Gillian Raine

Gillian Raine, born Gillian Mary Lorraine on 28 December 1926 in Ceylon, was a British actress and singer who worked across theatre, film, and television throughout her career. She died on 19 June 2018 at the age of 91.

Raine built her career through repertory theatre, television drama, and film. Her stage work included a production of Hedda Gabler at the Duke of York's Theatre in 2005, in which she played Juliana Tesman, as well as Richard Eyre's production of La Grande Magia for the National Theatre. She also appeared in Mike Bradwell's Mackerel Sky at the Bush Theatre and in Bill Bryden's production of A Month in the Country, which ran at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre and subsequently transferred to the West End at the Albery Theatre.

Her film credits included Darling and A Night to Remember. On television, she appeared in Kiss Me Kate, Vanity Fair, A Very Peculiar Practice, and Under the Hammer. She played Phyllis Bennett in the 1987 television series The Charmer, starring Nigel Havers, and appeared as Harriet Longthorn in the New Tricks episode "A Face for Radio" in 2008.

Raine first encountered actor Leonard Rossiter when both were cast in the play Semi-Detached at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry in 1962. During a second run of the production at the Belgrade in September 1963, the two began a relationship and moved in together. That same production transferred briefly to Broadway in October 1963, marking Raine's Broadway credit. She and Rossiter married in 1972 and had one daughter together. The marriage lasted until Rossiter's death in 1984.