Sharon Gless Bio
Sharon Marguerite Gless (born May 31, 1943) is an American actress with a career defined by prominent television leads and stage work spanning five decades. She is best known for roles including Maggie Philbin on Switch, Sergeant Christine Cagney on Cagney & Lacey, the title character in The Trials of Rosie O’Neill, Debbie Novotny on Queer as Folk, and Madeline Westen on Burn Notice.
Gless has received multiple major awards for television performance, including Emmy and Golden Globe wins, and she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1995. Her career encompasses episodic television, television movies, independent feature work, and stage appearances in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Early Life and Background
Sharon Marguerite Gless was born in Los Angeles, California, and is a fifth-generation Californian. She is the daughter of Marjorie McCarthy and Dennis J. Gless and grew up in a Catholic household with two brothers, Michael McCarthy Gless and Aric Dennis Gless.
Gless’s maternal grandfather, Neil McCarthy, was a noted Los Angeles attorney with ties to the film industry, and he initially advised her against acting before later supporting her training. She worked in office roles early on, including positions in advertising and at an independent movie production company, while studying drama with acting coach Estelle Harman.
In the early 1970s an agent, Monique James, arranged a screen test that led to a multi-year contract with Universal Studios, placing Gless in the last generation of contract players. That period provided steady television work and on-set experience that prepared her for recurring and series roles later in the decade.
Path to Celebrity
Gless established herself through numerous guest appearances and supporting parts on popular television series and TV movies during the 1970s. She appeared in programs such as Marcus Welby, M.D., Adam-12, Emergency!, The Rockford Files, and early television films, which built her profile with casting directors and audiences.
Her part as the secretary Maggie Philbin on the CBS series Switch (1975–1978) gave her a recurring series credit alongside Eddie Albert and Robert Wagner and delivered a wider audience recognition. Work under her Universal contract included sitcom and drama projects that expanded her range and visibility in network television.
Sharon Gless Career
Early Career (1970–1978)
Gless entered television in the early 1970s and accumulated many small roles and guest spots that demonstrated versatility and reliability on camera. Early credits included television movies and episodic work, and she gained a continuing series role as Kathleen Faverty on a soap-related project in the mid-1970s.
Her casting on Switch marked a step up to a regular supporting role on a network series, and she credited the experience with giving her a stronger professional foothold. The Universal contract years that followed offered varied on-screen opportunities and industry training through steady studio employment.
Breakthrough (1982–1992)
Sharon Gless’s signature breakthrough arrived with the police drama Cagney & Lacey, in which she assumed the role of Detective Christine Cagney early in the series run. She replaced Meg Foster beginning with the seventh episode of the series and became part of a celebrated on-screen partnership with Tyne Daly, earning critical acclaim for the character’s range and toughness.
For Cagney & Lacey Gless won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama in 1986 and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in both 1986 and 1987. Her performance on that series became the defining television role of her career and led to later reunion television movies that revisited the characters.
Following Cagney & Lacey, Gless starred in the CBS drama The Trials of Rosie O’Neill from 1990 to 1992, a series created for her by producer Barney Rosenzweig. She won a Golden Globe Award in 1991 for her work on that program, further establishing her as a durable dramatic lead in network television.
Later Career (1993–present)
After the early 1990s Gless continued to work across television formats, returning to the Cagney & Lacey characters for television movies in the 1990s and taking diverse guest and recurring roles. She narrated the documentary Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life in 1998 and moved into cable television with notable recurring and series roles in the 2000s.
Between 2000 and 2005 she played Debbie Novotny on the Showtime series Queer as Folk, a role widely cited as one of her most acclaimed later-career performances. From 2007 to 2013 she had a recurring role as Madeline Westen on the USA Network series Burn Notice and appeared in series such as Nip/Tuck, where a guest arc earned an Emmy nomination for a guest performance.
Gless has also appeared in independent film work, including the leading role in the 2009 feature Hannah Free, and she has continued to take stage work in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Stage credits include a West End appearance creating the role of Annie Wilkes in the stage production of Misery and leading roles in regional productions and one-woman plays.
Notable Works and Milestones
Cagney & Lacey stands as Sharon Gless’s signature television work, alongside significant later roles on The Trials of Rosie O’Neill, Queer as Folk, and Burn Notice. Her awards and honors include multiple Emmy and Golden Globe wins and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame awarded in 1995, marking major industry recognition.
Sharon Gless Award Nominations
Sharon Gless has been recognized repeatedly by major awards bodies over the course of her career, with multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for lead and guest television performance. Her nominations span work on Cagney & Lacey, The Trials of Rosie O’Neill, and prominent guest turns on later series, reflecting sustained peer recognition across decades.
Sharon Gless Awards Won
Verified major awards won by Gless include the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama in 1986 for Cagney & Lacey and again in 1991 for The Trials of Rosie O’Neill. She won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Cagney & Lacey in 1986 and again in 1987, achievements that underscore her critical success in network drama.
Sharon Gless Family
Gless is the daughter of Dennis J. Gless, a sportswear manufacturing executive, and Marjorie McCarthy. Her maternal grandfather, Neil McCarthy, was a prominent Los Angeles attorney with connections to the studio system, and she has two brothers, Michael McCarthy Gless and Aric Dennis Gless.
Personal Life
In 1991 Sharon Gless married television producer Barney Rosenzweig, who served as the executive producer of Cagney & Lacey and later created The Trials of Rosie O’Neill for her. Public records and biographical sources list no children, and Gless has balanced a private personal life with a long professional career, continuing to work in television and theater into the 2010s and beyond.