‘M*A*S*H’ Actor Sally Kellerman Has died, Aged 84
She also appeared in ‘Back to School’, The Player’ and more.
(L to R) Donald Sutherland, Sally Kellerman, and Elliot Gould in 'M*A*S*H.'
Some sad news for anyone who has fond memories of Major Margaret 'Hot Lips' Houlihan or Dr. Diane Turner. The actor behind both of those roles, Sally Kellerman, died Thursday at the age of 84.
Sally Clare Kellerman was born in 1937 in Long Beach, California, the daughter of a piano teacher and an oil executive, moving to Los Angeles as a child and attending Hollywood High School.
Long before she entertained thoughts of acting, her initial focus was on jazz singing, and she scored a recording contract with Verve records at the age of 18. While she then switched to pursue acting, she released an album in 1972. Her love of singing continued even as her screen career flourished, and she sang in a few of her roles.
Kellerman was able to move easily between the worlds of TV and movies, and her early small screen work included a lead role in 1962's ‘Cheyenne’ and guest appearances on ‘The Twilight Zone,’ ‘The Outer Limits,’ ‘The Alfred Hitchcock Hour’ and ‘Bonanza.’ She made an impact on ‘Star Trek’ fans thanks to her role as Dr. Elizabeth Dehner in the first-season episode ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’, playing a scientist who develops extraordinary powers and puts the crew at risk.
On TV she’s proved adept at both comedy and drama, having worked on the likes of ‘Maron,’ ‘Decker,’ ‘The Young and the Restless,’ ‘Columbo,’ ‘Murder, She Wrote,’ and many more.
Her film career was full of different performances, and she appeared in a wide variety of movies including ‘The Boston Strangler,’ ‘Lost Horizon,’ ‘You Can’t Hurry Love,’ ‘The Player,’ ‘Ready to Wear,’ ‘’Foxes,’ ‘I Could Never Be Your Woman,’ and 2016’s ‘The Remake.’
Yet the roles that have stuck in most people’s minds are the two we mention up front. First, that of no nonsense Army nurse Major Houlihan who must put up with rowdy doctors during the Korean War in Robert Altman’s ‘M*A*S*H.’ Though she constantly complains about the behavior of her colleagues, she also has a passionate side, carrying on a hot-blooded affair with equally uptight Major Frank Burns, played by Robert Duvall. Kellerman scored an Oscar nomination for the role.
Kellerman described the experience of working with ‘M*A*S*H’ director Robert Altman as an enjoyable one. “It was a very freeing, positive experience” she told Dick Cavett in a 1970 TV interview. “For the first time in my life I took chances, I didn't suck in my cheeks, or worry about anything.” She went on to become a regular in his movies.
And second, her laidback professor Dr. Turner, who becomes Rodney Dangerfield’s love interest in ‘Back to School,’ where she won over more than just the comedian’s enthusiastic businessman.
Kellerman died of heart failure at her home in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles. She’s survived by her son Jack and daughter Claire.
Rodney Dangerfield in 1986's 'Back to School.'
Back to School
