Gail Strickland
Actor
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Gail Strickland (born May 18, 1947) is an American character actress.
Strickland was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the daughter of Theodosia and Lynn Strickland, who owned a tire shop. She had featured roles in 1970s films such as Bound for Glory, The Drowning Pool and Norma Rae.
In a memorable Drowning Pool scene, Strickland and Paul Newman are trapped in a room filling with water from floor to ceiling, stripped to their underwear, with no apparent escape.
Strickland appeared on the U.S. Navy series JAG first season episode "War Crimes". She played Ambassador Bartlett, the U.S. ambassador to Peru.
She appeared in the pilot episode of the television series Night Court as the public defender. She guest starred in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Paradise" as the character Alixus.
In 1994-1995, she appeared as Ms. Landis of Doubleday in the Seinfeld Season 6 episodes "The Chaperone" and "The Switch".
Strickland 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.
She also 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 in 11 episodes of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman from 1993-94 as the character Olive Davis.
She played Esther MacInerney, the wife of A.J. MacInerney (Martin Sheen), Chief of Staff for President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas), in the 1995 blockbuster movie The American President, which also starred Annette Bening, Michael J. Fox, and Richard Dreyfuss.
Strickland was a cast member in the brief run of the 2002 CBS television series First Monday, playing a Supreme Court justice.
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Filmography
When a Man Loves a Woman
as Pam 1994
The Man in the Moon
as Marie Foster 1991
Uncommon Valor
as Helen Rhodes 1983
How to Make an American Quilt
as The Mrs. 1995
Norma Rae
as Bonnie Mae 1979
The Drowning Pool
as Mavis 1975
Protocol
as Mrs. St. John 1984
Bound for Glory
as Pauline 1976
Who'll Stop the Rain
as Charmian 1978
Oxford Blues
as Las Vegas Lady 1984
Three of Hearts
as Yvonne 1993
Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land
as Nancy Gilliam 1983
One on One
as B.J. Rudolph 1977
Lies
as Jessica Brenner 1983
Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star
1986
A Mother's Prayer
as Ruth 1995