Philippa Gail (16 August 1942 – 26 July 1999) was a British theatre, film and television actress. The Guardian called her "An actress of power and passion who mingled sex appeal with forthright emotion."
She trained at Webber-Douglas, where she won the award for best actress. There followed stage work including Shakespeare, Shaw and Ostrovsky. In the West End she was Maria in Twelfth Night, and the General's daughter in Anouilh's The Fighting Cock at the Duke of York's. At the Assembly Rooms in York, her performance in Ibsen's Little Eyolf was described by critics as "genuinely revelatory."
In 1970 she married David Conville, director of the Open Air Theatre, Regents Park, where she made many of her later stage appearances. The couple later had a son.
Interspersed amongst her stage work were film and TV parts, including starring as the seductive Jane in The Troubleshooters, This Is My Street, Man in a Suitcase, the title role in William Douglas Home's The Reluctant Debutante (ITV Play of the Week), Giants On Saturday, Triangle, Brett, Coronation Street, The Sweeney and the Ruth Rendell thriller A Fatal Inversion.
Gail also taught drama at the Eugene O'Neill Centre and South Florida University, and continued to appear on stage before retiring in 1996.
She died of cancer in 1999.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes1964This Is My StreetMaureen1969Ring of Bright WaterPet stall girl1971She'll Follow You AnywhereJune CarterAKA, Passion Potion
Television Year Title Role Notes196324-Hour CallEileen Healey"Never Leave Me"1963Jezebel ex UKEileen"Sister Ship", "The Long Cool Drop"1963MaupassantJeannie"Bachelors"1965Sylvia Greenwood"Sonny"1965Riviera PoliceHelen"But the Company She Keeps/Death on a Fine Day"1965ITV Play of the WeekTrudie / Lyn"Giants on Saturday", "Four of Hearts #4: Summertime Ends Tonight"1965–1971Jane WebbRegular role1966ITV Play of the WeekJane Broadbent"The Reluctant Debutante"1966SophieTV film1967TrappedNina"Victor Victor"1967Sexton BlakeCarole Vane"Knave of Diamonds: Parts 1–5"1968Man in a SuitcasePatricia Baldwin"No Friend of Mine"1968Love StoryCharlotte"A Man Alone"1968Cherry Buck"Thark"1968Coronation StreetJo Hepworth"1.831"1969Dixon of Dock GreenPenny"The Brimstone Man"1969ITV Sunday Night TheatreMaggie"It Calls for a Great Deal of Love"1971BrettMaria"The Saxby Route"1978D.C.I. Barton"Feet of Clay"1990Mrs. Smith"Breaking Point"1991Screen TwoRose Alderney"Do Not Disturb"1992Beryl Verne-Smith"1.1"
References
External links
Philippa Gail Obituary in The Guardian