Sally Kellerman, the Oscar and Emmy nominated actor who played Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in director Robert Altman’s 1970 film M*A*S*H, has died aged 84.
Kellerman died of heart failure at her home in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles on Thursday, according to her manager and publicist Alan Eichler.
The US actress enjoyed a career spanning more than 60 years in film and television.
She was a regular in Altman’s films, appearing in 1970’s Brewster McCloud, 1992’s The Player and 1994’s Ready to Wear.
Perhaps her most famous role was Major Houlihan, a straitlaced, by-the-book army nurse who is tormented by rowdy doctors during the Korean War in the army comedy film M*A*S*H.
In the film’s key scene, and its peak moment of misogyny, a tent where Houlihan is showering is pulled open and she is exposed to an audience of cheering men.
“This isn’t a hospital, this is an insane asylum!” she screams at her commanding officer.
Kellerman said Altman brought out the best in her.
The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, but her best supporting actress was its only acting nod despite a cast that included Robert Duvall, Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould.
The movie would be turned into a TV series that lasted 11 seasons, with Loretta Swit in Kellerman’s role.
Kellerman was born in 1937 in Long Beach, California, the daughter of a piano teacher and an oil executive, moving to Los Angeles as a child and attending Hollywood High School.
She took an acting class at Los Angeles City College and appeared in a stage production of “Look Back in Anger” with classmate Jack Nicholson and several other future stars.
She worked mostly in television early in her career, with a lead role in 1962’s Cheyenne and guest appearances on The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and Bonanza.
Her appearance in the original Star Trek pilot as Dr Elizabeth Dehner won her cult status among fans.
She would continue working into her 80s, with several acclaimed television performances in her final years.
In 2014 she was nominated for an Emmy for her recurring role on The Young and the Restless.
Kellerman was married to television producer Rick Edelstein from 1970 to 1972 and to movie producer Jonathan D Krane from 1980 until his death in 2016.
She is survived by her son Jack and daughter Claire.
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