M*A*S*H actress Judy Farrell, famous for playing Nurse Able in the hit sitcom, dies aged 84

Judy Farrell, the actress best known for playing Nurse Able in the beloved sitcom M*A*S*H, has died. She was 84.

Farrell died in hospital on Sunday, April 2, nine days after suffering a stroke, her son told TMZ.

Complications from the stroke left the actress unable to speak but she was able to squeeze the hands of her loved ones, the US outlet reports.

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Farrell's M*A*S*H co-star Loretta Swit, who played Major Margaret 'Hot Lips' Houlihan, remembered the actress as "family" and called her death "a painful loss".

"Judy was a most beautiful woman – inside and out. We grew up together," she told Fox News Digital.

"This has been a painful loss, but we will always have the beauty of her memory. Rest in peace, Nurse Able."

Farrell starred in eight episodes of the hit series, which was set during the Korean War, alongside the likes of Alan Alda.

Her first husband, Mike Farrell, also starred in M*A*S*H as Captain B.J. Hunnicutt, joining the show in 1975 and staying on until its finale in 1983.

The couple, who have two children together – Michael and daughter Erin, who is a costume designer and actress – divorced in 1983, 20 years after they wed.

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Farrell then went on to marry producer and actor Joe Bratcher in 1985.

The actress also starred in roles in Get Smart, The Partridge Family, Quincy, M.E., Emergency!, Benson and Fame.

Her last on-screen role was in the 2006 film Long-Term Relationship.