Gless: Booze nearly killed me

AFTER spending a week in the hospital for seemingly unexplained, debilitating stomach pains, actress Sharon Gless was advised by her doctors to stay away from alcohol.

The then-72-year-old TV star lasted a whole 36 hours without touching the stuff.

But, when the pancreatic attacks returned soon after, she consulted a top-notch gastroenterologist who got to the heart of the issue within minutes.

“If you ever have another drink again, don’t call me,” he said. “I don’t do suicides.”

Gless’ bottom lip began to tremble but the physician showed no mercy. “You’re not going to get all weepy on me, are ya?” he barked. “I thought you were the tough one.”

The doctor was referring to Gless’ role as hardened New York cop Christine Cagney from the hit show “Cagney and Lacey” — a part that rocketed the California native to fame.

Now 78, the 1980s TV star has written the memoir “Apparently There Were Complaints,” (Simon & Schuster) out today, in which she remembers the medical advice that drove her to get permanently sober on May 8, 2015, The Post’s Jane Ridley reports.

Another factor was a video from her 70thbirthday celebration on a high-rise rooftop in downtown Los Angeles. Rewatching it two year later, she writes, “made me cringe at the progression of my drunkenness.”

At one point in the video, Gless is seen yelling at one of the guests: “I don’t give a f--k about your kids!”

The irony won’t be lost on diehard fans of Gless’ police drama. In sharp contrast to clean-living mom Mary-Beth Lacey (played by Tyne Daly), Gless’ character, Cagney, lives alone and hits the bottle as a means of coping with the stress of her failed romantic life and grief caused by the death of her father.

Gless confesses she still has a yearning for liquor, writing: “I miss my Hendrick’s dry Martini, stirred not shaken. Every single night. Still.”