EXCLUSIVE: Why Late 'Hot Lips' M*A*S*H Star Loretta Swit Disappeared From Hollywood Limelight Years Before Death Aged 87 — After Missing Out on Huge Role and Messy Divorce
M*A*S*H star Loretta Swit shunned Hollywood during the later stages of her life due to personal and career heartbreaks.
June 2 2025, Published 7:42 a.m. ET
Tragic M*A*S*H star Loretta Swit disappeared from Hollywood after failing to build on her early success in the cult sitcom.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the actress, who passed away on May 30 aged 87, was one of the biggest TV stars of the 1980s courtesy of her role as U.S. Army nurse Major Margaret 'Hot Lips' Houlihan in the long-running military comedy.
Missing Out On Top Role
Swit was not allowed to play Sgt. Christine Cagney in cop drama Cagney & Lacey due to her M*A*S*H commitments,
But instead of going on to become a superstar on both the small and big screen, her career fizzled out amid a public divorce from her actor husband, who resented her success, feuds with co-stars and agony of being denied a huge part in another TV classic.
According to sources, Swit experienced a long-simmering bitterness over losing a lead role in cop drama Cagney & Lacey while she was still in M*A*S*H.
An insider said: "She played Sgt. Christine Cagney in the original TV movie, but producers wouldn't let her out of her M*A*S*H contract for the final season.
"She was heartbroken. I think she'll admit that soured her on Hollywood."
The part later went to Sharon Gless and the show ran for eight seasons.
Swit later said: "I created that role, but had to give it up."
Messy Divorce
The actress split from husband Dennis Holahan, who was jeaous of her success, in 1989.
Her 1989 divorce from husband Dennis Holahan also hit the actress hard.
The pair tied the knot in 1983, the year M*A*S*H ended, as jealous Holahan could not handle her growing fame and attempted to strike a deal to have a cut of her future earnings as part of their divorce negotiations, which made Swit "rip-roaring mad".
She told a pal: "I just can’t believe the gall of that hum, to expect to be kept in the lifestyle — it was always wanting the $100 bottle of wine, top restaurants.
"He spent my money like water."
Despite her joy in cutting ties with her husband, she was still saddened by the fact the marriage didn't work out, as she had defied her Polish immigrant parents by shunning marriage and motherhood in favor of pursuing a career. It was her biggest regret.
She was also caught up in a feud between her M*A*S*H co-stars Alan Alda, who played Capt. Benjamin Franklin 'Hawkeye' Pierce, and Jamie Farr, the cross-dressing Cpl. Maxwell Q. Klinger which became an unwanted distraction for Swit.
Farr once said: "After Alan got famous he got really pompous.
"He started thinking he was speaking God's words, not the lines in the script."
Cancer Fears
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Swit asked event photographers to airbursh out an image of her wearing a nose bandage amid a rumored cancer battle.
Swit also had a battle with cancer, which first came to light in 2008 when she arrived to a New York event with a mysterious bandage over her nose and according to sources, begged photographers to airbrush it out.
An insider said: "She admitted a skin sample had been taken for testing, but refused to confirm she’d undergone a biopsy for deadly cancer."
After fading into her obscrury, she became an ardent animal activist and a campaigner for America's servicemen.
Swit passed away on May 30 via natural causes at her New York home, according to her publicist.
