| Christine Baranski |
Baranski at the Metropolitan Opera opening in 2008 |
| Born |
Christine Jane Baranski
May 2, 1952 (1952-05-02) (age 57)
Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation |
Actress |
| Years active |
1978 –present |
| Spouse(s) |
Matthew Cowles (1983–present) |
Christine Jane Baranski (born May 2, 1952) is an American stage and screen actress.
Personal life
Baranski was born in Buffalo, New York, the daughter of Virginia (née Mazurowski) and Lucien Baranski, who edited a Polish-language newspaper.[1][2] She is of Polish descent and her grandparents were actors in the Polish theater.[3][4][5] Baranski attended Villa Maria Academy, after which she studied at Juilliard. She has been married to actor Matthew Cowles since 1983. They have two daughters.
Career
Stage
Baranski made her Off-Broadway debut in Coming Attractions at Playwrights Horizons in 1980, and has appeared in several off-Broadway productions at the Manhattan Theatre Club, starting with Sally and Marsha in 1982.
Baranski made her Broadway debut in Hide & Seek in 1980. For her next Broadway performance, in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, she won the 1984 Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Play. Other Broadway credits include: Hurlyburly, The House of Blue Leaves, Rumors, Regrets Only, Nick & Nora, and the Encores! concert staging of Follies.
At the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Baranski starred as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd in 2002[6] and as Mame in Mame in 2006.[7]
In her first Broadway production since 1991, she was featured as the maid "Berthe" in the 2008 revival of Boeing Boeing.[8] The show garnered two Tony Awards, one for Best Revival of a Play and the other for Best Actor (Mark Rylance). The original cast was Bradley Whitford (Bernard), Kathryn Hahn (Gloria), Christine Baranski (Berthe), Gina Gershon (Gabriella), and Mary McCormack (Gretchen). The show closed on January 4, 2009.
She also appeared in a one night only concert benefit performance of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music for Roundabout Theatre Company as Countess Charlotte Malcolm on January 12, 2009.[9] The cast included Vanessa Redgrave, Natasha Richardson, Victor Garber, and Marc Kudisch, among others.
She has won both the Tony and Drama Desk Awards twice. She is also known for her role as Martha May Whovier in The Grinch
Film career
Christine has also stared in various roles in films and television. In film, some of her most notable roles included that Katheryn Archer in The Birdcage and newspaper journalist Miss Sunshine in the 2002 film adaption of Chicago.
Television work
Christine's earliest work was on The Golden Palace opposite from Betty White, Rue McClanahan, Estelle Getty, Don Cheadle, and Cheech Marin. She is the hotel's famous celebrity who lives at The Golden Palace. She is a very ditsy woman, she gets very annoyed with Sophia most of the time, she is a favorite to Blanche, who share a lot in common. She also has a secret crush on Roland the Manager.
Baranski was featured as Cybill Shepherd's hard-drinking friend Maryanne Thorpe in the CBS sitcom Cybill, which ran from 1995 until 1998, during which time she hosted Saturday Night Live and won an Emmy Award as best supporting actress in a comedy series along with three other nominations.
In 1999 Baranski received an Emmy nomination for a guest starring role as an intimidating radio psychiatrist on an episode of the NBC series Frasier. She had an uncredited role in the series Now and Again as the voice of Roger's overbearing wife Ruth, who was never seen by viewers.
She later appeared in the 2000-2001 sitcom Welcome to New York and, with John Larroquette, in the 2003-2004 NBC sitcom Happy Family. She also appeared in the classic sitcom The Brady Bunch playing Paula, a friend of Marcia's who gets Marcia into trouble at a slumber party. She co-starred with Bernadette Peters in a pilot for an ABC sitcom, Adopted, in 2005, which was not picked up. She also played Faith Clancy, the mother of Jim Clancy in Ghost Whisperer.
She guest starred as a geeky Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, a bespectacled and unemotional expert in psychiatry and neural science, and Leonard's mom, in a season two episode of The Big Bang Theory titled "The Maternal Capacitance", for which she received an Emmy nomination.
She portrayed a librarian named Sonja Umdahl in the episode "Dick and the Single Girl" of the series 3rd Rock from the Sun.[10]
In 2009, Baranski appeared on Ugly Betty as Victoria Hartley, the haughty mother of Betty's new boyfriend.
She has also been set to guest star on the USA tv show Psych for their season premiere.
Filmography
Awards/nominations
- Television/Film
- American Comedy Awards
- Funniest Female Guest Appearance in a TV Series, "Frasier," 2000, Nominated
- Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series, "Cybill," 1996, Won
- Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
- Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
- Best Acting Ensemble, "Chicago," 2003, Won (shared)
- Emmy Awards
- Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, "The Big Bang Theory," 2009 Nominated
- Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, "Frasier," 1999, Nominated
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, "Cybill," 1998, Nominated
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, "Cybill," 1997, Nominated
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, "Cybill," 1996, Nominated
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, "Cybill," 1995, Won
- Golden Globes
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV, "Cybill," 1997, Nominated
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV, "Cybill," 1996, Nominated
- Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
- Best Acting Ensemble, "Chicago," 2003, Nominated (shared)
- Screen Actors Guild Awards
- Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture, "Chicago," 2003, Won (shared)
- Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture, "The Birdcage," 1997, Won (shared)
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, "Cybill," 1997, Nominated
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, "Cybill," 1996, Won
- Viewers for Quality Television Awards/Q Award
- Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Comedy Series, "Cybill," 1996, Won
- Broadway
References
- ^ Christine Baranski - Family and Companions - Yahoo!7 Movies
- ^ Christine Baranski Biography (1952-)
- ^ Western New York Public Broadcasting Association
- ^ THEATER; Being Irish And Being Married - New York Times
- ^ For Baranski, A Most Meaty Opportunity; In 'Sweeney Todd,' Actress Sinks Her Teeth Into a Singing Role | Article from The Washington Post | HighBeam Research
- ^ Brantlry, Ben."Adding Love To the Pies' Time-Tested Recipe", New York Times, May 15, 2002
- ^ Gans, Andrew."DIVA TALK: Chatting with Mame's Christine Baranski Plus Wicked News", playbill.com June 16, 2006
- ^ Simonson, Robert."PLAYBILL.COM'S BRIEF ENCOUNTER With Christine Baranski", playbill.com, May 7, 2008
- ^ Gans, Andrew."Starry A Little Night Music Concert Presented in Manhattan Jan. 12",playbill.com, January 12, 2009
- ^ "3rd Rock from the Sun"; Dick and the Single Girl (1997) — Internet Movie Database
External links
| Persondata |
| NAME |
Baranski, Christine |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES |
Chris Charney |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION |
Actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH |
May 2, 1952 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH |
Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| DATE OF DEATH |
|
| PLACE OF DEATH |
|
