Loretta Swit

M*A*S*H offered real characters and everybody identified with them because they had such soul.

The humor was intelligent and it always assumed that you had an intellect.

-Loretta Swit

Loretta Jane Swit born Loretta Jane Szwed

November 4, 1937 – May 30, 2025

Loretta Swit performed guest roles in various television series, including Hawaii Five-O (her first TV credit), Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, and Mannix.

Starting in 1972, Swit played the extremely capable head nurse Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the television series M*A*S*H, a comedy set in a U.S. Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. Swit inherited the star-making role from actress Sally Kellerman, who had portrayed Houlihan in the feature film. In the first few seasons, her character was single and blindly patriotic, and she had no friends among the camp surgeons and nurses, with the notable exception of her married lover, Major Frank Burns, portrayed by Larry Linville. Over time, her character was considerably softened. She married a lieutenant colonel but divorced soon after. She became good friends with her fellow officers, and her attitude towards the Koreans in and around the camp became more enlightened. The change reflected that of the series in general, from absurdist dark humor to mature comedy-drama. Swit was one of only four cast members to stay for all 11 seasons of the show, from 1972 to 1983 (the others are Alan Alda, Jamie Farr, and William Christopher).

Swit and Alda were the only actors to have been in both the pilot episode and the finale; she appeared in all but 11 of the total of 256 episodes. Swit received two Emmy Awards for her work on M*A*S*H.

Her favorite episodes were "Hot Lips and Empty Arms", "Margaret's Engagement", and "The Nurses".

She also had a close relationship with Harry Morgan, who played Colonel Sherman T. Potter. They became neighbors after the series ended, until his death on December 7, 2011. Swit remained close to Alda, along with his wife, three daughters, and seven grandchildren.

In 1981, Swit played the role of Christine Cagney in the movie pilot for the television series Cagney & Lacey but was precluded by contractual obligations from continuing the role. Actress Meg Foster portrayed Cagney for the first six episodes of the television series, then Sharon Gless took over the role.

Swit also guest-starred in television shows such as Bonanza; The Love Boat; Win, Lose or Draw; Password; Gunsmoke; Match Game; Pyramid; The Muppet Show; and Hollywood Squares. She also starred in Christmas programs such as the television version of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and 1987's PBS special A Christmas Calendar. In 1988, she hosted Korean War—The Untold Story, a documentary on the true events of the war, and went to South Korea to film it, becoming the first M*A*S*H cast member to actually visit the country, outside of Jamie Farr who served there in the mid-1950s while a member of the U.S. Army. In 1992, she hosted the 26-part series Those Incredible Animals on the Discovery Channel. Swit's last appearance was on GSN Live on October 10, 2008.

Good Night Ms. Swit

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa