Sharon Gless Movies
Blonde leading-lady Sharon Gless owns the distinction of being the last-ever "contract player" at Universal Studios. Signed by Universal in 1969, Gless did yeoman work as a supporting player on such series as the ABC medical drama Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969-76) and films including Airport 1975 (1974). She was a regular on the short-lived detective drama series Faraday and Company (1973-74) before achieving a degree of stardom as Maggie, "girl Friday" to Robert Wagner and Eddie Albert, on the popular crime-caper series Switch (1975-78). Her next series was the weekly House Calls (1979-82), in which she replaced departing regular Lynn Redgrave amid Redgrave's contractual dispute with series producers. It was another replacement assignment that solidified Gless as a bankable (and versatile) name: in 1982, she replaced Meg Foster as NYPD officer Chris Cagney on the detective series Cagney and Lacey, which for many years provided her with the greatest amount of viewer identification in her career.
She remained in this role until the series' cancellation in 1988, winning two Emmy awards along the way, then reprised the part (with her co-star Tyne Daly) in a series of well-received TV movies from 1994 to 1996. Then, beginning around 1997, a second wave of popularity arrived for Gless, and she retained her footing as a small-screen mainstay over the following decade or so, with contributions to immensely popular series programs including Promised Land, Queer as Folk, Touched by an Angel, Burn Notice, and Nip/Tuck. In 2001, the Lifetime women's network opted to do one of its Intimate Portrait biographical documentaries on Gless. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
This final episode of Adam-12's sixth season is actually the pilot for a proposed spinoff series titled Fraud. After they find a dead man with an oscillator belt tied around his waist, Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) discover that the victim died of diabetic shock--and that he was the patient of a quack doctor. Enter Deputy DA Abe Stayhorn (Ed Nelson) of the " Major Fraud" division, and Strayhorn's elite team of scam-busters, including chief investigator Gino Bardi (Frank Sinatra Jr.) and policewoman Lynn Carmichael (Sharon Gless), who work in concert with Jim and Pete to get the goods on the crooked medico. Advertised as a "special", this episode was seen outside the usual Adam-12 Tuesday-night timeslot, and afforded a rare Thursday-evening telecast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In the wake of the 45-million-dollar gross of the original Airport (1970), Universal was all but required by an act of Congress to produce Airport '75. Charlton Heston heads the all-star cast as Alan Murdock, the former test pilot who must keep a disabled 747 from crashing in flames. The crisis begins when a businessman (Dana Andrews), flying his small private plane, suffers a fatal heart attack and the plane smashes into the cockpit of the 747. Following Murdock's radioed instructions, stewardess Nancy Pryor (Karen Black) takes over the controls. The special-guest passenger lineup includes Helen Reddy as a singing nun (a character wickedly satirized in the 1980 parody Airplane!), Myrna Loy as an alcoholic, and Sid Caesar as a garrulous passenger. While Airport '75 yielded only 25 million dollars at the box office, the franchise continued, spawning Airport '77 a few years later and Airport '79 two years after that. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Karen Black, (more)
- 1972
Robert Young stars as Judge Charles Raleigh in the made-for-television All My Darling Daughters. The Judge happens to have four daughters, played by Darleen Carr, Judy Strangis, Sharon Gless, and Fawne Harriman (what did all the detective shows and sitcoms do for ingenues while these four ladies were tied up in this film?) And, as the fates would have it, all four daughters plan to get married on the same day! Screenwriter John Gay and David Lowell Rich, two of the most prolific TV-movie artisans in Hollywood, managed to maintain audience interest despite the story's inbuilt cliches. Originally telecast November 22, 1972, All My Darling Daughters was followed by a TV-pilot sequel, All My Darling Daughters' Anniversary. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Author and philosopher Ayn Rand (born Alice Rosenbaum) developed an intense following in the 1930s and '40s for her best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and her anti-Communist, pro-Capitalism creed of Objectivism. Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life is a two-and-a-half hour exploration of her life, work, and influence, featuring newsreel footage of Rand and interviews with her friends, associates, and followers. Narrated by actress Sharon Gless, Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Documentary Feature of 1998. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sharon Gless
A troubled young man looking for his best friend is looking for help from the family he left behind in this drama for the family. Ricky Horvath (Jeffrey Licon) is a teenager who broke ties with his family and lives on the streets. Ricky's constant companion is his dog Buddy, and when his pet is stolen by a gang of ruthless dognappers, Ricky is desperate to get Buddy back. Finding Buddy proves to be more difficult than Ricky imagined, and in time he realizes he must turn for help to a man he promised he would never speak to again -- his grandfather Geza (Edward Asner), a detective with the police. Bring Him Home also stars Sharon Gless, George "Buck" Flower, and Noah Blake. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed Asner, Sharon Gless, (more)
The first season of this sleek spy series mixes plenty of action with sex appeal and a dose of wry humor. While on a covert mission in Nigeria, spy Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) discovers he's been burned, which equates to being fired in the world of espionage. After escaping the immediate danger of his assignment, he wakes up in Miami with no memory of how he got there and discovers his accounts have been frozen and his contacts cut off. Forced to fend for himself, Michael recruits the help of the only friends he has: Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell), a former intelligence contact whom the FBI has tapped to gain intel on Michael; Fiona Glenanne (Gabrielle Anwar), a spunky ex-IRA operative looking for closure after being dumped by Michael several years earlier; and Michael's meddling mother Madeline (Sharon Gless), who's thrilled to have her son back in her life. Despite the often uneasy state of these alliances, Sam, Fiona and Madeline each bring their own skills to the table to help Michael find out who burned him and why. In order to fund his investigation-not to mention more mundane expenses like rent-Michael picks up a side job as a private investigator helping Miami citizens obtain justice. Each episode chronicles a different case, opening the way for notable guest stars like Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess) and Richard Schiff (West Wing). But Michael's main goal throughout the season is following the convoluted trail of betrayals and double-dealings that led to his burn notice. ~ Brie Hearn, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, (more)
Combining the best action/thriller elements with surprising humor and an iconic new breed of espionage, the second season of USA Network hit Burn Notice heats up as blacklisted spy, Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) hones his unique skills for new clientele. After being fired as a professional spy and dumped in his hometown of Miami without money or resources, Westen struggles to put his life back together and find out why he has been "burned." The series also stars Gabrielle Anwar as Fiona, a beautiful ex-IRA operative who happens to be Westen's ex-girlfriend; Bruce Campbell as Sam, Michael's closest buddy in town; and Sharon Gless as Madeline, Westen's hypochondriac mother. This new season (2008-9) of 16 episodes follows Westen as he takes on all new death-defying assignments in hopes of getting closer to his new employers, the people that were possibly responsible for his ousting. Joining the cast this season is Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) as Carla, the woman who may be behind Michael's "burn notice."
- Starring:
- Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, (more)
In 1994 -- six years after the final episode of the groundbreaking 1980s television crime drama Cagney & Lacey -- Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly reprised their iconic roles for the first of four TV-movie sequels. Cagney & Lacey: The Return finds the now-retired Lacey reuniting with the now-married Cagney for a case involving weapons smuggling, all while dealing with women's issues such as career, marriage, parenthood -- and, this time around, menopause -- in the trademark style that made the parent show such a cultural touchstone. ~ Sandra Bencic, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyne Daly, Sharon Gless, (more)
- 1995
New York's toughest lady detectives re-team to solve the murder of a homeless transient who had been terrorizing the residents of a posh apartment building with screaming threats, insults and physical intimidation. Though the cops think the culprit is another street person, Cagney and Lacey believe the real killer is one of the tenants, many of whom have ample reason to have murdered the boorish bum. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sharon Gless, Tyne Daly, (more)
The longest (26-1/2 hours), most expensive ($25 million) and most complicated (four directors, five producers, five cinematographers, almost 100 speaking parts, several hundred extras) project made for television up to that time, Centennial was shown in two- and three-hour installments over a period of four months. An adaptation of James Michener's best-selling novel, it told the story of the settling of the American West by looking at the founding of the fictional town of Centennial, Colorado, from the settling of the area in the late 18th century to the present. Emmy-nominated for film editing and art direction, it boasts of sterling performances from Richard Chamberlain as frontiersman Alexander McKeag, Robert Conrad as the French-Canadian trapper Pasquinel, and a surprisingly powerful performance from former football star Alex Karras as compassionate but iron-willed immigrant farmer Hans Brumbaugh. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1975
An upcoming election for a departmental welfare committee finds Roy (Kevin Tighe) and John (Randolph Mantooth) running against each other. In various emergency calls, a sculptress (Sharon Gless) summons Squad 51 to help extricate her model from a plaster cast; a beer drinker chokes on a pull tab; and a construction worker is stranded on a hgh crane. And at the hospital, the staff has its hands full with a delirious youngster. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Sharon Gless makes one of her first TV appearances as Sheila Thomas, an undercover police deputy investigating a series of thefts at Ramparts. Assisting Sheila in her inquiries is paramedic John Gage (Randolph Mantooth, who is quite smitten by the lady. Elsewhere, an old man (Paul Fix) suffering from dementia is trapped in a burning house; a grandfather (J. Pat O'Malley) is injured while showing his grandson how to operate a model rocket; and a boat thief is trapped on a drilling-platform mechanism. Finally, the station mascot "Boots" reappears just as mysteriously as he'd disappeared a few episodes back--and the dog apparently has a new agenda. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1999
- Add From Russia to Hollywood: The 100-Year Odyssey of Chekhov and Shdanoff to QueueAdd From Russia to Hollywood: The 100-Year Odyssey of Chekhov and Shdanoff to top of Queue
Michael Chekhov and George Shdanoff were Russian expatriates who came to Hollywood and became two of the best known and most influential acting coaches in the film industry; Chekhov was nominated for an Academy Award for his work in Spellbound, and as a teacher he and his associate Shdanoff helped guide the careers of Leslie Caron, Patricia Neal, Gregory Peck, Rex Harrison, Marilyn Monroe and Clint Eastwood. From Russia to Hollywood provides a glimpse into their lives and careers as Chekhov flees Russia for Germany after the Communist government expresses its displeasure with his productions for the Moscow Art Theater (Stanislavsky considered Chekhov a genius, but the government considered him ideologically unsound). When the Nazis began to rise to power, Chekhov relocated to the United States, where he taught acting when not busy with his own career on the stage and screen. Here, several of Chekhov and Shdanoff's better known students discuss their work and how their teachings effected a generation of Hollywood actors. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Mala Powers, (more)
- 2009
Claudia Allen adapts her own play detailing the decades-long love affair between a butch lesbian and a religious housewife for the screen in a film directed by Wendy Jo Carlton. The story begins in a nursing home, where an elderly Hannah (Sharon Gless) has been forbidden from visiting Rachel, the love of her life. Rachel is in a coma, and since Hannah is not family, she is refused entrance into her longtime lover's room. As Hannah's memories drift gently back into the past, she recalls her relationship with Rachel, which began when they were just young girls. Just when it begins to look as if Hannah will never see Rachel again, a sympathetic student offers to help her circumvent the traditional hospital rules regarding visitors. In the process of attempting to get one last glimpse of her beloved, however, Hannah is forced to come to terms with the fact that Rachel's view of their relationship wasn't all roses. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sharon Gless, Maureen Gallagher, (more)
- 1980
Made for television and initially telecast February 9, 1980, Hardhat and Legs is a new-fashioned romance from the old-fashioned writing team of Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon. The "hardhat" is pugnacious construction worker Kevin Dobson. The "legs" is Sharon Gless, a high-class NY divorcee who responds to Dobson's wolf-whistle in a most unusual way. Once they get to know one another, Kevin and Sharon help to straighten out each other's problems: his battle with bookies, her custody bout with her ex-husband. Though the film's characters are neatly divided into "good" and "bad", the Hardhat and Legs is set in a user-friendly New York, the like of which hasn't been seen much since the films of the 1930s and 1940s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
This third film version of Harold Brighthouse's play Hobson's Choice moves the locale from turn-of-century London to 1914 New Orleans. Horatio Hobson (Jack Warden) is the boozy, tyrannical owner of a shoe store. Hobson's daughter Maggie (Sharon Gless) falls in love with humble shoe clerk Will Mossup (Richard Thomas). When Hobson refuses to give the relationship his blessing, Maggie huffily takes her new boy friend out of the store to set up her own shop--which soon threatens to put Hobson out of business. In her last TV appearance, Lillian Gish plays the elderly benefactor who enables Will and Maggie to declare their independence. Hobson's Choice first aired on December 21, 1983. PS: A musical version of the play, Walking Happy, ran on Broadway in the mid-1960s, with Norman Wisdom starring as Will Glossop. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Although his Mother denies his involvement in a brutal attack that left her critically injured and her husband dead, a college student is forced to deal with his guilt. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sharon Gless, William McNamara, (more)
- 1973
The centerpiece of this episode is an allegedly haunted house, where over the course of many years several people have mysteriously vanished. The niece of the San Francisco police commissioner makes a bet that she can spend one night in the house--whereupon she disappears as well. Investigating the phenomenon is Chief Ironside...or at least, he WAS investigating the pheonomenon before he also turns up missing! This convoluted tale of spectral intrigue was directed by Don Weis, whose previous forays into the "old dark house" genre include The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
A clever murderer manages to dig up a legal loophole that allows him a new trial. Meanwhile, the prosecution's main witness against the criminal turns up dead. Kojak (Telly Savalas) must find the witness' killer and extract a confession before the swaggering defendant is set free for keeps. This episode marks an early TV appearance by Sharon Gless, who at the time was the last remaining contract starlet at Universal Pictures; also seen in a villainous role is Martin Kove, perennial "heavy" in the Karate Kid films of the 1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Based on the best-selling novel by Anton Myrer, the three-part NBC miniseries The Last Convertible chronicles the lives of five former Harvard roommates, all of whom share the titular Packard automobile. Beginning with the quintet's graduation in 1944, the teleplay by Philip de Guere, Stephen McPherson, and Clyde Ware covers an eventful 30 years, during which time the male protagonists all take turns romancing resident heroine Chris Farris (Deborah Raffin). Perry King is top-billed as Russ Currier, with Bruce Boxleitner as George Virdon, Edward Albert as Ron Dalrymple, John Shea as Terry Garrigan, and Michael Nouri as Jean des Barres. An Emmy nomination was bestowed upon Pete Rugolo's musical score. Originally telecast from September 24 to 26, 1979, The Last Convertible was, incredibly, intended as the pilot for a weekly series, though one would assume that the story possibilities had been pretty much exhausted during the inaugural six hours. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Letting Go stars John Ritter as a widower and Sharon Gless as a lonely unmarried woman. They meet during a group-therapy session. Romance is inevitable, but the road to true happiness is pockmarked by a series of comic complications. Advertised as a straight romantic drama, Letting Go is actually more akin to the screwball comedies of the 1930s, with a strong satirical bent regarding "behavior modification" theories. The made-for-TV film debuted May 11, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
In this sequel to the highly popular 1972 TV movie All My Darling Daughters, it has been one year since the four grown daughter of widowed judge Charles Raleigh (Robert Young) were married on the very same day. Now it is the Judge's turn to march down the aisle with his new old sweetheart, Maggie Cartwright (Ruth Hussey, who had previously costarred with Young in the 1942 film H.M. Pulham, Esq.) Unable to pin down his peripatetic daughters (or the husbands) to announce the good news, Raleigh states his intentions toward Maggie in his "happy anniversary" cards to his offspring. Upon learning that their dear daddy is going to take the matrimonial plunge, daughters Susan (Darlene Carr), Robin (Judy Strangis), Jennifer (Sharon Gless) and Charlotte (Lara Parker) are at first delighted, but then begin to fret over the possibility that Maggie won't be quite "good enough" for the jovial Judge. Raymond Massey makes his final film appearance in the role of Matthew Cunningham. My Darling Daughters' Anniversary debuted November 7, 1973, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
