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Remembering Loretta Swit of M*A*S*H, Valerie Mahaffey of Young Sheldon, and The Simpsons Composer Alf Clausen

Emmy-winning actress Loretta Swit, who starred as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in M*A*S*H, has died. She died from natural causes at her home in New York City on May 30. Ms. Swit was 87.

She starred as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the 1972-1983 CBS sitcom M*A*S*H. Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan is the Regular Army head nurse of the 4077th and begins allied with Major Frank Burns (Larry Linville) against the more civilian doctors of the unit. She is the extremely capable head nurse of the 4077th MASH, the highest-ranking female officer in the unit, and fiercely protective of the women under her command.

Swit was one of only four cast members to stay for all 11 seasons of the show, from 1972 to 1983 (the others were Alan Alda, Jamie Farr, and William Christopher). She appeared in all but 11 of the total of 256 episodes. She won two Emmy Awards in 1980 and 1982 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series for the role. She was nominated for every season of the series except season one. In 1983, she won People's Choice Award for Favorite Female TV Performer. She appeared in the 1991 CBS retrospective special Memories of M*A*S*H. In 2002, she appeared in the M*A*S*H: 30th Anniversary Reunion on Fox.

She played the role of Christine Cagney in the 1981 CBS movie pilot for the television series Cagney & Lacey. She was forced to decline the role in the series when the producers of M*A*S*H refused to let her out of her contract. The role was played Meg Ryan in the six first season episodes before she was replaced by Sharon Gless in the second season.

Some of her sitcom guest appearances included Love, American Style (2 episodes), Good Heavens, and The Love Boat (5 episodes). She appeared in four episodes of Hawaii Five-O from 1969 to 1972. Some of her other television guest appearances included Mannix, Mission: Impossible, Gunsmoke (3 episodes), Bonanza, Ironside, Petrocelli, Murder, She Wrote (1994), Burke's Law, and Diagnosis: Murder. She hosted Those Incredible Animals on the Discovery Channel for 26 episodes from 1992 to 1994.

She was interviewed for The Interviews: An Oral History of Television on May 10, 2005.

Ms. Swit did a wonderful job portraying Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan for 11 seasons on M*A*S*H. She could do both comedy and drama well. We thank her for the laughs and entertainment that she brought us during her career. She will be deeply missed.

Share your memories on our M*A*S*H message board. View photos in our galleries.

MeTV will remember Loretta Swit this week with special episodes featuring Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan. Watch M*A*S*H weeknights from 6pm-8pm ET and Sundays at 7pm ET.

June 2
7pm: S5E6- "The Nurses" (OAD: October 19, 1976)
7:30pm: S5E3- "Margaret's Engagement" (OAD: September 28, 1976)

June 3
7pm: S6E13- "Comrades in Arms: Part 1" (OAD: December 6, 1977)
7:30pm: S6E14- "Comrades in Arms: Part 2" (OAD: December 13, 1977)

June 4
7pm: S5E1&E2- "Bug Out" (OAD: September 21, 1976)

June 5
7pm: S5E7- "The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan" (OAD: October 26, 1976)
7:30pm: S10E12- "The Birthday Girls" (OAD: January 11, 1982)

June 6
7pm: S8E2- "Are You Now, Margaret?" (OAD: September 24, 1979)
7:30pm: S7E20- "Hot Lips is Back in Town" (OAD: January 29, 1979)

Emmy-winning actress Valerie Mahaffey, who starred as Caitlyn Van Horne in The Powers That Be and who had a recurring role as Victoria MacElroy in Young Sheldon, has died. She died of cancer on May 30 in Los Angeles. Ms. Mahaffey was 71.

Mahaffey began her career starring as Ashley Bennett in the NBC daytime soap opera The Doctors from 1979 to 1981. She was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1980.

She starred as Caitlyn Van Horne in the short-lived 1992-1993 NBC sitcom The Powers That Be. It was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, with Norman Lear as executive producer. At the center of the series is U.S. Senator William Powers (John Forsythe), a parody of the political establishment in Washington, D.C. Margaret (Holland Taylor), the senator's status-hungry wife, treats Charlotte (Elizabeth Berridge), their maid, with comedic disdain. Caitlyn, the senator's daughter, has an eating disorder and is married to Representative Theodore Van Horne (David Hyde Pierce), who is suicidal; their son, Pierce (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), is mature beyond his years from having to care for his unbalanced parents. The series also starred Eve Gordon, Peter MacNicol, and Robin Bartlett.

Mahaffey starred as Jennifer Malone in five episodes of the short-lived 1995 CBS sitcom Women of the House. The series starred Delta Burke, reprising her role of Suzanne Sugarbaker, who had reconciled with producers of Designing Women after a bitter, highly publicized, off-screen battle. Jennifer Malone, known to her co-workers as "Malone", was a vivacious, naïve housewife who was recently left by her husband, and whose children were tyrants. She works as Suzanne's receptionist. Julie Hagerty played Jennifer Malone in two episodes. The cast included Teri Garr, Patricia Heaton, Lisa Rieffel, Jonathan Banks, Brittany Parkyn, and William Newman.

She had a recurring role as Victoria MacElroy in 14 episodes of the CBS sitcom Young Sheldon in seasons 1-3 from 2017 to 2020. Victoria MacElroy is Sheldon's (Iain Armitage) homeroom and English teacher at Medford High.

Mahaffey had a recurring role as Sandy Cooper in three episodes of Wings from 1993 to 1996. In 2009, she had a recurring role as Dr. Ocean in seven episodes of the Showtime comedy-drama United States of Tara. She had a recurring role as Lorna Harding, Jen Harding's (Christina Applegate) mother-in-law, in nine episodes of the Netflix comedy-drama Dead to Me from 2019 to 2022.

Some of her other sitcom guest appearances included Newhart, Cheers, Seinfeld, Baby Talk, Dream On, Caroline in the City, George & Leo, Love & Money, That's My Bush!, Frasier, Good Morning, Miami (2004), Out of Practice, Crumbs, Better with You, Hannah Montana, Raising Hope, The Exes, Kirstie, Workaholics, Impastor, and The Mindy Project.

She had a recurring role as Eve in five episodes the CBS comedy-drama Northern Exposure from 1991 to 1994. In 1992, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance as the chronic hypochondriac Eve.

Mahaffey had a recurring role as Alma Hodge, Orson Hodge's (Kyle MacLachlan) first wife, in eight episodes of the third season (2006-2007) the ABC mystery comedy-drama Desperate Housewives. She had a recurring role as Fran Horowitz in the 2013 TNT medical drama Monday Mornings. From 2013 to 2015, she had a recurring role as Olivia Rice on the Lifetime comedy-drama Devious Maids. She starred as Helen Pergman, Ronald's (Brian Geraghty) mother, in the first season (2020-2021) of the ABC crime drama thriller Big Sky.

Some of her other television credits included Father Dowling Mysteries, Quantum Leap (1990), The Young Riders, L.A. Law, The Client (4 episodes as Ellie Foltrigg), ER (4 episodes as Joi Abbott), Ally McBeal, Judging Amy, The West Wing, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Without a Trace, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Private Practice, Boston Legal, Glee (3 episodes as Rose Pillsbury), Grey's Anatomy, Franklin & Bash, Hart of Dixie (3 episodes as Mae Ellen Waterloo), and The Man in the High Castle (3 episodes as Susan), and Echo 3 (3 episodes as Maggie Chesborough).

Ms. Mahaffey was a talented and versatile character actress. She was a familiar face with nearly 100 television and film credits. We thank her for her work on sitcoms and television. She will be sorely missed.

Emmy-winning composer Alf Clausen, who worked on ALF and The Simpsons, has died. He died at his home in Los Angeles on May 29 after a decade-long battle with progressive supernuclear palsy (PSP). Mr. Clausen was 84.

Clausen was the composer for the 1986-1990 NBC sitcom ALF. He co-composed the theme music with Tom Kramer. He served as the composer for the ABC comedy-drama Moonlighting from 1985 to 1989, scoring 63 of the 65 episodes.

He was the sole composer for the Fox animated sitcom The Simpsons between 1990 and 2017. He joined the series in the second season and worked until the end of the 28th season. He received two Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on The Simpsons, winning the award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music and Lyrics two years in a row in 1997 and 1998.

Some of his other sitcom composing credits included ABC's Dads (1986-1987), ABC's Harry (1987), ABC's/Fox's animated series The Critic (1994-1995), and CBS' Bette (2000-2001). Some of his other television credits included Wizards and Warriors, Fame, and Lime Street.

He provided additional music for several films including The Beastmaster (1982), Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), Splash (1984), Weird Science (1985), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Dragnet (1987), and The Naked Gun (1988).

We were fortunate enough to interview him for our blog in 2007 when we reviewed The Simpsons: Testify CD. He was interviewed for The Interviews: An Oral History of Television in 2014 and 2015.

Mr. Clausen scored or orchestrated music for more than 30 films and television shows. With 30 nominations, he received more Emmy nominations to date than any other musician. We thank him for his music on The Simpsons and television. His music made the episodes much better and funnier. He will be greatly missed.

We also remember actor Jonathan Joss. He was best known for providing the voice of John Redcorn on King of the Hill. He was shot to death during an argument with a neighbor in San Antonio on June 1. Mr. Joss was 59.

Joss was the voice of John Redcorn from season 2 to 13 of the Fox animated sitcom King of the Hill, replacing the original actor Victor Aaron after Aaron's death in 1996. John Redcorn is a Native American healer who has given Nancy therapeutic massages for her headaches for years. He is invariably addressed or referred to as "John Redcorn" or "Mr. Redcorn" by every character in the series, and is never addressed or referred to simply as "John".

He was also known for his recurring role as Chief Ken Hotate in five episodes of the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation from 2011 to 2015. Ken Hotate is the leader of Pawnee's local Wamapoke Native American tribe. He also runs a casino in the city.

Joss guest starred in a 2014 episode of the FXX sitcom The League and a 2014 episode of the ABC sitcom Manhattan Love Story. Some of his other television credits included Walker, Texas Ranger (6 episodes), Charmed, ER, In Plain Sight, Friday Night Lights, Ray Donovan (3 episodes), and Tulsa King (2 episodes).

Mr. Joss was memorable as Ken Hotate on Parks and Recreation. We thank him for his work on television. He will be missed.

Posted by Todd -- SitcomsOnline.com at 1:00 PM

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Labels: ALF, Alf Clausen, King of the Hill, M*A*S*H, MeTV, Obits, Parks and Recreation, The Simpsons, Young Sheldon