Gail Strickland is an American actress who had prominent supporting roles in such films as The Drowning Pool (1975), Bound for Glory (1976), Who'll Stop the Rain (1978), Norma Rae (1979), and Protocol (1984), and appeared regularly on various network television shows.
Gail Strickland | |
|---|---|
| Born | Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1966–2008 |
| Spouse |
Neil Baker
(m. 1990) |
| Children | 1 |
Life and career
editStrickland was born in Birmingham, Alabama, one of five children, to Theodosia and Lynn Strickland, who owned a large tire dealership.[1] She married Neil Baker, and they have a daughter together named Maisy.[2]
In 1973, Strickland appeared as Sister Ann in the season-four episode, "Almost a Nun's Story", on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She had a memorable appearance on the television series M*A*S*H as Captain Helen Whitfield, a nurse in an ongoing battle with alcoholism. She appeared as Courtney, Jerry's love interest, in the episodes titled "Jerry Robinson Crusoe" (3.13) and “My Boy Guillermo” (4.19) of The Bob Newhart Show. She appeared in the pilot episode of the television series Night Court as the public defender. She also guest-starred in the Cagney & Lacey episode "Suffer the Children" season one, episode four. Strickland played a struggling rancher's daughter in the 1987 Highway to Heaven episode "A Dream of Wild Horses", alongside legendary actor Richard Farnsworth. She played nurse practitioner Marilyn McGrath in the 1988 TV series HeartBeat. This was one of the earliest portrayals of a lesbian character on American network television.
Strickland appeared in 11 episodes of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman from 1993 to 1994 as the character Olive Davis. She guest-starred in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Paradise", as the character Alixus. In 1994–95, she appeared as Mrs. Landis of Doubleday in the Seinfeld season-six episodes "The Chaperone" and "The Switch". She appeared on the U.S. Navy series JAG first-season episode "War Cries" as Ambassador Bartlett, the U.S. ambassador to Peru. Strickland also played Esther MacInerney, the wife of A.J. MacInerney (Martin Sheen), chief of staff for President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas), in the 1995 movie The American President. She played Dr. Rene Spielman on ER season six, episode six, "The Peace of Wild Things".
Strickland was a cast member in the brief run of the 2002 CBS television series First Monday, playing a Supreme Court justice.
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | The Drowning Pool | Mavis Kilbourne |
| 1976 | Bittersweet Love | Roz |
| 1976 | Bound for Glory | Pauline |
| 1977 | One on One | B.J. Rudolph |
| 1977 | The Gathering | Peggy Thornton |
| 1978 | Who'll Stop the Rain | Charmian |
| 1979 | Norma Rae | Bonnie Mae |
| 1983 | Uncommon Valor | Helen Rhodes |
| 1983 | Lies | Jessica Brenner |
| 1984 | Protocol | Mrs. St. John |
| 1986 | Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star | Myrna King |
| 1991 | The Man in the Moon | Marie Foster |
| 1993 | Three of Hearts | Yvonne |
| 1994 | When a Man Loves a Woman | Pam |
| 1994 | Last Time Out | Becky Davis |
| 1995 | How to Make an American Quilt | The Mrs. |
| 1995 | The American President | Esther MacInerney |
| 2008 | My Apocalypse | Victoria Eastman |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Dark Shadows | Dorcas Trilling | "1.751", "1.766" |
| 1973 | The Mary Tyler Moore Show | Sister Ann Hutchins | "Almost a Nun's Story" |
| 1974 | Barnaby Jones | Susan Taylor | "Friends Till Death" |
| 1974 | Police Story | Julie Keegan | "Country Boy" |
| 1974 | Hawaii Five-O | Elena Lewis / Forbes | "Killer at Sea", "How to Steal a Masterpiece" |
| 1974–75 | The Bob Newhart Show | Courtney Simpson | "Jerry Robinson Crusoe", "My Boy Guillermo" |
| 1975 | Harry O | Laura Mayo | "Silent Kill" |
| 1975 | Ellery Queen | Gail Stevens | "Too Many Suspects" |
| 1975 | My Father's House | Paula | TV film |
| 1975 | The Rookies | Beverly Shore | "The Voice of Thunder" |
| 1976 | Kojak | Monica | "Justice Deferred" |
| 1976 | The Dark Side of Innocence | Heather | TV film |
| 1977 | Westside Medical | Aileen Baker | "The Devil & the Deep Blue Sea" |
| 1977 | A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story | Dorothy | TV film |
| 1977 | The Gathering | Peggy | TV film |
| 1978 | The President's Mistress | Gwen Bowers | TV film |
| 1978 | Lou Grant | Liz Harrison | "Scandal" |
| 1978 | Ski Lift to Death | Vicki Gordon | TV film |
| 1979 | Letters from Frank | Marlene | TV film |
| 1979 | The Gathering, Part II | Peggy | TV film |
| 1980 | King Crab | Vicky | TV film |
| 1980 | Rape and Marriage: The Rideout Case | Jean Christensen | TV film |
| 1981 | A Matter of Life and Death | Mary Coggins | TV film |
| 1981 | M*A*S*H | Capt. Helen Whitfield | "Bottoms Up" |
| 1981 | Walking Tall | Lynn Hudson | "Deadly Impact" |
| 1981 | Darkroom | Helen | "Siege of 31 August" |
| 1982 | Trapper John, M.D. | Dr. Curtis | "Doctors and Other Strangers" |
| 1982 | Alice | Julia Roberts | "Give My Regrets to Broadway" |
| 1982 | My Body, My Child | Adele | TV film |
| 1982 | Eleanor, First Lady of the World | Anna Roosevelt | TV film |
| 1982 | The Six of Us | Sally Benjamin-Tree | TV film |
| 1982 | ABC Afterschool Special | Mrs. Watson | "Amy & the Angel" |
| 1982 | Life of the Party: The Story of Beatrice | Abbie | TV film |
| 1982, 1984 | Hill Street Blues | Gail Kennedy | "Invasion of the Third World Body Snatchers", "The Other Side of Oneness" |
| 1982, 1984 | Cagney & Lacey | Ruth Dawes / Mrs. Tanton | "Suffer the Children", "Fathers & Daughters" |
| 1983 | Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land | Nancy Gilliam | TV film |
| 1983 | Hardcastle and McCormick | Agatha 'Aggy' Wainwright | "Flying Down to Rio" |
| 1984 | Night Court | Sheila Gardiner | "All You Need Is Love" |
| 1984 | Family Ties | Dorothy Canell | "Ladies' Man" |
| 1984 | Emerald Point N.A.S. | Dr. Robards | Recurring role |
| 1984 | Fame | Becky Guest | "The Ballad of Ray Claxton" |
| 1985 | Dallas | Veronica Robinson | "Winds of War", "Shattered Dreams", "Terms of Estrangement" |
| 1985 | On Our Way | Melinda | TV film |
| 1985–86 | The Insiders | Alice West | Main role |
| 1986 | Spenser: For Hire | Mildred Frances | "She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not" |
| 1986–87 | What a Country! | Principal Joan Courtney | Main role (season 1) |
| 1987 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | Kay Webb | "An Enemy Among Us" |
| 1987 | Highway to Heaven | Billie Harwood | "A Dream of Wild Horses" |
| 1987 | Murder, She Wrote | Kate Hollander | "Steal Me a Story" |
| 1988–89 | Heartbeat | Marilyn McGrath, N.P. | Main role |
| 1991 | Civil Wars | Lisa Wharton | "The Pound and the Fury" |
| 1991 | WIOU | Beatrice Hudson | "Three Women and a Baby", "One Flew Over the Anchor Desk" |
| 1992 | The Burden of Proof | Fiona Cawley | TV miniseries |
| 1992 | Spies | Mrs. Mills | TV film |
| 1993 | Silent Cries | Roberta Hampton | TV film |
| 1993 | Law & Order | Ellen Gorham | "Promises to Keep" |
| 1993 | Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman | Olive Davis | Recurring role (season 1) |
| 1993 | Remember | Amanda | TV film |
| 1994 | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine | Alixus | "Paradise" |
| 1994 | Murder, She Wrote | Edith Peabody | "To Kill a Legend" |
| 1994–95 | Seinfeld | Ms. Landis | "The Chaperone", "The Switch" |
| 1994–1998 | Melrose Place | Katherine Andrews | Recurring role (seasons 2–7) |
| 1995 | A Mother's Prayer | Ruth | TV film |
| 1995 | JAG | Ambassador Bartlett | "War Cries" |
| 1997 | Walker, Texas Ranger | Dr. Janet Monroe | "Forgotten People" |
| 1997 | The Pretender | Grace Carter-Welman | "Over the Edge" |
| 1998 | Profiler | Melinda Moscone | "Birthright" |
| 1998 | Michael Hayes | Rose | "Imagine: Parts 1 & 2" |
| 1998 | Life of the Party: The Pamela Harriman Story | Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney | TV film |
| 1999 | Chicago Hope | Shirley Fleming | "Playing Through" |
| 1999 | Providence | Evelyn Lombard | "You Can't Hurry Love" |
| 1999 | ER | Dr. Renee Spielman | "The Peace of Wild Things" |
| 2002 | First Monday | Justice Deborah Szwark | Main role |
References
edit- ^ Toepfer, Susan; Hutchings, David (April 25, 1988). "Is Prime Time Ready for Its First Lesbian? Gail Strickland Hopes So—and She's About to Find Out". People. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ "It's All about the Light". Palisadian-Post. Pacific Palisades, Calif. August 29, 2007.