Beloved actress Loretta Swit, forever remembered for her razor-sharp wit and trailblazing role as Maj. Margaret \u201cHot Lips\u201d Houlihan in M*A*S*H* has died at the age of 87. Swit passed away just after midnight on Friday (May 30) at her home in New York City, according to her publicist, Harlan Boll. A police report confirmed she died of suspected natural causes. Swit won two Emmys for her portrayal of the Army nurse \u2014 she was nominated 10 times, every year the show was on the air except the first \u2014 and appeared on 240 of the series\u2019 251 episodes during its sensational 11-season run.<\/p>\n
Adapting the character from Sally Kellerman’s film portrayal of the lusty powerhouse, Swit was one of only two actors to appear in both the pilot and the series finale of MASH*. That finale, which aired in 1983, drew nearly 106 million viewers \u2014 a record-breaking TV audience \u2014 and featured a now-legendary 35-second kiss between Swit and Alda. The moment has since been dubbed the most expensive kiss in television history, thanks to its airtime value during the high-revenue episode.<\/p>\n
As a tough, by-the-book major, Swit\u2019s Houlihan broke boundaries as a rare strong woman on television.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was [unique] at the time and in her time, which was the \u201950s, when [the Korean War] was happening,\u201d Swit said in a 2004 discussion for the TV Academy Foundation website.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd she became even more unique, I think, because we allowed her to continue to grow \u2014 we watched her evolve. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s ever been done in quite that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Swit enjoyed a varied screen career. She starred in films including Freebie and the Bean (1974), Race With the Devil (1975), and BoardHeads (1998).<\/p>\n