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Sally Claire Kellerman (born June 2, 1937 in Long Beach, California) is an American actress and singer most famous for her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the film MASH (1970), for which she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Biography

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 (1957). She played Dr. Elizabeth Dehner in the second filmed pilot episode of Star Trek, entitled "Where No Man Has Gone Before", opposite actors Gary Lockwood and William Shatner in 1966.

In 1969, she reportedly almost talked herself out of her most famous role. She had an argument with MASH director Robert Altman after reading the script. She was incensed about the way her proposed character, "Hot Lips" Houlihan, was to be humiliated. Altman said that her attitude and passion was exactly what he was looking for in that character.

The humiliating scenes became the best known and almost the most popular parts of the movie. Particularly, the famous prank scene in which the shower tent was lifted up to expose the attractive but snooty "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the nude, evoked a large number of imitations in movie history. Kellerman was apprehensive about appearing nude on the set, so to help her out co-star Gary Burghoff and director Robert Altman dropped their pants off-screen prior to the start of the scene. This unexpected sight, once the tent was lifted, startled Kellerman so that she would pause long enough before covering herself and ducking to make the scene work how the director wanted.

Kellerman supplements her ongoing film career with stints as a nightclub singer, television and radio narrator, and in voice-overs.

She married director Rick Edelstein in 1970 but subsequently divorced. In 1980, she married Jonathan Krane. They separated in 1997.

Selected filmography

• Boynton Beach Club (2006)
• American Virgin (2000)
• Women Of The Night (2000)
• It's My Party (1996)
• Prêt-à-Porter (1994)
• That's Life! (1986)
• Back to School (1986)
• Moving Violations (1985)
• Serial (1980)
• It Rained All Night the Day I Left (1980)
• Foxes (1980)
• A Little Romance (1979)
• Lost Horizon (1973)
• MASH (1970)
• The April Fools (1969)
• The Boston Strangler (1968)
• Star Trek: "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (1966) (TV)
• The Outer Limits: "The Bellero Shield" (1964) (TV)
• The Outer Limits: "The Human Factor" (1963) (TV)
• Reform School Girl (1957)

External links

• Sally Kellerman at Yahoo! Movies
• "Hotter than ever", article in the Pasadena Weekly (from the Internet Archive)

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