Loretta Swit, most known for her part in the TV series "Mash", has passed away in her home in New York at the age of 87, writes The Hollywood Reporter.
In the series, Swit played the head nurse Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan. The series took place during the Korean War and Swit was also the first of the actors to visit Korea, during the filming of the documentary "Korean War – the untold story" in 1988.
Swit participated in 240 of the series' 251 episodes and was awarded with two Emmy statuettes for best female supporting role during the eleven-season long success.
She was born in 1937 in New Jersey and worked as a secretary before she began playing theatre in the late 1960s. Her first TV role came in "Hawaii Five-O" and was followed by a number of roles in TV series before she got the role in "Mash" in 1972.
Besides her acting career, Swit was an engaged animal rights activist and founded her own animal protection organization. She participated in films and documentaries, and returned to the screen as late as to play in "Play the Flute", a film with a religious theme.
