This blonde is no dummy

Press, 20 February 1979, Page 14

This blonde is no dummy

When a handsome admirer of the actress, Loretta Swit — who plays the blonde bombshell, Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan, in “M.A.S.H.” — turned up recently for a dinner date, he fondly hoped that the evening-would be all music and romance. But it didn’t turn out quite like that. Instead, he was told to change into tennis gear and report to a nearby court. Said Loretta happily: “He was a lousy piayer. I beat him in 20 minutes. And I haven’t seen him since.”

It isn’t just that Loretta — a key figure in the best-selling series — is a first-class tennis player, which she is.

She says: “I like a man who’s competitive and plays hard. Somone who wants to win. The romancing bit can come later.”

It is this approach to men and life which has made Loretta Swit one of

the most unpredictable and explosive talents in TV. The other day, for instance, when a reporter at a press conference innocently asked: “What do you wear in bed, Loretta?”, she marched out, tossing her sun-kissed locks with such fury that no-one would have been surprised if they had burst into flames.

Later, when she had calmed down a bit, she explained: “Just because I’m a blonde it certainly doesn’t mean I’m dumb.

“I never get asked for my views on ‘M.A.S.H.’ which is much, much more than a comedy.

“Consider the sheer absurdity of it. Here are a bunch of men in the battle line with the job of stitching up wounded simply so that these same wounded can go back into battle and get hurt again.” Friends say that sheer dedication is what motivates the basically serious Loretta. Work has become such a habit with her that it is now almost a drug. Her friend Alan Alda, who writes many of the “M.A.S.H.” scripts and directs some of them, said:

“We get very worried about her. It’s a gruelling schedule on this show — six months on and six months off. “The rest of the cast use the time to relax but not Loretta. She likes to go off and tie herself up for half the year on some B'oadway show.” In fact, when she’s not working, Loretta, the girl who looks every inch the sex bomb on the screen, prefers her own company.

“The truth is that T have never been one for the Hollywood party and nightclub circuit,” she said: Indeed, Loretta is far more likely to spend the evening, hot with showbusiness friends, but with her four dogs Pief, Sheba, Precious and Jelly Bean.

And her idea of a really happy time is to be. alone a her easel and paint for hour upon hour.

But surely there are other things in life besides work?

“All my life I’ve wanted to act,” she said. “As a child when I read a book I played every role in my head.” The break into television came via things like a touring production of “The Odd Couple” in which she appeared as one of the Pigeon sisters. That, led to cameos in “Mission Impossible,” “Hawaii FiveO” and “Petrocelli.” Her father is a PolishAmerican upholsterer from New Jersey. “Even when I began to set the work, my parents still objected. But, to be fair, it has been much better since ‘M.A.S.H.’ ”

She says that she must have a “strong sense of personal security” before she has any intention of marrying.