Biography for
Christine Baranski More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

2 May 1952, Buffalo, New York, USA

Birth Name

Christine Jane Baranski

Height

5' 10" (1.78 m)

Spouse

Matthew Cowles

(15 October 1983 - present) 2 children

Trivia

Raises her children without television because she doesn't approve of the sexual content and violence on the screen.

May 28, 1991: Starred in the first production of Terrence McNally's play "Lips Together, Teeth Apart" with Swoosie Kurtz, Nathan Lane, and Anthony Heald.

Is of Polish ancestry.

Daughter's names are Lily (b. 1987) and Isabel (b. 1984).

Studied at Juilliard.

Lives in Connecticut [2004]

Has won two Tony Awards as Best Actress (Featured Role - Play): in 1984 for Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing;" and in 1989 for "Rumors."

Her daughter, Lily Cowles, is a student at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey.

Studied acting with Michael Howard in New York City.

At age 19 in Juilliard, she was awarded $1000 for living expenses because she was "the most hard-working, economically needy student." But instead, she admits, she used the money to spend two months in Europe.

Personal Quotes

Acting is like a high wire act. Your margin for error is very slim.

I wish I didn't have to live up to anything.

I went to one of the world's great music schools, Juilliard, to acting school and never had any voice training. It wasn't until my mid-twenties that I began to go and see a singing teacher, and I discovered I had a voice, but I never felt very much confidence about singing in public and rarely went up for musical auditions.

I attribute the longevity of my career to the fact that I didn't have to carry that mantle [beauty]. I was never beautiful so I'm not unbeautiful. I may not have been a leading lady, but I had great clothes and funny lines. I think I had more flexibility.

Where Are They Now

(June 2006) Starring in the Kennedy Center revival of Jerry Herman's "Mame."

(June 2008) Starring in a Broadway revival of British farce "Boeing Boeing"