Loretta Swit, the Emmy-winning `M*A*S*H` actress, dies at 87
Photo: Gary Gershoff/Getty Images
Loretta Swit, the Emmy-winning actor most well-known for her leading role on "M*A*S*H," has died, her representative said Friday, Americandiary24 reports via NBC News.
She was 87.
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. She was nominated for 10 Emmys and four Golden Globes.
Her sensuous, sensitive, comedic character was also known as "Hot Lips."
The TV series, which aired from September 1972 to February 1983, followed the staff of an Army hospital during the Korean War. Swit starred in all seasons of "M*A*S*H" alongside Alan Alda, Jamie Farr and Larry Linville. Swit and Alda were the two longest-running actors on the comedy-drama.
Its series finale, on Feb. 28, 1983, was two-and-a-half hours long and had more than 100 million viewers — the most of any scripted TV series ever.
Swit was born Loretta Jane Szwed on Nov. 4, 1937, in Passaic, New Jersey, to Polish immigrants. She went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before kick-starting her career with years of touring.
