Oscar nominee also played Rodney Dangerfield’s love interest in “Back to School.”
Sally Kellerman, the actress know for her portrayals of Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in the movie “M*A*S*H” and the Rodney Dangerfield’s love interest in “Back to School,” died Thursday at age 84, the Hollywood Reporter says.
Her son, Jack Krane, told the site she died at an assisted care facility in Woodland Hills, California, after a battle with dementia.
Kellerman was Oscar-nominated for her performance in Robert Altman’s “M*A*S*H” (1970) as the head nurse of a U.S. mobile medical unit during the Korean War. A by-the book Army vet, she has an affair with the equally officious head surgeon (Robert Duvall) and is targeted for pranks by rebellious doctors.
In 1986’s “Back to School,” Kellerman won a new generation of fans as a college English professor who catches the eye of a wealthy freshman played by Dangerfield.
“I really did fall in love with him,” Kellerman told the Sun-Times then. “He’s a sweet, very funny man. So it was easy. And the director was very sensitive. But it’s just like real life. When you get interested in someone, you start by hanging out with them. When you really get along and you really like them, romantic things follow. It was the same way here.”