What Does The Cast of ‘Cagney & Lacey’ Look Like Now 45 Years Later?
If you remember Cagney & Lacey as the show starring Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly, you are certainly not wrong. But when the two detectives first appeared on television on October 8, 1981, Gless was not playing Christine Cagney yet.
The original Cagney & Lacey was a made-for-TV movie starring Daly as Mary Beth Lacey and M*A*S*H star Loretta Swit as Christine Cagney. When CBS turned it into a weekly series, Swit was unavailable because of her commitment to M*A*S*H, so Meg Foster stepped in for six episodes beginning in March 1982. Then, Sharon Gless took over as Cagney in the fall of 1982, creating the partnership with Daly that most fans remember today.
The show survived more than one cancellation scare and eventually became one of the decade’s most acclaimed dramas. Cagney & Lacey earned 14 Emmys, while Daly and Gless won six Emmys between them for playing the two detectives. So, what happened to the women of the 14th Precinct and the actors who surrounded them? Here is a look at the main Cagney & Lacey cast then and now.
Tyne Daly as Mary Beth Lacey
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Tyne Daly played Mary Beth Lacey opposite Loretta Swit in the 1981 TV movie, stayed when Meg Foster became Cagney, and was still there when Sharon Gless finally settled into the role.
Daly won four Emmys for playing Mary Beth. After Cagney & Lacey, she continued to work steadily in television and theater, including Christy and Judging Amy, where she played social worker Maxine Gray and won another Emmy. She also had a major stage career. Daly won a Tony for playing Rose in the Broadway revival of Gypsy and continued appearing on and off Broadway for decades. She was among the performers announced for George Street Playhouse’s 2025 gala, and she and Sharon Gless also appeared together in a 2024 benefit reading of Voices From the Silenced.
Sharon Gless as Christine Cagney
Everett Collection; Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images
Sharon Gless joined the series in the fall of 1982, opposite Daly, and stayed through the end of the original run. Gless won two Emmys for the role, in 1986 and 1987.
Gless went on to another starring role in The Trials of Rosie O’Neill and later became familiar to a whole new generation as Debbie Novotny on Queer as Folk and Madeline Westen on Burn Notice. She and Daly also returned to their old roles for four Cagney & Lacey reunion movies during the 1990s. In 2021, Gless published her memoir, Apparently There Were Complaints, which covers her long career in Hollywood and some of the more difficult parts of her personal life. She has continued making public appearances, including that 2024 stage reunion with Daly.
Loretta Swit as Christine Cagney
Everett Collection; Bruce Glikas/Getty Images
Long before Sharon Gless picked up Cagney’s badge, Loretta Swit originated the role. She starred opposite Daly in the October 8, 1981 movie that started everything.
Swit wanted to continue, but she was still playing Maj. Margaret Houlihan on M*A*S*H. Her commitment to that series kept her from joining Cagney & Lacey when CBS ordered the weekly show. She played Margaret for nearly the entire run of M*A*S*H and won two Emmys for the role. Swit later worked extensively onstage and became a dedicated animal-welfare advocate. She died at her New York home on May 30, 2025 at age 87 from natural causes.
Meg Foster as Christine Cagney
Everett Collection
Meg Foster became the second Christine Cagney when the weekly series began in March 1982. She appeared with Daly in the first six regular episodes. CBS ultimately made replacing Foster a condition of continuing the series, and Sharon Gless took over when Cagney & Lacey returned that fall.
Foster went on to build a memorable career away from the 14th Precinct. Movie fans may know her best as Evil-Lyn in Masters of the Universe or Holly in John Carpenter‘s They Live, and she later appeared in projects including Rob Zombie‘s The Lords of Salem. Foster was part of the voice cast of Netflix’s Masters of the Universe: Revolution in 2024, bringing her back to the franchise decades after playing Evil-Lyn in the 1987 film.
John Karlen as Harvey Lacey
CBS/Everett Collection; Carolco Pictures/Everett Collection
John Karlen played Mary Beth’s husband, Harvey Lacey, throughout the series. Karlen had already built a cult following years earlier on Dark Shadows, where he was best known as Willie Loomis. On Cagney & Lacey, he earned an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 1986.
He returned as Harvey for the later Cagney & Lacey reunion movies. His final major acting role was in the 1996 movie Cagney & Lacey: True Convictions. Karlen died of congestive heart failure on January 22, 2020 at the age of 86.
Al Waxman as Lt. Bert Samuels
Gene Trindl/TV Guide/CBS / Courtesy Everett Collection
Al Waxman‘s Lt. Bert Samuels had the job of supervising Cagney, Lacey and the rest of the 14th Precinct. Waxman was already a major television star in his native Canada because of King of Kensington. In addition to acting on Cagney & Lacey, he also directed episodes of the series. He continued acting and directing after the show ended and was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1997. Near the end of his life, he appeared on the series Twice in a Lifetime.
Waxman died on January 18, 2001 during heart surgery at a Toronto hospital. He was 65 and had completed scenes for Twice in a Lifetime just one day before his death.
Martin Kove as Victor Isbecki
Everett Collection; Leah Puttkammer/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures
Martin Kove played Detective Victor Isbecki, one of Cagney and Lacey’s fellow detectives at the precinct. The role gave Kove a long-running television job as his movie career took off. Kove became Cobra Kai sensei John Kreese in The Karate Kid in 1984.
Decades later, that role brought him another unexpected run on television. Kove returned as Kreese on Netflix’s Cobra Kai and remained part of the story through its final season, which concluded in 2025.
Carl Lumbly as Mark Petrie
Everett Collection; Monica Schipper/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images
Carl Lumbly played Detective Mark Petrie, another longtime member of the 14th Precinct. Lumbly also starred as Marcus Dixon on Alias, appeared on shows including This Is Us and Supergirl, and voiced Martian Manhunter in the animated Justice League universe.
More recently, he joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Isaiah Bradley. After first playing the character in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Lumbly returned for the 2025 movie Captain America: Brave New World.
Sidney Clute as Paul La Guardia
CBS/Everett Collection
Sidney Clute played Detective Paul La Guardia, a familiar face around the precinct during the show’s early years. He had already spent decades working in television, with appearances on series including Dragnet, McCloud and Lou Grant.
Clute died of cancer on October 2, 1985, while Cagney & Lacey was still in production. He was 69. Although Clute could no longer appear in new episodes, his photograph and name continued to appear in the opening credits through the end of the show.
Where can you watch Cagney & Lacey now?
As of October 2026, Pluto TV has all seven seasons available to stream free with ads, including the six early Meg Foster episodes and the later Sharon Gless seasons. The Roku Channel also lists the series as available free with ads and you can stream it on Amazon Prime Video.
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