Sharon Gless Sharon Gless Sharon Marguerite Gless (born May 31, 1943) is an American actress, who is known for her television roles as Maggie Philbin, the naïve, young receptionist of Frank MacBride and Pete Ryan (played by Eddie Albert and Robert Wagner) on "Switch" (1975–78), Sgt. Christine Cagney in the police procedural drama series "Cagney & Lacey" (1982–88), the title role in "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill" (1990–92), as Debbie Novotny in the Showtime cable television series "Queer as Folk" (2000–2005), and as Madeline Westen on "Burn Notice" (2007–2013). A 10-time Emmy Award nominee and seven-time Golden Globe Award nominee, she won
Sharon Gless and in 1974 she signed a 10-year contract with Universal Studios. Near the end of her contract, she was identified in the media as the last of the contract players — a salaried, old Hollywood apprentice system which Universal was the last to employ. Actress Elizabeth Baur is Gless's first cousin. At the beginning of her career, Gless appeared in numerous television series and TV movies, such as "Revenge of the Stepford Wives", "Faraday & Company" with Dan Dailey and James Naughton in 1973 and 1974, "Emergency!", and "The Rockford Files". She played small parts in "Marcus Welby, M.D." (1969–1976),