haron Gless Role: Madeline Westen
Birthday : May-31-1943
Birthplace : Los Angels, California, USA
Birth Name : Sharon Marguerite Gless
AKA : Sharon Marguerite Gless
Recent Role : Madeline Westen on Burn Notice
Gender : Female
Sharon Gless’ mother was named Marjorie and her father worked in the garment trade as a sales executive. Sharon first started working as an advertising secretary for several advertising agencies such as Grey Advertising and Young & Rubicam. Her next involvement was with the independent movie production companies such as Sassafras Films and General Film Corporation etc. She next decided to turn towards acting so started taking acting classes. It was 1974 when she signed a 10 year contract with Universal Studios.
Making the debut of her acting career was Cagney & Lacey. She joined the series as NYPD police detective Christine Cagney in the seventh episode of show. In 1991, Sharon married series’ executive producer Barney Rosenzweig. For her brilliant performance on Cagney & Lacey, Sharon received five Emmy nominations. She won two of the five Emmy nominations and also won a Golden Globe award. Her next project was ‘The Trails of Rosie O’Neill’, created by Barney Rosenzweig.
Sharon Gless’ next appearances were on ‘Switch’, ‘House Calls’, and ‘Turnabout’, ‘Revenge of the Stepford Wives’, ‘Faraday and Company’ etc. In the CBS private detective/con artist series ‘Switch’, Sharon Gless appeared as the young classy secretary Maggie Philbin. In 1998, she narrated a documentary ‘A Sense of Life’ about Ayn Rand which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary feature. During 2000-05, she portrayed Hal Sparks’ gay supportive and arrogant mother Debbie Novotny on ‘Queer as Folk’.
In 2006, Sharon Gless made an appearance on BBC Television series ‘The State Within’. She soon joined ‘Burn Notice’ as Madeline Westen, Michael Westen’s mother. She’s also appearing as a guest star on the FX Network series ‘Nip Tuck’. Her role of the agent Colleen Rose helped her to receive an Emmy Award nomination.
She made the debut of her theatre career with a role in Lillian Hellman’s ‘Watch on the Rhine’. She next made appearance in London’s West End. In 1996, she played a role in Neil Simon’s Chapter 2.
In 1985 and 1986, Sharon Gless won Q Award as ‘Best Actress in a Quality Drama Series’ for Cagney & Lacey. In 1987, she won an Emmy Award for ‘Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series’ for Cagney & Lacey. In 1991, Sharon won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Drama’ for The Trails of O’Neill. In 2008, she received an Emmy Award as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her role on Nip/Tuck.
Role on ‘Burn Notice’
On ‘Burn Notice’, Sharon Gless portrays Madeline Westen. The main character, Michael’s, neurotic and chain smoking mother. Michael’s father used to beat him so he didn’t attend his funeral. It was enough to make her mother angry with him. She keeps up on Michael’s actions through Fiona Glenanne. Wholly, she has an important part to play in Burn Notice and the lady is best known for her portrayal of Madeline Westen.
