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Gail Strickland
American actress (born 1945) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Gail Strickland (born May 18, 1945)[1] 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.
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Early years
Born in Birmingham, Alabama,[1] 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.[2]
Strickland graduated from Brooke Hill School in Birmingham. She went to Florida State University,[3] where she was a gymnast,[2] 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.[3]
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.[3]
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Career
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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.[citation needed]
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.
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Personal life
Strickland married Neil Baker, and they have a daughter together named Maisy. She also has a stepson named Chris Baker.[4] She was diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia in the early 1990s.[5] The condition affects 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.[5]
Filmography
Film
Television
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References
External links
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