Mr. Cowles played Billy Clyde Tuggle on the daytime soap "All My Children" for many years. He was twice nominated for Daytime Emmys for his work, in 1978 and 1981.
Other daytime drama gigs included "Loving" and "The Bold and the Beautiful."
On the big screen Mr. Cowles had roles in "Nurse Betty," "Shutter Island," "The Juror" and "The Cowboy Way."
On the stage, he played the title role in Malcolm, Edward Albee's short-lived 1965 Broadway adaptation of James Purdy's novel. He subsequently appeared in Broadway revivals of Sweet Bird of Youth and The Time of Your Life.
Off-Broadway, he was in the original production of Israel Horovitz's The Indian Wants the Bronx, acting alongside Al Pacino and John Cazale. His most recent New York stage appearance was in The Taming of the Shrew, a Theatre For a New Audience production at the Duke on 42nd Street in 2012.
He was nominated for a 1976 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play for Dirty Jokes, at the Academy Festival Theatre in Chicago.
Matthew Cowles was born on Sept. 28, 1944, in New York City, NY, as Matthew Chandler Cowles.
He married Baranski in 1983, and the two have two children together. Baranski survives him. He was previously married to the actress Kathleen Dezina.