Gina McKee (born 14 April 1961 although some sources claim 1964) is an English actress, known for her starring roles in the TV dramas Our Friends in the North (1996) and The Lost Prince (2003) for the BBC and the ITV version of The Forsyte Saga (2002-03).
She may be best known to international audiences for her role in the Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts film Notting Hill, in which she played wheelchair user Bella.
McKee began her career in TV with several small background roles including a part on the Lenny Henry Show. She made her film debut in 1988 when she had a small role in the Ken Russell film The Lair of the White Worm which co-starred Hugh Grant.
In 1996 she played Mary in the BBC drama Our Friends in the North, a role for which she won three Best Actress awards in 1997: the British Academy Television Award, the Royal Television Society Award and the Broadcasting Press Guild Award. McKee appeared in several episodes of the Chris Morris spoof current affairs show, Brass Eye (1997, 2001), as reporter Libby Shuss.
On stage, McKee's credits include Harold Pinter's The Lover and The Collection at the Comedy Theatre in London.
In 2008 she appears in the BBC drama Fiona's Story and a West End revival of Chekhov's Ivanov.
McKee was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Sunderland in 2002.
McKee was born in Sunderland; her father was a coal miner. A life-long supporter of Sunderland A.F.C., she was asked to narrate the documentary Premier Passions about the team.
She lives in Sussex with her husband Kez Cary to whom she has been married since 1989. McKee has been a vegetarian since 1982.
