Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-02-22
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Sharon Gless to star in Hannah Free film, Fundraiser Nov. 9
Entertainment News Update Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008
2008-11-05

This article shared 7582 times since Wed Nov 5, 2008
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


Chicago — Sharon Gless is set to star in the new independent feature film, Hannah Free.

Hannah Free is the story of a lifelong love affair between an independent spirit and the woman she calls home.

Gless, star of popular television shows Cagney & Lacey, Queer As Folk and Burn Notice, will play Hannah, a fiercely independent woman who fights to see her partner one last time in a nursing home.

The screenplay is based on award-winning playwright Claudia Allen's popular stage play of the same name. Allen is a writer-in-residence at Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago and has written more than 20 plays.

"I am delighted to be working with my friend Claudia Allen," said Gless, who previously performed in Allen's play, Cahoots. "This is a heartwarming story that is both funny and poignant. I look forward to working with a terrific cast in Chicago."

Other actors include Taylor Miller of All My Children fame, Kelli Strickland, Ann Hagemann, and Jacqui Jackson.

Hannah Free will be directed by Wendy Jo Carlton. Director of Photography is Gretchen Warthen. Executive producers are Tracy Baim and Claudia Allen. The film is being produced by Ripe Fruit Films, a Chicago-based production company, for distribution in 2009.

Hannah Free will be shot in and around the Chicago area in November 2008.

Hannah Free fundraiser Sunday, Nov. 9, 4-6 p.m. Center on Halsted.

Sharon Gless will make a special appearance at a fundraiser for Hannah Free, now filming in Chicago, on Sunday, Nov. 9, 4-6 p.m. Center on Halsted. Come meet Gless, playwright Claudia Allen, director Wendy Jo Carlton and some of the other actors from this new lesbian feature film and receive a thank you credit in the film. $50-$100 Includes hors d'oeuvres and light beverages.

A payment option is available online at www.HannahFree.com, or send checks to: Ripe Fruit Films, 1900 S. Prairie Avenue, Chicago, IL 60616. You can pay at the door, but only with check or cash. For reservations e-mail: info@hannahfree.com . Contributions are not tax deductible.

FROM A PRESS RELEASE

BIO INFO

SHARON GLESS

Show business is in Sharon Gless' blood. Her grandfather, Neil S. McCarthy, was the most respected entertainment lawyer of Hollywood's Golden Age. His clients included Howard Hughes, Louis B. Mayer and Cecil B. DeMille. The famous McCarthy Chopped Salad at the legendary Polo Lounge was named after him. He also drew up the first contract between a studio and a player — a fact that is of special interest to Gless, as she has the distinction of being the last contract player in the history of Hollywood. She was under exclusive contract to Universal Studios, where she learned and flourished for 10 years, leaving "The Lot" in 1982.

In April of this year, Gless was the recipient of The Theatre School at DePaul University's prestigious Award for Excellence in the Arts. In 2007, she celebrated the Silver Anniversary of "Cagney & Lacey," the first season of which was released on DVD in the spring. She continues to work non-stop in the business she dearly loves.

Gless co-stars in USA Network's hit series "Burn Notice," currently in production on its second season in Miami. In the series she plays the chain-smoking, hypochondriac mother to Jeffrey Donovan's character. She recently completed a multiple-episode arc in the hit FX series Nip/Tuck as Colleen Rose, an ambitious Hollywood agent with dark secrets. In 2006, she received rave reviews, both in the US and UK, for her starring role as US Secretary of Defense Lynne Warner in the BBC/BBC America miniseries, "The State Within." Gless is in pre-production on "A Round Heeled Woman," a new play which will open in 2008, based on the best-selling book by Jane Juska, about a 60+ year-old woman's adventures in later-life sex and romance. Gless will both produce and star in the production.

Beginning with her starring role in "Faraday & Company" in 1973, Sharon Gless has brought her own brand of humor, intelligence and dramatic flair to each of her roles. She is best known for her portrayal of New York Police Detective, Christine Cagney, on the hit series "Cagney & Lacey," a role that garnered her two Emmys®, a Golden Globe®, and six Emmy® nominations. Following "Cagney & Lacey," Gless re-teamed with the show's executive producer, Barney Rosenzweig, on "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill," for which she was awarded her second Golden Globe® and two more Emmy® nominations. Gless married Rosenzweig in 1991.

In 1994 and 1995, Gless and her television partner, Tyne Daly, joined together to recreate their title roles in a quartet of critically acclaimed and popular "Cagney & Lacey" television movies which they fondly call "The Menopause Years." Other television series in which she starred include "Switch," "House Calls," and the short-lived but critically lauded Steven Bochco half-hour, "Turnabout." Gless has received much acclaim for her dramatic roles in such television movies as "Separated By Murder," "Hard Hat and Legs," "Honor Thy Mother," "Hobson's Choice" and "Letting Go," among others, as well as the mini-series "The Immigrants," "The Last Convertible," "Centennial," and Garson Kanin's "Moviola: The Scarlett O'Hara Wars," in which she played screen goddess Carole Lombard.

In 2000, Gless created the role of the outrageous and beloved Debbie Novotny in the groundbreaking Showtime series "Queer as Folk," and remained with the series throughout its five-season run. Wherever she goes, Gless is regularly approached by fans wishing to express their appreciation for her honest portrayal of a loving parent of a gay child.

Gless' theatrical film credits include the suspenseful and provocative film, "The Star Chamber," in which she played the wife of Michael Douglas. She has recorded several 'Books on Tape' and has starred in numerous radio plays, one of which, "'Night, Mother," for the BBC, earned Gless the International Sony Award. She continues to do radio plays for L.A. Theater Works and the BBC.

She has starred twice on stage in London's famed West End, the first time in 1993 with Bill Paterson, when she created the role of Annie Wilkes in the stage version of Stephen King's "Misery" at the Criterion Theater, and four years later, opposite Tom Conti, in Neil Simon's "Chapter 2" at the Gielgud Theater. She starred at Chicago's Tony Award-winning playhouse, The Victory Gardens Theater, in Claudia Allen's "Cahoots," and at Madison Square Garden with the National Company of Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues." Gless made her stage debut in Lillian Hellman's "Watch on the Rhine" at Stage West in Springfield, Mass.

Gless is an active participant in the ongoing struggle for a woman's right to choose, and recently joined hundreds of thousands of women in Washington DC for the first-ever "March For Women's Lives," where she stood in solidarity with her entertainment industry colleagues. In 2005, she was honored by Norman Lear's PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY for her unwavering support of human rights. Gless spends her time at home in three of her favorite cities: Los Angeles, Miami and Toronto.


This article shared 7582 times since Wed Nov 5, 2008
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

SHOWBIZ 'Black Adam,' Cyndi Lauper, Sondheim, Oscars, OutFest 2023-03-18
- Cultured Magazine recently profiled Quintessa Swindell—who became the first out, non-binary actor to play a lead superhero in the DC universe when they portrayed Cyclone in the 2022 movie Black Adam. Swindell grew up in Virginia ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Little Richard, Indigo Girls, Rodriguez's honor, dance film, Pedro Pascal 2023-03-10
Video below - Produced by Bungalow Media + Entertainment for CNN Films and HBO Max, in association with Rolling Stone Films, director Lisa Cortes' Sundance opening-night documentary Little Richard: I Am Everything will debut in theaters and on VOD ...


Gay News

Billy Masters: Raunchier Uncoupled on the rebound with Showtime 2023-03-06
- "I never liked when she did this in concerts either. I don't like when females are overly sexualized in art. It degrades and objectivy's [sic] women in a way that's not healthy." —TJ Jackson on reports ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Wanda Sykes, Jonas Brothers, 'Queen of Versailles,' 'Bloodshed' 2023-03-04
Adam Lambert video below - Award-winning comedian Wanda Sykes' new comedy special, I'm An Entertainer, will premiere globally on Netflix on May 23, a press release announced. The special, directed by Linda Mendoza, was filmed in early February 2023 at Philadelphia's ...


Gay News

Queerties honor LGBTQ+ creatives at Feb. 28 event 2023-03-01
- The 11th Annual Queerties Awards—which recognizes LGBTQ+ creators, tastemakers, storytellers and newsmakers—took place Feb. 28 at Eden Sunset in Los Angeles. Hosted by drag comedian Bianca Del Rio, the ceremony ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ 'Bob's Burgers,' P!nk, sports items, Billy Porter, Ben Platt 2023-02-24
- Animated sitcom Bob's Burgers marked another major milestone with its 250th episode. Gay actor/comedian/musician John Roberts (who voices Linda Belcher) talked with Queerty and said that one of the most important lessons he's learned from ...


Gay News

'Everything' sweeps The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics 14th Dorian Film Awards 2023-02-23
--From a press release - GALECA,The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, has named A24's fantastical and affecting family relationship drama Everything Everywhere All at Once 2022's Film of the Year—and then some—in its 14th Dorian ...


Gay News

At 'FIRST(ISH)' Sight: Producer Ashley Flowers speaks on 'honest' representation 2023-02-22
- Ashley Flowers—a producer, co-creator and actor in the short film First(ish) Date, now in pre-production—wears many creative hats. She also has an extensive resume working with stage and film props as well; Flowers has been working ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Black queer films, Janet Jackson, Paramore, WNBA, GALECA contest 2023-02-19
- Queerty ran a piece on 10 films that celebrate Black queer love. Some of them include The Skinny (with Jussie Smollett), Dee Rees' movie Pariah, the Oscar-winning Moonlight, the Marlon Riggs classic Tongues Untied, Brother to ...


Gay News

Goran Stolevski grows up fast with Of an Age 2023-02-14
- Openly gay filmmaker Goran Stolevski is a triple threat: He handled directing, writing and editing chores for his new project, Of an Age, which Focus Features is now distributing. The film is already taking home trophies ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Isaac Mizrahi, Viola Davis, Laura Jane Grace, Elton John, GLAAD 2023-02-11
- On Sherri Shepherd's talk show, entertainer/fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi said he'd love for out actor Dan Levy to portray him in a potential biopic based on Mizrahi's memoir, I.M., The Wrap noted. "Dan Levy, OK," Mizrahi ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Jerrod Carmichael, Alan Cumming, Andre Leon Talley, AIDS drama 2023-02-05
- Openly gay stand-up comic and recent Golden Globes host Jerrod Carmichael is set to star in a comedy documentary series for HBO, according to Entertainment Weekly. The yet-untitled series will center on Carmichael's personal life, following ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lil Nas X, Sam Smith, tennis items, Oscars, Queerties 2023-01-29
- Famed children's entertainers The Wiggles sent parents into a frenzy when they posted a photo with out rapper Lil Nas X to their Instagram account and wrote, "New collab in the wind?," according to LGBTQ Nation. ...


Gay News

Director Lukas Dhont's Oscar-nominated drama gets 'Close' to audiences everywhere 2023-01-27
- Belgian director Lukas Dhont's new French-language film Close—a nominee for Best International Feature Film for the 95th Annual Academy Awards—tells the touching story of two 13-year-old best friends, Leo (Eden ...


Gay News

Billy Masters: George Santos gets to be a real drag, and all the dish you need 2023-01-23
- "If you're an enemy of drag, you're an enemy of mine." —George Lopez criticizes Ron DeSantis' "War on Drag Queens." There are some stories I try to stay away from, and that includes George Santos—if I ...


 




Copyright © 2023 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives. Single copies of back issues in print form are
available for $4 per issue, older than one month for $6 if available,
by check to the mailing address listed below.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.
All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transegender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS






Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.