We all love Christine Baranski. You love her on “The Good Wife” and from “Cybill” as Marianne and from the movies “Mamma Mia” and “Reversal of Fortune” as the scheming lover to Claus on Bulow (played by Jeremy Irons). What you may not know is Baranski will be married 30 years this fall to actor Matthew Cowles. Never heard of him? He’s infamous in soap opera lure. He played the evil Billy Clyde Tuggle, a sort of Southern pimp and mischief maker on “All My Children” in the late 70s on and off through around 1990. Billy Clyde is an icon of “AMC” history.
Now it seems Billy Clyde is returning to Pine Valley. Cowles is said to be rejoining the show in its new online incarnation. It’s hard to say who knows him after all this time. Cowles’ main scenes, if I remember correctly, were with the late Ruth Warrick, who played Phoebe Tyler. This was before the internet existed, or cell phones, or iPods.
What you may not also know is that Cowles is quite unlike Billy Clyde. Father of two beautiful adult daughters with Baranski, Cowles is descended from the famed Cowles Publishing family. He’s from Connecticut. And as much as Baranski is seen on the town often with her daughters, Cowles likes to stay at home. He’s not cut out for Manhattan nightlife, Baranski has always said. Billy Clyde, however, only wanted to be known and seen. “AMC” airs every day on hulu.com.
