Movies - TV
The One Hot Lips Plot Loretta Swit Refused To Film For M*A*S*H
By DANIELLE RYAN
Played by Loretta Swit, Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan is a complex and beloved head nurse on the classic Korean war sitcom "M*A*S*H."
Swit intensely protected Margaret as the character developed and pushed back against the writers and producers if she felt something inappropriate.
In a 2015 Studio 10 interview, Swit said that while she put up with certain plot lines and indignities for comedy, she wouldn't let anything come before Margaret's sense of duty.
Swit said no when an episode called for Margaret to transfer a nurse because she was too attractive. Margaret knew that nurses in the war volunteered and weren't easy to get.
Swit said, "'I can't sacrifice a good nurse just because she's attractive.' [...] I'm gonna give up a good nurse? No. There's no — So that was a bit of a tug, you know?"