Gillian Barge

Gillian Barge, born Gillian Betty Merrison on 27 May 1940 in Hastings, Sussex, was an English actress who worked across stage, television, and film throughout a career spanning several decades. She died on 19 November 2003 in Ipswich, Suffolk, at the age of 63, following a diagnosis of cancer. Her second husband was the actor Clive Merrison.

Barge began her training at the age of 17 at the Birmingham Theatre School. Her stage career encompassed classical and contemporary work, and she became a member of the Royal National Theatre. Her theatrical roles included Varya in The Cherry Orchard, Isabella in Measure for Measure, and Paulina in The Winter's Tale. In 1975, she appeared on Broadway in the comedy The Misanthrope. Her stage work continued into the twenty-first century, and in 2001 she received a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Passion Play at the Donmar Warehouse.

Her television work was extensive. She appeared in the BBC Television Shakespeare production of King Lear in 1982, playing Goneril, and portrayed Gertrude Bell in the 1990 television film A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia. Her many guest appearances included roles in Softly, Softly (1972), Van der Valk (1977), All Creatures Great and Small (1980), One Foot in the Grave (1990), Agatha Christie's Poirot (1990), Miss Marple: They Do It with Mirrors (1991), Lovejoy (1994), Pie in the Sky (1996), A Dance to the Music of Time (1997), Anna Karenina (2000), The Jury (2002), and Midsomer Murders (2002).

Barge's film credits include The National Health (1973), Seal Island (1976), Singleton's Pluck (1984), Mesmer (1994), The Discovery of Heaven (2001), Charlotte Gray (2001), and Love Actually (2003), the last of which served as her final film role.