for supporting histrion successful a comedy, assortment oregon euphony bid successful 1980 and 1982. She garnered 4 Golden Globe nominations for her enactment connected “MASH,” successful the pb and supporting histrion categories, but did not win.

She was fixed a prima connected Hollywood’s Walk of Fame successful 1989, adjacent what is present the location of Amoeba Music.

An carnal lover, Swit acceptable up the SwitHeart Animal Alliance to forestall cruelty and extremity carnal suffering. The confederation worked with galore nonprofit organizations and programs to protect, rescue, bid and attraction for animals and sphere their habitat, portion raising nationalist consciousness astir issues that interest domestic, farm, exotic, chaotic and autochthonal animals.

She created an creation book, “SwitHeart: The Watercolour Artistry & Animal Activism of Loretta Swit,” which includes 65 of her full-color paintings and drawings and 22 of her photographs. Proceeds went to carnal causes, and the 2016 Betty White Award from the radical Actors and Others for Animals was but 1 of the galore honors she received for her philanthropic work.

Former freelance writer T.L. Stanley contributed to this report.