THE NEW YORK TIMES – Sally Kellerman, the willowy, sultry-voiced actress and singer whose portrayal of Maj. Margaret (Hot Lips) Houlihan in the 1970 dark comedy “MASH” earned her an Oscar nomination, died on Thursday at an assisted-living facility in Los Angeles. She was 84.
Her son, Jack Krane, said the cause was heart failure.
[Loretta Swit, also age 84, played Maj. Houlihan in the television series MASH. She is still alive. – HH]
In her decades-long career in film and television, Kellerman was best known for her role as the strait-laced but alluring Army nurse in “MASH,” which landed Ms. Kellerman rave reviews and a Golden Globe Award.
The film, directed by Robert Altman, broke ground with its irreverence and its graphic depiction of a group of hotshot surgeons struggling to save horribly wounded soldiers at an Army surgical unit during the Korean War. (When “MASH” was adapted into a TV series, Ms. Kellerman’s character was played by Loretta Swit.)
Ms. Kellerman went on to appear in several other films directed by Mr. Altman, including “Brewster McCloud” (1970) and “The Player” (1992). Like other actors, she was attracted to working with Mr. Altman because of the leeway he allowed in interpreting scripts and improvising scenes … READ MORE [subscription may be required]
Sally Kellerman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sally Clare Kellerman (June 2, 1937 – February 24, 2022) was an American actress and singer.
Kellerman’s acting career spanned over 60 years. Her role as Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in Robert Altman’s film M*A*S*H (1970) earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. After M*A*S*H, she appeared in a number of the director’s projects: the films Brewster McCloud (1970), Welcome to L.A. (1976) (produced by Altman, directed by his protégé, Alan Rudolph), The Player (1992), and Prêt-à-Porter (1994), and the short-lived anthology TV series Gun (1997).
In addition to her work with Altman, Kellerman appeared in films such as Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1972), Back to School (1986), plus many television series such as The Twilight Zone (1963), The Outer Limits (1965), Star Trek (1966), Bonanza (1966, 1970) The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman (2006), 90210 (2008), Chemistry (2011), and Maron (2013). She also voiced Miss Finch in Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird (1985).
At age 18, Kellerman signed a recording contract with Verve Records, but her first album (Roll with the Feelin’, on the Decca label) was not recorded until 1972. A second album, Sally, was released in 2009.
Kellerman also contributed songs to the soundtracks for Brewster McCloud (1970), Lost Horizon (1973), Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins (1975), and Boris and Natasha: The Movie (1992).
She did commercial voiceover work for Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing, Mercedes-Benz, and Revlon. Kellerman’s animation work included The Mouse and His Child (1977), Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird (1985), Happily Ever After (1990), Dinosaurs (1992), Unsupervised (2012), and The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange (2013).
In April 2013, she released her memoir Read My Lips: Stories of a Hollywood Life, describing her trials and tribulations in the entertainment business.
