Sharon Gless

Sharon Marguerite Gless (born May 31, 1943) is an American character actress of stage, film and television, who is best known for her roles as Maggie Philbin on Switch (1975–1978), as Sgt. Christine Cagney in the police procedural drama series Cagney & Lacey (1982–1988) and as Debbie Novotny in the Showtime cable television series Queer as Folk (2000–2005). She is an Emmy Award winner currently playing Madeline Westen on Burn Notice. She plays Jane Juska in A Round-Heeled Woman, a stage adaptation by Jane Prowse of Jane Juska's book. The first production ran in San Francisco in early 2010. Sharon will star in a new production in Miami starting December 30, 2010, to be directed by Jane Prowse. A fifth-generation Californian, Sharon Gless was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Marjorie McCarthy and sportswear manufacturing executive, Dennis J. Gless. Her maternal grandfather was Neil McCarthy, a prominent Los Angeles attorney for Howard Hughes who also had a large clientele of major film studio executives and actors. Wanting to become an actress, she sought her grandfather's advice and he told her: "It's a filthy business. You stay out of it" but a few years later when  she spoke to him again about acting he encouraged her, and gave her money for acting class.She worked as a secretary for the advertising agencies Grey Advertising and Young & Rubicam, and then for the independent movie production companies Sassafras Films and General Film Corporation. After deciding to switch to acting, Gless took classes and in 1974 signed a 10-year contract with Universal Studios. She has described herself as the last of the studio contract players — a salaried, Old Hollywood apprentice system which Universal was the last to employ”.