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Loretta Swit's Famous MASH Character Was Originally Played By a Star Trek Legend

Originally posted on Men's Journal | By Ryan Britt | Last updated May 31, 2025 2:09 PM ET

Beloved actress Loretta Swit has died at the age of 87. As many tributes have pointed out, she is largely remembered for her hilarious role in the TV series M*A*S*H in which she played Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, the head nurse of the army medical unit.

But, oddly enough, another Hot Lips passed away just last year. On February 24, 2024, actress Sally Kellerman passed away at the age of 84. Kellerman was the original Hot Lips, having played the character in the 1970 movie, which preceded the show by two years.

And prior to that, in 1965, Kellerman starred in the pivotal second pilot episode for the original Star Trek, playing Dr. Elizabeth Dehner. Her character didn't survive the pilot, but without that episode, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," Star Trek would have never happened. Ditto, the TV version of M*A*SH, which was adapted from the hit film starring Kellerman as Hot Lips.

LOS ANGELES - SEPTEMBER 22: William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk and Sally Kellerman as Dr. Elizabeth Dehner in the STAR TREK episode, "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Season 1, Episode 3. Original air date, September 22, 1966. Image is a frame grab. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images) CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

Apparently, in real life, Swit and Kellerman were friendly and were photographed together at fan conventions.

The only actor to appear in both the film version of M*A*S*H and the TV series was Gary Burghoff as Radar O'Reilly. That said, the continuities of the two different versions of M*A*S*H were markedly different, meaning that Swit's Hot Lips and Kellerman's Hot Lips were significantly divergent characters.