# Gail Strickland

Gail Strickland (born May 18, 1945) is a retired 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.

## Early years

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Strickland is one of five children of Theodosia and Lynn Strickland, who owned a large tire dealership. She was tall for her age in her youth, and she said, “When boys started looking differently at girls, I wasn’t one of the ones they looked differently at.” She turned to writing and performing plays as a way of attracting attention.
Strickland graduated from Brooke Hill School in Birmingham. She went to Florida State University, where she was a gymnast, was the first female clown with the university's circus, and received a teaching certificate in English. During her college summers she worked in community theater in Sarasota, Florida.
Following college, Strickland was a governess in Spain for two months, and then worked as a waitress in Cape Cod. After that she moved to New York, working as a receptionist for an advertising agency while she studied improvisational acting. That was followed by her attendance at Sanford Meisner Drama School. During those times she did some acting in commercials and soap operas.

## Career

In 1973, Strickland appeared as Sister Ann in the season four episode, "Almost a Nun's Story", on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She appeared 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 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 Martin Sheen's presidential chief of staff character, 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 an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

## Personal life

Strickland married Neil Baker, and they have a daughter together named Maisy. She also has a stepson named Chris Baker. She was diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia in the early 1990s. The condition effects her speech; she continued working for 15 years before it became too debilitating for her to deliver her lines, resulting in her retirement from acting.

## Filmography
### Film

| 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

| 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 |