Matthew Cowles was more than just Christine Baranski‘s late husband.

Cowles was an actor who met Baranski in 1982 while starring in a Henrik Ibsen play in Garden City, New York. Baranski was swept off her feet, and the couple tied the knot the following year.

In 1984, Baranski and Cowles became first-time parents when they welcomed daughter Isabel. The pair completed their family with the arrival of daughter Lily in 1987.

Baranski and Cowles remained together until his unexpected death in 2014. The actor died of congestive heart failure at age 69.

“For the first month or so, you’re rather numb. The death of a loved one is not only deeply sad but also very disorienting,” Baranski recalled of losing the love of her life in a 2017 interview with Parade. “When you’ve had a 30-year marriage and sat across from this person every morning having coffee, it’s so strange. Someone is there and then suddenly they’re not there to talk to ever again.”

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Matthew Cowles Was From a Famous Family

Matthew was the son of theatre actor and producer Chandler Cowles. Matthew also had ties to the Drexel family, which was a banking dynasty in American history. Baranski revealed her late husband’s familial connection and how it influenced her role in The Gilded Age in an August 2024 interview with Deadline.

“I love Downton Abbey, and I had heard somewhere in the ether of showbiz gossip that Julian [Fellowes] wanted to do an American version. And after one of my many Emmy losses, at an HBO party, he was sitting there and I approached him. And I spoke to him about it, and I said, ‘I’m married to a man, my late husband, was a Drexel from the Drexel family,’ and that was, of course, one of the New York aristocratic Gilded Age families,” she told the outlet. “I began talking to him about it, and we had the longest conversation. And I didn’t know Julian then. Talk about manifestation! All those years later I get a call saying, ‘Julian has written this show for HBO, and they’re offering you this.’ I was the first person to be offered a role.”

Matthew Cowles Got His Start on Broadway

Before starring in multiple movies and TV shows, Matthew got his start on Broadway. He made his debut in the 1966 play Malcolm. He later had roles in The Indian Wants the Bronx, The Time of Your Life and Sweet Bird of Youth.

Matthew also penned multiple plays, including Mexican Standoff at Fat Squaw Springs, Our Daily Bread and Noblesse Oblige.

Matthew Cowles Made His TV Debut on ‘All My Children’

Matthew originated the role of Billy Clyde Tuggle on the soap opera. The actor not only played the series’ infamous pimp but he also created and wrote the role. Matthew was a regular on All My Children on and off from 1977 to 1980. He later returned for brief stints in 1984, 1989, 1990 and 2011. While he played a villain on the show, the character was beloved by fans.

Matthew Cowles Was Married Once Before Christine Baranski

Before tying the knot with Baranski, Matthew was previously married to Kathleen Dezina from 1980 to 1982.

Matthew Cowles Was an Avid Motorcyclist

Matthew’s preferred vehicle of choice was a motorcycle. When he first met Baranski, he offered her a ride on his bike.

“He asked me if I wanted to ride home on his motorcycle one night,” the Good Fight actress said in a 2011 interview with The New Yorker. “He was this shaggy blond-haired guy who smoked unfiltered Mexican cigarettes. He was really exotic. I was in my early 30s. He loved riding around lower Manhattan — back when SoHo was a little dark.”