Loretta Swit dead at 87
Actress Loretta Swit, best known for playing Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan on the iconic TV program “M*A*S*H” died May 30 (Friday).
Swit and Alan Alda were the longest-serving cast members on “M.A.S.H.,” which was based on Robert Altman’s 1970 film, which was itself based on a novel by Richard Hooker, the pseudonym of H. Richard Hornberger.
“M.A.S.H.” wasn’t an instant hit. It finished its first season in 46th place, out of 75 network TV series, but it nabbed nine Emmy nominations. It was rewarded with a better time slot for its sophomore season, paired on Saturday nights with “All in the Family,” then TV’s highest-rated show. At the 1974 Emmys, it was crowned best comedy, with Alda winning as best comedy actor.
The series also survived despite cast churn. In addition to Swit and Alda, the first season featured Wayne Rogers, McLean Stevenson, Larry Linville and Gary Burghoff. Harry Morgan, Mike Farrell and David Ogden Stiers would later be added, while Jamie Farr and William Christopher had expanded roles.
Swit appeared in all but 11 episodes of the series, nearly four times longer than the Korean War itself, exploring issues like PTSD, sexism and racism. Swit pushed for a better representation for women. Military.com
To those of a certain age (meaning you old farts) there were things about the show which were enfuriating, but things that were remarkable too. I hadn’t really thought it through before, but the show started in 1972, at a time when the image of the military was in pretty sad shape – if you saw a soldier anywhere in entertainment he was probably injured, pitiably (or violently) psycho, or otherwise two dimensionally ‘off’. The show in many ways humanized/humorized the military, showed off how impersonal it could be to those serving, and I think helped make many of us at the time be regarded as, well, more human.
Swit’s evolution from essentially a commissioned bimbo as Hot Lips over the course of the series to a real, and sympathetic character, paved the way for other shows which dug a little deeper (the well-regarded “China Beach” comes immediately to mind. Couldn’t have had McMurphy without Houlihan going before.) Might be worth noting that the final M*A*S*H episode in 1983 is STILL cited as the most-watched finale of any scripted show – ever.
No, she wasn’t a vet herself – but I think the character she created, and ensemble of which she was a part, certainly had an impact on how the public sees the military.
Category: We Remember
I wonder what hot lips saw in frank burns.
RIP Loretta.
The show ended when I still in high school, and I preferred the TV show over the movie. Now, I’ll take the movie over the TV show because I can see the liberal politics shoe-horned in that I missed as a youngster.
The author of the book the series was based on hated the leftward lurch as well..
In the book Hawkeye and Trapper actually refer to the Chinese as “Chinks” at one point. You’d have never heard that come out of the mouth of Alan Alda.
Back in the 1950’s the word “C_ _ _ks” was used all the time On Sundays Pop would say how about C_ _ _ks tonight for supper.. I mentioned the word one time a few years ago and AW Ed set me straight about using that name. All these years, I didn’t know that it was a derogatory word. One of my friends from up in Long Island NY was a NY Local 3 electrician and they were working on a job and had a Chinese guy right out of school and my Friend says to the ‘Kid”, how about “C_ _ _ks for lunch so the Kid told him about the word being a bad word. Most of us never knew that plus most of us many years ago…
Probably met on the Other Side of The Rainbow Bridge by a bunch of fur babies she helped thru-out the years. Much respect for Loretta on that score and her skilz as an actress. Her politics?…not so much. And the TeeVee show? Meh…when it became the All Alan All Da Time I drifted away but thru the years have seen at most all the episodes on re-runs. Do remember it nearly took an act of Congress to have the original movie (which I thought was great…and funny) shown at some of the post theaters when it first came out. Lotsa controversy about it with higher. Didn’t see the original TeeVee broadcasts until summer re-runs a few years after they started. I guess all the SJW crap started after they ran off Henry and Trapper, ’cause to me it went downhill from there. And the part about degrading to women? Oh FFS, it was supposed to be a comedy, set in the 1950s…in a war zone.The historical accuracy suffered badly, in addition to the time frame sequences. Yeah I’m nit picking, it’s what I do to ALL shows. And “Hot Lips” Hotness? Loretta was way yonder “Hotter” in the Gunsmoke (Rat Pack, Snow Train) Episodes or the Bonanza Clips. RIP, Ma’am.
Sorry not sorry…no comparing MASH with China Beach or even Tour of Duty. Hotter women, better acting, more historically accurate, and no where near the SJW overload, or the All Alan All Da Time, but still managed to make a point.
Yeah, in my pinion, they ruined the show when they sent Trapper home and killed off Henry Blake.
Word was that Alda wanted to make sure that McLean Stevenson couldn’t start up a sequel to MASH.
That rat bastard, self centered, egotistical, simp did a whole lot to block the careers of both men…and others that were on the original TeeVee Show. Stevenson was kinda shoved over to the game show/bitpart/failed show circuit to make a living (blackballed is such a so 50s/60s term isn’t it?) with his ego clashing with Alda’s. Kinda the same reason Wayne Rogers left…with the same result. At least in Rogers’ case, he did quite well in the stock market business, so there is that. Pernell Roberts had the same problem with Bonanza and it took him a long minute to find some(?) success with his version of Trapper John, MD. If we could buy people like Holly Weird has for what they are actually worth and then sell them for what they think they’re worth, we could all be filthy rich. IMHO.
Odd how Wayne Rogers and Pernell Roberts both played the same character. Rogers was Trapper John in the series, and Roberts was Trapper John 30 years later in his own show. Interesting note – when Trapper John, M.D. was being developed, the role was first offered to Rogers, but he didn’t want to go back to it. That’s how Pernell Roberts got it.
Switt certainly wore Major better than some folks with a commission.
Really? Well, you’ve obviously never seen MAJ Jones (probably MG Jones under a Biden 2.0, and now very likely ex-officer Jones under Trump [or Jones-minus considering how coming out “saved her life”]):
Well, bless MAJ Jones heart…
Talking about the above Jones girl, how about
The 5 Satins singing “The Jones Girl” 1956 on the Ember record label…
That is an example, yes. There are others.
Here’s a better look at a “Major” Jones…in that we’d be Jonesing for one like this. nsfw
https://fritz-aviewfromthebeach.blogspot.com/2025/05/rule-5-saturday-rachel-jones.html
Very nice, but you better have the means or ability to keep her happy.
Who knows, she may be the lowest maintenance woman you ever met and would be just as happy in her finery as she would be in jeans and a t-shirt grabbing a burger and a beer.
Does he REALLY think he looks like a chick? C’mon dude, you look just like an ugly dude trying to look like an ugly woman, but you just look like an ugly dude who let his hair grow longer. It’s that simple dude.
IDK about historical accuracy and trying to address racism. They wrote Spearchucker Jones out of the series (who was based on a real person) because they said they believed that no black surgeons served in Korea, which was of course untrue. There was even a head of surgery at an integrated MASH unit. A better choice would have been an exploration of the challenges of the day for black doctors.
No depiction of successful, well adjusted minorities will be tolerated. All must show their deep dysfunction and Oppression, and clearly identify their required White Liberal Saviors.
I remember reading somewhere that the character of Spearchucker was a neurosurgeon in the series (he was that in the book and movie) and that there weren’t any black neurosurgeons in Korea. Of course, I could be mis-remembering that, but it sounds correct. The producers acknowledged black doctors at some point, though.
If the producers of MASH were concerned about accuracy of the show, they would have never allowed the episode with Hawkeye being lowered by a rope from the Medivac helicopter into an active combat zone while he was dressed as Santa Claus. Hack Stone was in Elementary School at that time, and even then he knew that no MASH unit would risk losing a surgeon like that.
All Alan…All da time!
As a child, I liked MASH. Then I enlisted and found out just how much they lied about the Army and soldiers.
Still has some funny moments. Klinger is much more ironic in 2025. Especially when he puts aside the dresses and reenlists. Surprised there hasn’t been an Official Unpersoning somewhere.
I’d read something years ago, along the lines that Jamie Farr’s kids had starting watching the show, and he wanted to play Klinger a little more serious with more dignity.
I’m truly sorry to hear this. I connected with Ms. Swit on Book of the Face and shared with her the fact that I had directed a high-school stage play based on M*A*S*H in 1981, and had instructed the young lady playing Major Houlihan to watch episodes of the show and see how Ms. Swit handled the character. She sent me back a very nice note thanking me (and the actress) for that. I kept in touch with her off-and-on and am saddened by her passing.
Some trivia for Commissioner Wretched’s column. The 1970 film M*A*S*H was not the first film about an Army Mobile Hospital set during the Korean War. In March 1953, Humphrey Bogart starred in Battle Circus.The film originally had a different title but the studio and the director thought that title would mislead audiences, so “Battle Circus” was instead chosen. The original title that was rejected was “MASH 66.” Both the film M*A*S*H (1970) and the TV series M*A*S*H (1972) depicted the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in South Korea; MASH 8063rd was a sister unit.