She stood in front of the camera with stars like Tony Curtis or Henry Fonda. But Sally Kellerman became famous as a military nurse in Altman’s comedy cult film “MASH”.
Los Angeles – US actress Sally Kellerman, best known for Robert Altman’s military satire “M*A*S*H” (1970), has died.
According to her son Jack Krane, she died on Thursday in Woodland Hills, California, as reported by the Hollywood Reporter. Kellerman’s rep Alan Eichler confirmed the actress’ death to Variety. She was 84 years old.
The tall, blonde actress was best known for her role as military nurse Major Margaret Houlihan, nicknamed “Hot Lips”, in the 1970 comedy cult film “MASH”. Director Altman also brought in the award-winning farce about the Korean War Stars like Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould and Robert Duvall in front of the camera. Kellerman was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, but the trophy went to Helen Hayes in the disaster film Airport. Kellerman worked with Altman several times, including in the films The Player and Pret-a-Porter.
Born in California, she learned her craft at renowned acting schools. Her first major film role was in the 1968 crime film The Boston Strangler, opposite Tony Curtis and Henry Fonda. A year later, she starred in the romantic comedy The April Fools with Jack Lemmon and Catherine Deneuve. She starred in the comedy Do It Again Dad (1986) with Rodney Dangerfield.
Kellerman, who has released two albums as a singer, has also appeared in TV series for decades, such as “Starship Enterprise” (1966), “Columbo” (1998) and “Shadow of Passion” (2015). After a brief marriage to screenwriter Rick Gem, she married film producer Jonathan D. Krane (1952-2016) in 1980, with whom she adopted two children. dpa
