M*A*S*H legend Loretta Swit made one last glamour career move just months before her death at age 87.
The actress died on Friday, May 30 at her New York City home, her publicist Harlan Boll confirmed.
Prior to her death, Loretta graced the cover of Elysian Magazine for the Spring 2025 issue.
The actress attended the cover launch party on February 6, 2025 – three months before her passing.
The cover features the star beaming in a close up snap for the cover image, rocking glam makeup.
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M*A*S*H legend Loretta Swit made one last glamour career move just months before her death at age 87
A police report states that Swit passed of suspected natural causes soon after midnight on Friday, her publicist shared with The Hollywood Reporter.
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Swit was born on November 4, 1937 in Passaic, New Jersey and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York
Swit honed her craft as a student at New York’s American Academy of Dramatic Arts, according to THR.
Swit was known for playing the iconic character Major Margaret ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan on the hit series.
The actress received acclaim for her role on the series, and received two Emmys for her portrayal.
In total, she earned 10 Emmy nominations for M*A*S*H and appeared in the majority of the show’s 11 seasons, gracing screens for 240 of the program’s 251 episodes.
M*A*S*H was an adaptation of the Robert Altman’s 1970 film and was set during the Korean war. It followed a team of US doctors and nurses at a fictional army hospital.
It’s series finale in 1983 – of which Swit appeared in – was watched by 105 million viewers, making it one of the most-watched narrative TV episodes of all time.
The original Robert Altman film was a dark comedy that starred Donald Sutherland as Hawkeye Pierce, Elliot Gould as Trapper John McIntyre and Sally Kellerman as Hot Lips Houlihan, based on the 1968 novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors.
The actress attended the cover launch party on February 6, 2025 – three months before her death
For the TV series, Alan Alda stepped into the Hawkeye role, with Wayne Rogers playing Trapper John and Gary Burghoff (Radar O’Reilly) becoming the only cast member from the movie to reprise that role for the TV series.
The half-hour comedy series was known for its ability to blend both comedy and drama, though Swit previously said she believes it was the humor that made the show stand out.
‘Initially when we started out, everyone wondered how we were going to be able to pull off a comedy about the war, but we did. The secret behind M*A*S*H’s success,’ she told First for Women last year.
Swit added, ‘Laughter and humor were our defense against standing in blood and working on bodies that were young enough to be in school.’
She admitted there was nothing inherently funny about war, but added, ‘you needed the funniest people in the world to make this believable and this cast exceeded that and more.’
Swit won two Emmys for playing Hot Lips, and had nothing but praise for the lauded series finale.
Swit was known for playing the iconic character Major Margaret ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan on the hit series
Swit won two Emmys for playing Hot Lips, and had nothing but praise for the lauded series finale
‘The last program, titled Goodbye, was the jewel of the crown, and M*A*S*H was a very important piece of Americana, so it was an honor to be a part of that magic,’ she said.
M*A*S*H won 14 Emmy Awards, earned 109 nominations, plus the series took home a Peabody Award in 1975.
Loretta also starred in Hawaii Five-O, Mission: Impossible (1970), Mannix, The Love Boat, The Muppet Show, Cagney & Lacey, Murder, She Wrote, Beer, Whoops Apocalypse and Beach Movie to name a few.