Sharon Gless recalls her lesbian stalker

Actress Sharon Gless, best known as Tyne Daly's costar in the hit 1980s TV series Cagney & Lacey, gave a long interview to the London newspaper The Daily Mail, published Tuesday, which recounts her career, her battle with alcohol, the progress of her 81/2-year marriage to Barney Rosenzweig-and her lesbian stalker. Gless recalls in particular a night she had a terrible, alcohol-fueled fight with Rosenzweig (before they were married) and stormed out of his house, heading home. "Halfway there she changed her mind and went back to apologize, a decision that possibly saved her life," the newspaper reports. "What she didn't know was that a lesbian fan, Joni Penn, had barricaded herself in Sharon's Hollywood mansion, armed with a rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition. The police finally got her out, and in 1990 she was jailed for six years." Gless told the paper, "To this day, Barney says he saved my life. If I hadn't gone back to say I was sorry, the thought of what could have happened is terrifying. I don't think she wished me harm. She was in love with me, but it was perverse, and anything might have happened."


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