‘M*A*S*H’: Major Margaret Houlihan Actress Loretta Swit Once Opened Up About the Saying Goodbye to the Series

It has been almost four decades since the final episode of “M*A*S*H” aired on our television screens. And while many shows fade into distant memory after they end, “M*A*S*H” has stood the test of time with its fans, as well as those who helped bring the series to life.

One of those people is actress Loretta Swit. She played the nurse, Major Margaret J “Hot Lips” Houlihan. Swit appeared in all 251 episodes of “M*A*S*H” from 1972 until 1983.

In an interview with MeTV.com, Swit joined other actors from the show, as well as producers and writers to talk about the series and how they still feel about it coming to an end.

“Harry (Morgan, who played Colonel Sherman T. Potter) and I again – Margaret and Potter – had their very serious, loving relationship,” Loretta Swit recalled. “And I had to get through saying, ‘You dear, sweet man, I’ll never forget you.’ And I still can’t do it because I never will. I mean he was just – we were just so close.”

The “M*A*S*H” actress also recounted a moving exchange between her and costar Alan Alda. Alda played Captain Benjamin Franklin ‘Hawkeye’ Pierce in the series.

“Alan and I were talking,” Swit also said. “We were looking around and everybody’s having a good time. We’re shooting and it’s wonderful. It’s a beautiful day. And he said, ‘Aren’t we lucky to be us?’”

Loretta Swit also said she was well aware of how fortunate she was to be part of “M*A*S*H” while she was working in the series. And, according to what she said during the interview, she wasn’t the only one.

“As it was happening, we knew, we knew how lucky we were – how, how blessed. Really, more blessing than luck, I think,” Swit explained. “How, really, it was a gift to work consistently on this material and grow.”

Swit also shared a moving message she learned from Harry Morgan.

“Harry said that in an interview,” Swit recalled. “‘How has ‘M*A*S*H’ changed you? Has it made you a better actor?’ He said, ‘I don’t know about that, but it’s made me a better person.’”

Another Actor Also Shared His Thoughts About the Ending of ‘M*A*S*H’

Another actor from “M*A*S*H” who talked about the ending of the series was Jamie Farr. He played Corporal Max Clinger in the show. Like Loretta Swit and other costars, Farr was also sad to see the series come to an end.

“It was like severing something that – you wanted it to end because you know it had to end,” Farr also told MeTV. “But at the same time, it was something that you didn’t want secretly to end.”

Farr also said he hoped the show “could go on forever” and that “M*A*S*H” was “part of your everyday existence.”