Loretta Swit, who won a pair of Emmy Awards for her portrayal of tough-talking yet big-hearted Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan on the long-running “M*A*S*H” television series, died Friday in New York at age 87.

Her publicist, B. Harlan Boll, said the actress died just after midnight Friday at her home in New York of what appeared to be natural causes.

Swit appeared on all but 11 episodes of the iconic television series and was nominated for Emmy Awards for best supporting actress in 10 of the show’s 11 seasons, winning in 1980 and 1982. She was nominated for four Golden Globe Awards but never won.

Born in New Jersey, Swit began her entertainment career as a singer and appearing in stage productions, most notably sharing the stage with Ernest Borgnine and Don Rickles in a production o

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