Beloved ‘M*A*S*H’ actor Loretta Swit has died aged 87
Loretta Swit, most known for her role in the popular comedy TV series M*A*S*H, passed away at 87.
Swit died at her home in New York, her publicist Harlan Boll told the BBC. No cause of death has been revealed, but a coroner’s report is pending.
Swit played US Army nurse Major Margaret ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan in M*A*S*H, which followed a mobile Army hospital during the Korean War across 11 seasons that spanned over a decade. The show was based on the 1968 book, MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, written by a former Army surgeon. Swit won two Emmy awards for her role in the show.
Swit starred in the most-watched TV episode in US history. Unsurprisingly, the celebrated season finale, ‘Goodbye, Farewell and Amen’, received the highest number of viewers, with the two-and-a-half-hour special airing on CBS on February 28th, 1983, to the tune of 105.97 million viewers.
Further TV appearances included The Muppet Show, Mission: Impossible and Murder, She Wrote. Swit was nominated for four Golden Globe awards throughout her career.
The beloved actor was famed outside of the television circuit, too. On Broadway, she starred in Same Time, Next Year, Mame, and Shirley Valentine. In the latter show, she won Chicago’s top theatre prize, the Sarah Siddons Award.
Her publicist, Mr Boll, has also revealed that Swit was an artist and animal rights activist who established a charity to campaign against animal cruelty. She was born in New Jersey and trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.
Jamie Farr, fellow M*A*S*H star, released a heartfelt statement in reaction to the news. “From the first time I met her, on what was supposed to be a one-day appearance on M*A*S*H, we embraced each other and that became a lifetime friendship,” Farr said. “I can’t begin to express how much she will be missed.”
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