She was the first actress to play Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the film version of MASH (1970). The role went to Loretta Swit for the TV series.
Stepmother of ex-husband, Rick Edelstein's, 4 daughters.
Sally Kellerman Detailed Biography
Sally Claire Kellerman (born June 2, 1936 in Long Beach, California) is an American actress and singer most famous for her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the film M*A*S*H (1970) for which she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
Kellerman attended Hollywood High School where she was "bitten by the acting bug." She went on to Los Angeles City College. She also studied at the Actor's Studio in New York City. As a singer, Kellerman already had a recording contract with Verve Records when she was 18.
Kellerman made her film debut in Reform School Girl (1959). She played Dr. Elizabeth Dehner in the second (aired) pilot episode of Star Trek, opposite Gary Lockwood. She reportedly almost talked herself out of her most famous role. She had an argument with M*A*S*H director Robert Altman after reading the script. She was incensed about the way her would be character, "Hot Lips," was humiliated. Altman said that her attitude and passion was exactly what he was looking for in the character.
Kellerman supplements her ongoing film career with stints as a nightclub singer, television and radio narrator and voice-overs.
She married director Rick Edelstein in 1970 but subsequently divorced. In 1980 she married Jonathan Krane. They separated in 1997.
