I seldom read celebrity memoirs, so maybe most of them are as brutally honest as Sharon Gless’ Apparently There Were Complaints. She doesn’t hesitate to share her faults, and she had plenty. She has an addictive personality, and it came out in many ways in her life. But, I loved “Cagney & Lacey”. And, I really wanted to read her story because she spoke to me for one brief moment, and seven years later, I’m still in shock. I never would have had the nerve to say anything to her.

As I said, I have a difficult time reviewing memoirs. But, a friend of mine said, you’re not reviewing her life. You’re mentioning whether the author was honest with readers. Yes, Sharon Gless admitted she was an alcoholic. She used cocaine during the 1980s. She was honest that she slept around, even with several married men, including with Barney Rosenzweig, who she eventually married.

But, she also took responsibility for her own life and actions. Yes, she had a difficult childhood, but others wouldn’t have viewed it that way. Her parents divorced when she was fourteen, and she grieved over the loss of her father in her life. Her grandmother was controlling, with money, with running Sharon’s life. She decided everything, from how much weight Sharon would lose when she put it on to where she went to boarding school and college. Decisions were made with no consideration of Sharon’s feelings. But, let’s face it. Did adults ask children their opinions in the 1950s and 1960s? Much of Sharon Gless’ addictions, from chocolate and food to alcohol showed a lack of control. And, she admits that even at twenty, she was emotionally a ten-year-old. At twenty-six, she had nothing to show for her life. She didn’t want to get a degree and become some lawyer’s wife. In her family, she had no role models for good marriages, and she was afraid of that commitment. Then, she decided her love had always been performing, and that’s what she really wanted to do.

Much of the book is, naturally, about Gless’ show business career. She became one of the few exclusive contract player for Universal Studios. She had roles in a number of television shows, starred in several. Then, came “Cagney & Lacey” in 1982. She stepped into the role of Christine Cagney after a movie and six TV episodes, but she made it her own. Anyone who remembers that show will appreciate her stories of the series, her relationship with Tyne Daley, and her eventual relationship with Rosenzweig, the executive producer. But, she’s honest about her personal problems when the show ended, her weight gain, her menopause problems, and her alcoholism, as well as marriage problems.

Even with all of Gless’ emotional problems, I admire her work ethic, and what she did with her career. There are several things that come across in the book, beginning with her sense of humor. She’s the one who points out her own mistakes, and she has an ability to laugh at them. But, perhaps the most important aspect, other than her work ethic, is her loyalty to her friends, her family, and the people she worked with. When Gless drops names, it isn’t to criticize someone. She really only finds fault with herself. She drops names to talk about the people she loved. Some she lost to death. But, she’s still married after thirty years. And, she’s still friends with Tyne Daly and Robert Wagner, among others. I suspect she’s still friends with a number of people who are not mentioned.

In the book, Gless says she’d go anyplace to see Tyne Daly perform. Sharon Gless and her husband, Barney Rosenzweig, sat in front of us at a Broadway performance of “It Should Have Been You”. It starred Tyne Daly and Sierra Boggess. We were there on June 26, 2015 because that was the night Tyne Daly made a speech honoring the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States. And, after the curtain call, Gless turned around and said, “Wasn’t it great?” To this day, I wish I had said, “Please tell her she was wonderful.”

So, a memoir. Sharon Gless’ Apparently There Were Complaints appears to be an honest account of her life with all its problems. But, it’s also the story of her career. And, somewhere in there, it’s also a story of her friendships and love of family and friends over the years. What more do you want from a memoir?

Sharon Gless’ website is https://www.sharongless.com

Apparently There Were Complaints by Sharon Gless. Simon & Schuster, 2021. ISBN 9781501125959 (hardcover), 314p.

FTC Full Disclosure – Library book