Presented with the screening of Hannah Free
Join us for a VIP reception following the award and screening.
Here’s a great bit of Hollywood history for you: Sharon Gless was the last contract player of the industry’s classic studio system and her Grandfather - an entertainment lawyer who worked for icons such as Howard Hughes, Louis B. Mayer and Cecil B. DeMille - signed the first! She was under exclusive contract to Universal, where she learned and flourished for 10 years, before leaving "the lot" in 1982.
You’d think she’d have begun acting at an early age, but actually Gless began on the other side of the industry, working for advertising firms and then independent movie studios such as Sassafras Films and General Film Corporation. Eventually Gless realized she no longer wanted to be in the office, but on screen.
After discovering her new passion, Gless began taking acting classes. The 1982 parting with Universal was not a bitter one, even as it marked the end of a very long era: That same year, Gless began work as NYPD detective Christine Cagney on the classic series "Cagney & Lacey" (1982-1986). It was a drama unlike anyone had ever seen, one that explored two women’s struggles to navigate professional and personal issues as officers, wives, mothers and friends. The show was unafraid to tackle difficult issues, among them AIDS, abortion, date rape and racism. The show won two Emmys for Outstanding Drama, and Gless picked up two as well for Outstanding Actress (out of an impressive six nominations, one for each year of the series).
Gless continued to work steadily after "Cagney & Lacey," receiving two Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe for the critically acclaimed "Trials of Rosie O’Neill" (1990-1992). In 2000, Gless created the role of the outrageous and beloved Debbie Novotny in the groundbreaking Showtime series "Queer as Folk" (2000-2005). She remained with the series throughout its five-season run, and is today regularly approached by fans who express appreciation for her honest portrayal of the loving parent of a gay child.
In 2006, Gless received rave reviews, in both the States and the U.K. for her starring role as U.S. Secretary of Defense Lynne Warner in the BBC/BBC America miniseries "The State Within." She recently completed an Emmy-nominated, multiple-episode arc in the hit FX series "Nip/Tuck" as Colleen Rose, an ambitious Hollywood agent with dark secrets. Gless currently stars on the USA Network’s "Burn Notice," in which she plays the chainsmoking, hypochondriac mother to son Jeffrey Donovan. Her current projects are Once Fallen and Hannah Free; the latter finds the actress playing a free-spirited lesbian trying to reunite with the love of her life.
Off-screen, Gless is an active participant in the ongoing struggle for reproductive rights. In 2004, she joined hundreds of thousands of women in Washington, D.C. for the first March For Women’s Lives, in which she stood in solidarity with her entertainment industry colleagues. In 2005, Norman Lear’s People for the American Way honored Gless for her unwavering support of human rights.
Philadelphia QFest is proud to present its Gay Icon Award to a woman who is as much a compassionate champion for the gay & lesbian community as she is a talented artist.
-- Thom Cardwell & Jesse Smith
