Christine Baranski

Christine Baranski was an American actress who used her razor sharp wit and statuesque good looks to become one of the most memorable faces in entertainment for decades, especially on television, where she racked up an astounding 15 Primetime Emmy nominations. Born on May 2, 1952 in Buffalo, New York, Baranski caught the acting bug from her grandparents, who were actors in the Polish theater. She studied acting at the Juilliard School in New York City, graduating with a BFA in 1974. Baranski's first professional acting job was an appearance on the short-lived sitcom "Busting Loose" (CBS, 1977) in 1977. She made her off-Broadway debut in 1980, appearing in "Coming Attractions" at Playwrights Horizons. Two years later, Baranski made her film debut with a cameo role in 'Soup for One" (1982). A few years of small roles and cameos followed before Baranski made a big splash, co-starring in the erotic drama "9 1/2 Weeks" (1986), alongside Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. Her next big break came when she played Becky Martin-Granger in the smash hit sequel "Addams Family Values" (1993). However, Baranski's true break came when she was cast as Maryanne Thorpe, the sarcastic, hard-drinking best friend of Cybill Shepherd's title character in the popular sitcom "Cybill" (CBS, 1995-98). Baranski was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for each season that the show was on the air, winning once, for the first season. She also received an Emmy nomination around this time for her guest appearance on a 1999 episode of "Frasier" (NBC, 1993-2004) in which she played an intimidating radio psychiatrist who becomes a nemesis for Dr. Frasier Crane. After "Cybill" ended, Baranski co-starred on two short-lived sitcoms, "Welcome to New York" (CBS, 2000-01), and "Happy Family" (NBC, 2003-04), before returning to the big screen to appear as one of Meryl Streep's best friends, Tanya Chesham-Leigh in the ABBA musical "Mamma Mia!" (2006). In 2009, Baranski made her first appearance as Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, the emotionally aloof psychiatrist and neuroscientist mother to Johnny Galecki's Dr. Leonard Hofstadter on the mega hit sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS, 2007-2019). She would receive yet another Emmy nomination for her performance, and go on to reprise the role in over ten more episodes. That same year, Baranski took on the role of Diane Lockhart on the legal drama "The Good Wife" (CBS, 2009-2016). She received another six Emmy nods for the role, and her character proved to be so popular that when the series ended in 2016, she was given her own spinoff, "The Good Fight" (CBS, 2017-). Baranski could next be seen reprising her role as Tanya Chesham-Leigh in the hit sequel "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again!" (2018).