Loretta Swit was born on November 4, 1937, in Passaic, New Jersey, to Lester and Nellie Szwed (née Kassack), who were both of Polish descent. Her father was a salesman and upholsterer. Swit's brother, Robert, was six years and one day her senior. As a child, Swit was a member of a Girl Scout troop sponsored by the Holy Rosary R.C. Church of Passaic known as the Holy Rosary Scouts.
She graduated from Pope Pius XII High School in Passaic in 1955, where she had been a cheerleader, taken part in theatrical productions, and was co-captain of the women's basketball team. She graduated from Katharine Gibbs School in Montclair, New Jersey in June 1957, then was employed at a variety of clerical jobs including as a stenographer in Bloomfield, New Jersey; personal secretary to Elsa Maxwell; secretary to the ambassador from Ghana to the United Nations; and at the American Rocket Society in New York City while being trained to dance by a classmate, Elizabeth Parent-Barber, a Rockette and student at the New York School of Ballet. During this time she began developing her acting career.
She studied drama with Gene Frankel in Manhattan in New York City and considered him her acting coach. She regularly returned to his studio to speak with aspiring actors throughout her career. Swit is also a singer, having trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.[citation needed]

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