Famous TV Nurses | Memorable characters

Two new summer cable series — Jada Pinkett Smith’s ‘Hawthorne’ and Edie Falco’s Showtime dramedy ‘Nurse Jackie’ — feature nurses as lead characters. They bring to mind some other famous TV nurses:

Julia Baker on “Julia” (1968-71): Diahann Carroll starred in this landmark sitcom as a single mom working for a cranky but good-natured M.D., played by Lloyd Nolan.

Maj. Margaret Houlihan on M*A*S*H (1972-83): There were very good reasons Loretta Swit’s head nurse was nicknamed “Hot Lips.”

Colleen McMurphy on “China Beach” (1988-91): In this drama set during the Vietnam War, Dana Delany was the conscientious nurse at China Beach, a combination evacuation hospital and USO entertainment center near Da Nang.

Carol Hathaway on “ER” (1994-2000): Julianna Margulies starred as the head nurse who ended up marrying the womanizing Dr. Doug Ross (George Clooney).

Carla Espinosa on “Scrubs” (2001- ): Judy Reyes plays the head nurse at Sacred Heart Hospital, dealing with a staff of quirky doctors, including her husband (Donald Faison), the chief of surgery.

McClatchy Newspapers