Loretta Swit, best known for lighting up the screen as the sharp-tongued Maj. Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan on M*A*S*H*, has died. She was 87.
Swit passed away just after noon Friday at her New York City home, her representative confirmed in a statement. While the cause of death is suspected to be natural, official word from the coroner’s office is still pending.
For over a decade, Swit starred on M*A*S*H*, the legendary comedy-drama set during the Korean War, alongside Alan Alda, Jamie Farr, and Larry Linville. She was one of only two original cast members — Alda being the other — to stick with the series through its entire 11-season run. The show’s epic 2.5-hour finale in 1983 still holds the record for the most-watched scripted TV episode in U.S. history, pulling in more than 100 million viewers.
Swit brought humor, complexity, and depth to the role of Houlihan — a character that started as a one-dimensional foil but evolved into a symbol of strength, sensitivity, and smarts. Her portrayal earned her two Emmy wins, 10 nominations, and four Golden Globe nods.
Her rep noted that Swit “portrayed the quick-witted Maj. Margaret Houlihan on one of TV’s most honored series and collected a number of awards for the M*A*S*H role, including two Emmys.”
Born Loretta Jane Szwed in Passaic, New Jersey, on November 4, 1937, Swit came from a Polish immigrant family and trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After honing her skills on stage and in touring productions, she started landing TV guest spots in the late ’60s on shows like Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, and Hawaii Five-O. Then came 1972 — and with it, M*A*S*H, her breakout moment.
Swit’s screen career went far beyond the 4077th. She starred in more than 25 TV movies, including the original Cagney and Lacey pilot as Chris Cagney — though she didn’t go on to the series due to her M*A*S*H commitment. Other standout roles included Games Mother Never Taught You, A Killer Among Friends, Hell Hath No Fury, and The Execution.
The stage was another of Swit’s passions. She made her Broadway debut in Same Time, Next Year in 1975, and later starred in over 1,200 performances of Shirley Valentine, a role that earned her the Sarah Siddons Award, “the most prestigious theater award in Chicago,” according to her team.
She even leaned into her musical side with TV specials like The Muppet Show and It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman, and took on film roles in Freebie and the Bean (with James Caan and Alan Arkin), S.O.B. (with Julie Andrews), Race with the Devil (with Peter Fonda), and Forrest Warrior (with Chuck Norris), among others.
Off-screen, Swit was just as fierce — especially when it came to animals. Her love of wildlife led her to host a Discovery Channel series, Those Incredible Animals, which aired in more than 30 countries. She later founded the SwitHeart Animal Alliance, which her rep described as working “to prevent cruelty and end animal suffering, to promote and cooperate with numerous nonprofit organizations and programs that protect, rescue, train, and care for animals and preserve their habitat.”
She even launched a perfume and coloring book to help raise money for the cause — because when Loretta Swit put her heart into something, she went all in.