Actress Sharon Gless is pure class and a consummate pro. It's that simple. No matter what project she appears in or whatever role she takes on, Sharon Gless makes everyone around her look great. After rising through the acting ranks on such awesome '70s shows as Ironside, Emergency, and Adam-12, Gless landed her breakthrough TV role as Christine Cagney on the hit female cop series Cagney & Lacey with Tyne Daly. After paving the way for female detectives on TV, Gless went on to enjoy even more success on the groundbreaking Queer as Folk and later had a memorable recurring role on Nip/Tuck. In 2007, Sharon Gless stepped into the shoes of one of the quirkiest characters of her career as the chain smoking, hypochondriac Madeline Westen on the hit USA Network series Burn Notice, playing the mother of Jeffrey Donovan's burned character, Michael.

To celebrate the recent June 17 DVD release of Burn Notice: Season 1 on DVD and to look ahead to the second season premiere on July 10, I recently had the good fortune to take a call from Sharon Gless, who filled me on what it's like to live and work in Miami, how she bonded with Jeffrey Donovan in the first season, how she's grown as an actress since Queer as Folk, whether we can expect a reunion with Tyne Daly on Burn Notice, and what she's looking forward to most in season two.

THE DEADBOLT: I loved the wig. How did that all come about?

SHARON GLESS: [laughs] When I read the script, she’s described as a chain-smoking hypochondriac and it’s apparent she’s very manipulative. I thought, well, if she’s a hypochondriac she’s obviously not very secure and wants attention. So I wasn’t trying to play down her age, I wanted her to be the age she was. But I wanted her to try an look younger. It seemed like she had a lot of time on her hands, so they let me do it. They went ahead with it. But after the pilot, the network said, "Okay, we’ve had enough of that," so we changed it.

THE DEADBOLT: How is it living and working in Miami, for the better or worse?

GLESS: Well, one of the stars of the show is Miami. They use it beautifully. They use all of the clubs and the women, the bikinis, and the beaches. It’s very apparent it is Miami. Nothing else really shoots here. All of the shows that have the Miami name in them really don’t shoot here. But I live here. I mean, this is my home. I’ve been living here for twelve years. So what’s it like shooting here? My husband said, "I don’t think our marriage is going to survive it." [laughs] So, because I never lived at home and shot - I mean Queer As Folk was in Toronto, Nip/Tuck is in Los Angeles - I’ve always been on location, but it’s great.

THE DEADBOLT: So what kind of reaction is the show getting in the city?

GLESS: Oh, they’re loving it. Oh, yeah. I mean, I can’t go into any restaurants without comments or the markets or anywhere. It’s fun. Miami’s been terrific and that makes it easy for us, which was not always the case I understand.

THE DEADBOLT: Obviously Michael gets his street smarts from Madeline, but where does she get hers from?

GLESS: I think she was innately smart. The producer, Matt Nix, said she went to college, fell in love with this man and she had big dreams - this life they were going to have. Well, it’s apparent in the show it didn’t work out for her. He was somewhat abusive and he never supported them. So I think she innately had smarts. I mean the boy is still alive, so she raised him. I guess, raising two boys almost on her own, if she didn’t have them before she had to get them. So I think she just had to step up to the plate. She obviously wasn’t a great mother, which is one of the reasons I like playing her.

EXCLUSIVE: Getting Burned with Sharon Gless Page 2