Personal life

The son of actor and theatre producer Chandler Cowles

Chandler Cowles

Chandler Cowles, born in New Haven, Connecticut, was an actor, producer, or co-producer in at least 11 New York theatrical productions from 1946 through 1960. Cowles collaborated closely with Gian-Carlo Menotti and Efrem Zimbalist Jr...

, he was born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

Since 1983 he has been married to actress Christine Baranski

Christine Baranski

Christine Jane Baranski is an American stage and screen actress, and is perhaps best known for her Emmy Award winning portrayal as "Maryanne Thorpe" in the sitcom Cybill, and her Emmy nominated portrayal of "Diane Lockhart" in The Good Wife...

 with whom he has two daughters, Isabel (born 1984) and Lily (born 1987). In a New York Times profile of his wife, he is described as “the black sheep member of a family with ties" to Drexel

Drexel

-People:* Anthony Joseph Drexel I, a Philadelphia banker, founder of Drexel University* John Armstrong Drexel, aviation pioneer* Elizabeth Wharton Drexel, socialite and author* Francis Anthony Drexel, a Philadelphia banker...

 banking and the Cowles Publishing Company

Cowles Publishing Company

Cowles Publishing Company, sometimes shortened to Cowles Company, is a newspaper publisher and diversified company in Spokane, Washington in the United States. Cowles Publishing owns and operates the The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane founded in 1894...

.
He is an enthusiastic motorcycle rider.

Work

In 1966 Cowles played the title role in Edward Albee

Edward Albee

Edward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...

's short-lived adaptation of James Purdy

James Purdy

James Otis Purdy was a controversial American novelist, short story-writer, poet, and playwright who, since his debut in 1956, published over a dozen novels, and many collections of poetry, short stories, and plays. His work has been translated into more than 30 languages. He has been praised by...

's comic novel Malcolm on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre

Shubert Theatre (Broadway)

The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 225 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States.Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts, it was named after Sam S. Shubert, the second oldest of the three brothers of the theatrical producing family...

.

His first television part was Joe Czernak in the series NYPD in 1969. He was nominated for an Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series in 1978

5th Daytime Emmy Awards

The 5th Daytime Emmy Awards were held on June 7, 1978, to commemorate excellence in American daytime programming from the previous year . The awards were hosted by Family Feud host Richard Dawson, who also won an award for best game show host....

 and was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Daytime Drama Series in 1981

8th Daytime Emmy Awards

The 8th Daytime Emmy Awards were held in 1981 to commemorate excellence in daytime programming from the previous year . The eighth awards did not include the cameo category from the previous year, so only five awards were given, like in previous years....

 for his part as Billy Clyde Tuggle in All My Children

All My Children

All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...

, a role that he created and wrote.

The first film in which he performed was the comedy drama Me, Natalie

Me, Natalie

Me, Natalie is a 1969 American comedy-drama film directed by Fred Coe. The screenplay by A. Martin Zweiback is based on an original story by Academy Award-winner Stanley Shapiro, who previously wrote Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back, and That Touch of Mink for Doris Day...

(1969) in which he played Harvey Belman. Al Pacino

Al Pacino

Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...

 also made his debut in this film.

In 2010 he had a supporting role in Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese

Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...

's Shutter Island.

Movie parts

• Me, Natalie
  Me, Natalie
  Me, Natalie is a 1969 American comedy-drama film directed by Fred Coe. The screenplay by A. Martin Zweiback is based on an original story by Academy Award-winner Stanley Shapiro, who previously wrote Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back, and That Touch of Mink for Doris Day...
  
  (1969) as Harvey Belman.
• Slap Shot
  Slap Shot (film)
  Slap Shot is a 1977 film comedy starring Paul Newman and Michael Ontkean directed by George Roy Hill. It depicts a minor league hockey team that resorts to violent play to gain popularity in a declining factory town.- Plot :...
  
  (1977) as Charlie.
• Stars and Bars
  Stars and Bars (film)
  Stars and Bars is an American comedy film released in 1988, directed by Pat O'Connor and based on a book by William Boyd. The film stars Daniel Day-Lewis as Henderson Dores.-Plot:...
  
  (1989) as Beckman Gage.
• The Cowboy Way (1994) as Popfly.
• The Juror
  The Juror
  The Juror is a 1996 American romantic thriller film based on the novel by George Dawes Green, directed by Brian Gibson and starring Demi Moore as Annie Laird, a single mother picked for jury duty for a mafia trial. The film was released on 2 February 1996...
  
  (1996) as Rodney.
• Nurse Betty
  Nurse Betty
  Nurse Betty is a 2000 American comedy film directed by Neil LaBute starring Renée Zellweger as a sweet Kansas waitress who undergoes a nervous breakdown after witnessing her husband's murder, and starts obsessively pursuing her favorite soap actor....
  
  (2000) as Merle.
• Shutter Island (film) (2010) as Ferry Boat Captain

Television parts

• All My Children
  All My Children
  All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
  
  (1977–1980) as Billy Clyde Tuggle.
• Loving
  Loving (TV series)
  Caden Grant Carlton loves Mika Ayako Ryan more.Loving is an American television soap opera which aired on ABC's daytime lineup from June 26, 1983 to November 10, 1995 for 3,169 episodes...
  
  (1986–1987) as Eban Japes.
• Lonesome Dove
  Lonesome Dove
  Lonesome Dove is a 1985 Pulitzer Prize–winning western novel written by Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the Lonesome Dove series, but the third installment in the series chronologically...
  
  (1989) as Monkey John.
• Asylum, a 1991 episode of Law & Order
  Law & Order
  Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
  
  .
• Oz
  Oz (TV series)
  Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes . It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons...
  
  (2003) as Willy Brandt
  Willy Brandt (Oz)
  William "Willy" Brandt is a fictional character at HBO drama Oz. Willy Brandt is played by Matthew Cowles.-Character Overview:Prisoner 96B339, William "Willy" Brandt....
  
  .
• Life on Mars (2008–2009) as Cowboy Dan

Theatrical parts

• Malcolm (1966) at the Schubert Theater on Broadway as Malcolm.
• The Time of Your Life
  The Time of Your Life
  The Time of Your Life is a 1939 five-act play by American playwright William Saroyan. The play is the first drama to win both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. The play opened 25 October 1939 at the Booth Theatre in New York City...
  
  (1969) as Dudley.
• Sweet Bird of Youth
  Sweet Bird of Youth
  Sweet Bird of Youth is a 1959 play by Tennessee Williams which tells the story of a gigolo and drifter, Chance Wayne, who returns to his home town as the accompaniment of a faded movie star, Princess Kosmonopolis , whom he hopes to use to help him break into the movies...
  
  (1975–1976) as Tom Junior.
• Dirty Jokes (1976) at the Academy Festival Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.