Sharon Gless On Book 'Apparently There Were Complaints: Cagney & Lacey 'Changed The History Of Television For Women'

(CBS Local)-- Sharon Gless is one of the most iconic actors of the past 50 years and she has a fascinating story to tell in her brand new book from Simon & Schuster called "Apparently There Were Complaints." The Emmy Award-winning actor is best known for playing Christine Cagney in the hit series "Cagney & Lacey" and has also been in shows such as "Burn Notice," and "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill."

CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith chatted with Gless about writing a book about her life and career, the impact of "Cagney & Lacey" all these years later and what she is up to today. Gless's book is available wherever books are sold on Tuesday, December 7.

"It took me seven years to do it," said Gless. "At first, I didn't think I could do it. I'm glad it's done. Some of it was funny and I do crack myself up and some of it was a little heartbreaking. The name of the book is Apparently There Were Complaints and many of those complaints came from my family. My grandfather was a very famous Hollywood entertainment lawyer in the golden days of Hollywood. He had some influence on me."

Gless was raised in Los Angeles and she said she was heavily influenced by Hollywood as a little girl. The 78-year-old is proud of how personal the book is and hopes people enjoy learning about her life and also what it was like behind the scenes of "Cagney & Lacey."

"While we were shooting it [Cagney & Lacey], we didn't know the kind of impact this show was going to have on history," said Gless. "We changed the history of television for women. Our job was simply to perform the beautiful scripts we were given. While we were on the air, no other actress won the Emmy for six years. I won two and Tyne Daly won four. We had this astounding material that was created by a man Barney Rosenzweig, who I married 10 years later. I learned so much and he was the first feminist I ever met. I don't think at the time that Tyne or I knew the power that this show had in fighting for women. It meant everything to us because it was our job. The women fighting today came from that era of Cagney & Lacey."

Gless is a 10x Emmy Award nominee and a 7x Golden Globe nominee. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1995. Gless says it hasn't been that long since she and husband Barney watched an episode of "Cagney & Lacey." Gless & Rosenzweig have also been busy watching another series they did on CBS called "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill."

Gless's book is published by Simon & Schuster, a ViacomCBS company.