Background
Strickland was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the daughter of Theodosia and Lynn Strickland, who owned a tire shop.
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 United States. Navy series Judge Advocate General first season episode "War Crimes".
She played Ambassador Bartlett, the United States. 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 Mississippi Landis of Doubleday in the Seinfeld Season 6 episodes "The Chaperone" and "The Switch".
Gail played a struggling rancher"s daughter in the 1987 "Highway to Heaven" episode "A Dream of Wild Horses," alongside legendary actor, Richard Farnsworth.
Strickland played nurse practitioner Marilyn McGrath in the 1988 television 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*South*H as Captain Helen Whitfield, a nurse in an ongoing battle with alcoholism.
She appeared in 11 episodes of Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman from 1993-1994 as the character Olive Davis.
Strickland was a cast member in the brief run of the 2002 Columbia Broadcasting System television series First Monday, playing a Supreme Court justice. Gail has reportedly been suffering from spasmodic dysphonia which may have resulted in a halted career.
