Loretta Swit, Best Known for ‘M*A*S*H,’ Dies at 87
Loretta Swit, best known for playing Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan on the CBS sitcom M*A*S*H died of suspected natural causes on May 30, 2025 at the age of 87.
Born on November 4, 1937, Swit became interested in acting at a young age and studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. She moved to Los Angeles in 1970 to pursue a career in acting and began to receive minor roles on shows such as Mannix and Gunsmoke, which led to her role in M*A*S*H.
20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection
During her run on the beloved show, she championed her character’s growth. Swit said in a 2004 discussion for the website The Interviews: An Oral History of Television, “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.”
In 1988, after the show ended, she became the first cast member to visit Korea and hosted the syndicated documentary Korean War — The Untold Story. She went on to perform in plays in Chicago and became an active supporter of animal welfare, serving on the boards of Actors and Others for Animals and The Wildlife Waystation and as a spokesperson for the Humane Society. She also founded her own nonprofit called SwitHeart Animal Alliance. Swit loved to paint and often sold paintings to raise money for her nonprofit.
Swit continued acting over the years as well, appearing in films BoardHeads, Forest Warrior and more recently Play the Flute. In her personal life, she was married to actor Dennis Holahan, whom she met on the set of M*A*S*H, from 1983 until their divorce in 1995.
Sadly, Loretta Swit has just died, but what have Hawkeye, Radar, Hunnicutt, and the rest been up to?
Remind 
1970s Fall TV
September 2023
Take a trip back to the ’70s by looking at the TV Guide Magazine Fall Preview primetime lineups.
Buy This Issue