MASH actress Loretta Swit dead at 87

Loretta Swit – best known for playing Major Margaret J ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan on the CBS series ‘MASH’ from 1972 to 1983 – has died at the age of 87.

Loretta Swit has died at the age of 87.

The veteran actress – who was best known for playing Major Margaret J ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan on the CBS series ‘MASH’ from 1972 to 1983 – passed away at her home in New York from “natural causes”.

Loretta’s publicist Harlan Boll shared the news with The Hollywood Reporter, citing a police report which stated she died on Friday (30.05.25) of suspected natural causes.

Swit was nominated for 10 Emmys for her role on ‘Mash’ and won twice.

She appeared on 240 of the series’ 251 episodes during its 11-season run.

Swit and co-star Alan Alda (Hawkeye Pierce) were the only two actors to have a role in both the pilot and series finale of ‘MASH’.

Speaking about her character in a 2004 discussion for the TV Academy Foundation website ‘The Interviews: An Oral History of Television;, Swit said: “She was [unique] at the time and in her time, which was the ’50s, when [the Korean War] was happening.

“And she became even more unique, I think, because we allowed her to continue to grow — we watched her evolve. I don’t think that’s ever been done in quite that way.”

The actress went on to have roles in a number of movies, including ‘Freebie and the Bean’ in 1974, ‘Race With the Devil’ in 1975, 1981’s ‘S.O.B’ and ‘BoardHeads’ in 1998.

She co-starred alongside Tyne Daly in the 1981 pilot for ‘Cagney Lacey’, but could not continue in the role when It was picked up, due to contractual obligations to ‘MASH’.

She was born Loretta Jane Szwed on November 4, 1937, in Passaic, New Jersey and studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.

She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1989.

Swit was married to actor Dennis Holahan, from 1983 until their divorce in 1995.

A passionate animal rights activist, she was a vegetarian for many years before becoming a vegan in 1981.