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Sharon Gless

Actress

“I just have a special love for doing a TV series that lasts a long time, and having a family.”

About This Interview

Sharon Gless remembers the moment she decided to pursue her dream of acting, while in her mid-20s: “One of my jobs was to interview actresses [at a film company] who would meet my boss, and then I’d go in and read with them. I was getting $200 a week, and these actresses were getting a lot more money.  I thought I was better than they were in the readings.  So I stopped being afraid— the dream had always stayed in the back of my mind.”  Sharon Gless has starred in numerous television series, but is most associated with her Emmy-winning performance as “Christine Cagney” in Cagney & Lacey.  In her Archive interview, Gless talks about growing up in Los Angeles (with some familial connections to the entertainment business) and her early interest in acting. She recalls her days as a contract player in television at Universal, eventually cast as a regular in the detective drama Switch.   She comments briefly on her first starring television series, Turnabout, with a pilot co-written by Steven Bochco.  She relates how she was approached for Cagney & Lacey (initially the television movie and later the series) and her eventual casting, replacing Meg Foster.  For Cagney & Lacey, she discusses her initial dispute over billing, describes her character “Christine Cagney,” gives her impressions of the ensemble, comments on memorable storylines, and makes mention of the reunion television movies.  She recalls the impact of the series: “We were the first women—first actresses—that had ever been honored by the New York Police Department.  There was a big, huge thing; the Chief of Police was there.  And they honored us for the quality of work we were doing in portraying them.  How cool is that?”  On her subsequent series The Trials of Rosie O’Neill, she notes how she felt the part was the polar opposite of “Cagney.”  She then chronicles her work in a number of cable television series, particularly Showtime’s Queer as Folk (for which she essentially cast herself), F/X’s Nip/Tuck (taking inspiration from Judi Dench’s autobiography about playing villainous characters), and USA Network’s Burn Notice (playing, as she describes, “the mother from hell”).   In their interview together, Gless and her husband, producer Barney Rosenzweig talk about their work together and their personal relationship.  Sharon Gless was interviewed in North Hollywood, CA on October 15, 2008; Stephen J. Abramson conducted the three-hour interview, consisting of two parts: two-and-a-half hours with Gless solely and thirty minutes with Barney Rosenzweig.

Related To This Video

  • Shows
  • People
  • Topics
  • Genres

Shows

  • Burn Notice
  • Cagney & Lacey
  • Marcus Welby, M.D.
  • Nip/Tuck
  • Queer as Folk
  • Switch
  • Trials of Rosie O’Neill, The
  • Turnabout

People

  • Steven Bochco
  • Barbara Corday
  • Ron Cowen
  • Tyne Daly
  • Monique James
  • John Karlen
  • Daniel Lipman
  • Leslie Moonves
  • Dick O’Neill
  • Barney Rosenzweig
  • Robert Wagner

Topics

  • Creative Influences and Inspiration
  • Historic Events and Social Change
  • Pop Culture

Genres

  • Cop/Detective/Mystery Series

Featured Content

Video: Early appearance of Sharon Gless (approximately 16 minutes in) on The Bob Newhart Show in the episode "The Modernization of Emily" (airdate: January 12, 1974)

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Watch Interview Highlights

  • Sharon Gless on her love for being on a television series
  • Sharon Gless on her acceptance by the gay community since Cagney  and through Queer as Folk
  • Sharon Gless on working with Barney Rosenzweig, and the sometimes all-consuming nature of working on Cagney & Lacey
  • Sharon Gless on how she'd like to be remembered

Watch By Chapter

  • Chapter 1
  • On growing up in Los Angeles; on her desire to act
  • On a turning point that set her on the path to acting
  • On her first acting gig; on signing a contract with Universal Studios
  • On nearly getting fired from her contract with Universal, and how Robert Wagner "saved" her
  • On the lead-up to getting Cagney & Lacey; meeting Barney Rosenzweig
  • On fine-tuning the character of "Christine Cagney"; working out her relationship with Tyne Daly and "Mary Beth Lacey"
  • Chapter 2
  • On the character of "Christine Cagney"
  • On the gender of Cagney & Lacey's stars; on Tyne Daly; on being honored by the New York Police Department
  • On actors she worked with on Cagney & Lacey
  • On how Cagney & Lacey was revived by a letter-writing campaign; on what was groundbreaking about the show
  • On Tyne Daly and Gless winning multiple Emmys for Cagney & Lacey; on episodes that won Emmys and other memorable episodes
  • On her relationship with Barney Rosenzweig; on her disappointment with the Cagney & Lacey TV movies; on what happened to her character and the show's end
  • On The Trials of Rosie O'Neill and her feeling about the show
  • On getting cast in Queer as Folk; on support from the gay community; on playing another mother in Burn Notice
  • Chapter 3
  • On older women finding great parts on TV; on appearing in a villainous guest role on Nip/Tuck
  • On appearing with Lillian Gish in the TV movie Hobson's Choice and playing "Annie Wilkes" in the play Misery
  • On the importance of work in her life; on how she wants to be remembered, and some advice

Discussed In This Interview

  • shows
  • people
  • topics
  • genres

shows

  • Burn Notice
    • Clip 1
  • Cagney & Lacey
    • Clip 1
    • Clip 2
    • Clip 3
    • Clip 4
    • Clip 5
    • Clip 6
    • Clip 7
    • Clip 8
  • Marcus Welby, M.D.
    • Clip 1
  • Nip/Tuck
    • Clip 1
  • Queer as Folk
    • Clip 1
  • Switch
    • Clip 1
  • Trials of Rosie O’Neill, The
    • Clip 1
  • Turnabout
    • Clip 1

people

  • Steven Bochco
  • Barbara Corday
  • Ron Cowen
  • Tyne Daly
  • Monique James
  • John Karlen
  • Daniel Lipman
  • Leslie Moonves
  • Dick O’Neill
  • Barney Rosenzweig
  • Robert Wagner

topics

  • Creative Influences and Inspiration
  • Women
  • Drama
  • Drama
  • Creative Influences and Inspiration

genres

  • Cop/Detective/Mystery Series
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