R.I.P. M*A*S*H star Sally Kellerman

Sally Kellerman, a veteran actor and musician best known for her starring role in Robert Altman's M*A*S*H, has died. Kellerman was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of a regulation-loving head nurse in the film. Kellerman died at the age of 84, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Kellerman tried to break into the business as a singer and got a potential record contract with Verve when she was only 18. She made a number of TV guest star appearances in the late 50s and 60s. There are many products of the TV genre boom.

Kellerman didn't break out until M*A*S*H, a comedy about surgeons in the Korean War. The film's treatment of her character is misogynistic and cruel, but Kellerman's haughty dignity in the part still shines through. Kellerman would joke about her sometimes complicated relationship with Altman in an interview in 2013 while promoting her book.

Well, there was a lot of chauvinism there, sure. I loved Bob but he was a real male chauvinist, probably the worst. I’m kidding. Sort of kidding.

Kellerman regrets turning down a role in the later film, Nashville, in a later portion of the interview.

After being nominated for an Oscar for M*A*S*H, Kellerman found many more doors open to her in Hollywood, many of which she passed on, having rediscovered her passion for music. She produced two albums over a long career. Her filmography from the post-M*A*S*H era includes collaborations with James Caan and Jodie Foster, a voice role opposite Big Bird in Follow That Bird, and numerous film. Sally Kellerman appeared in The Player as a parody of herself in 1989.

Kellerman spent years as the voice of Hidden Valley Ranch ads, as well as many other roles, and she often focused on commercial work, as well as voiceover, employing a voice that be smooth, aristocratic, or disdainful pretty much on command. In recent years, she continued to work regularly, popping up in sometimes surprising places: as her son's mom on Maron, and even as part of the convoluted web of projects surrounding Tim Heidecker. Both Maron and Heidecker paid tribute to Kellerman.