Swit will always be remembered for playing Hot Lips, but her career has expanded far beyond the classic series. The now 84-year-old is also an accomplished theater actor and has devoted herself to animal activism. Read on to find out more about her life today. RELATED: Pamela Sue Martin Played Fallon Carrington on Dynasty. See Her Now at 68.
Swit appeared in various TV shows and movies before and after her time on MASH, including Gunsmoke, Hawaii Five-0, The Love Boat, and Murder, She Wrote. Her most recent on-screen appearance was the 2019 movie Play the Flute. She’s also done a lot of acting on stage, appearing in plays such as Same Time, Next Year, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Vagina Monologues, and Mame. And she’s still acting today. In November and December 2021, she was in the play Middletown in Coral Gables, Florida. “The audience, in my opinion, is always your most important partner,” she told Broadway World in November 2021. “They communicate what they want from you. That’s what makes live theatre so exciting. Everyone is participating.” Swit is passionate about animal rights and founded SwitHeart Animal Alliance. Her website reads, “I set up SweetHeart Animal Alliance to prevent cruelty and end animal suffering, to promote and cooperate with numerous nonprofit organizations and programs that protect, rescue, train, and care for animals and preserve their habitat, while raising public awareness about issues that concern domestic, farm, exotic, wild, and native animals and their well being.” Swit mentioned her love of animals in the Toronto Star interview, as well. She listed Mahatma Gandhi as someone who inspires her and explained, “I am so committed to animal rights activism and I always think of his quote, ‘The true test of a nation’s greatness lies in the way they treat their animals.’” Swit has released two books, which are both related to art. First, there is A Needlepoint Scrapbook, a book of needlepoint designs released in 1986. Then, there’s SwitHeart: The Watercolour Artistry & Animal Activism of Loretta Swit. Released in 2017, the book is full of her watercolor paintings of animals and sales benefit animal charities.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb For more celebrity news delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. The cast and creators of MASH reflected on their time working on the show in an oral history for The Hollywood Reporter in 2018. Swit summed up how she feels about the show by quoting a piece of fan mail. “I’m going to paraphrase what someone wrote in a telegram when we ended the show,” she said. “It said, ‘Dear MAS*H folk: You made me laugh. You made me cry. You made me feel. Thank you.” I’ve never forgotten that. That’s one hell of a legacy." RELATED: Lisa Loring Played Wednesday Addams on TV. See Her Now at 63.
