The Agnes van Rhijn actress was married to Matthew Cowles for 30 years
Christine Baranski first laid eyes on her “extraordinary” husband, Matthew Cowles, in 1982. The pair, who were co-starring in a theatre production of Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts, crossed paths in rehearsals. “He was eccentric but so warmhearted,” the actress recalled to The New Yorker.
Matthew, whose “shaggy blond hair” and “leather motorcycle jacket,” reminded of her James Dean, offered Christine a ride home on his motorcycle one night, and the rest was history. They tied the knot in 1983 and welcomed two daughters – Lily and Isabel – whom they raised in Connecticut, before moving to Manhattan.
Happily married for three decades, Christine explained that in their final years, she became a “caretaker” to Matthew, who sadly passed away from congestive heart failure in May 2014. He was 69 years old.
Christine has gone on to speak openly about her grief, telling Parade: “The death of a loved one is not only deeply sad but also very disorienting. 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.”
In the 10 years since her husband passed, Christine has continued to work on hugely successful shows including The Good Fight, The Big Bang Theory, and more recently The Gilded Age.
Set to return as Agnes van Rhijn in season three of the hit period drama, her role on the show came after a conversation with series creator, Julian Fellowes.
In an interview with Deadline, Christine, 72, explained that she’d approached Julian after hearing whispers that the writer was looking to create an American version of Downton Abbey.
“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.’ I began talking to him about it, and we had the longest conversation.
“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,” she continued.
For Christine, The Gilded Age presents a unique tie to Matthew, whose great-grandfather Joseph Drexel, founded Drexel Banking’s New York Branch with JP Morgan. His grandmother, Elizabeth Drexel Lehr, was a well-known author, philanthropist, and Manhattan socialite.
During season two, the Drexel family even appears, with Julian introducing them to viewers in episode 10 at a grand ball. Christine herself has done some digging into her husband’s ancestry.
“I was, of course, immersing myself in research on the Gilded Age. And I realized more deeply how connected my late husband’s family had been,” Christine remarked to Town & Country in 2022. “If you want to look any of these people up, you will be drawn into a rabbit hole of interest.”
