Sally Kellerman, Original ‘MASH’ Star, Dies At 84

The actress and singer Sally Kellerman has died at 84 in Woodland Hills, California. She was best known for originating the role of Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in an Oscar-nominated performance flr the feature film MASH directed by Robert Altman.

Her death was confirmed to be due to heart failure by her publicist, and it was also revealed by her daughter Claire that the actress had been suffering from dementia for the last years of her life. Kellerman had an extensive filmography in both movies and TV, and even though she didn’t have many runaway success roles after her turn MASH, her body of work represents an incredible lifetime achievement in both comedic and dramatic acting.

Sally Clare Kellerman was born in Long Beach, California on June 2, 1937. Her father was John Helm Kellerman, an oil executive, and Edith Baine (née Vaughn), a piano teacher. Kellerman was raised in the Christian Science faith. Because of that, she reportedly didn’t go to a hospital until she was 24, when she wrote in her memoir she nearly died from a botched home abortion.

The actress’ many decades of success did not come easily for her, though. After enrolling in acting classes at the Actors Studio West and securing her first feature role in the early 1950’s, she struggled to land regular acting work despite TV guest roles through the 1960’s. In a 1971 interview with Life Magazine after her career exploded, Kellerman reflected on her TV roles saying “It took me eight yers to get into TV – and six years to get out. Frigid women, alcoholics they gave me. I got beat up, raped, and never played comedy.”

According to the Life interview, the role of Hot Lips initially only had 12 lines, but through Kellerman’s improvisations on-set and additions to the script made by Altman for her, she became a main character and a highlight of the film.

After MASH, Kellerman starred in big-screen comedies next to popular actors of the time like James Caan and Alan Arkin. After a break from TV through the 70’s, Kellerman eventually returned to the silver screen and added to her prolific list of guest spots in shows like Hotel, Columbo, 90210.  In her late career in the 2010’s, she even got brought on as major characters in shows such as IFC’s Maron, and a Daytime Emmy nominated role in The Young And The Restless.

The actress was also a talented singer who performed in several musicals, and even contributed songs to the soundtracks of some films she acted in including her second Altman collaboration Brewster McCloud (1970). She also began performing cover songs and touring the U.S. in the 2000s.

Kellerman is survived by her niece and adopted daughter, Claire.