Actor Matthew Cowles Dies at Age 69

Matthew Cowles, actor, playwright and husband of Christine Baranski, passed away at the age of 69 on May 22, 2014, his agent announced via Twitter. The cause of death was not given.

Cowles delighted die-hard “All My Children” fans last year by returning, in true soap opera fashion, to Pine Valley in his role as the villainous, yet comical, Billy Clyde Tuggle. Billy Clyde was believed to have died many years ago, after falling off a bridge during a fight with Tad Martin (Michael E. Knight).

Here is a scene from the 1990s on AMC where Billy Clyde threatens Donna (Candice Earley) after she attempted to kill him:

https://youtu.be/xQQH1VnfPmU

Cowles played numerous other roles throughout his career, including another soap opera gig on “Loving” as Eban Japes. On the 2003 TV Series OZ, he played an inmate named Willy Brandt who is hired to kill another inmate and then is murdered himself. He had roles in several Law & Order episodes (the original series, SVU and Trial by Jury). He also worked on Broadway and was the author of three plays.

Cowles passed away at his home in Connecticut. He is survived by his wife of over 30 years, Christine Baranski, and daughters, isabel and Lily.

Did You Know? Matthew Cowles’s death was erroneously reported in the press 14 years ago when a Florida man named Max Maislin was murdered in 1999. Maislin had been telling his friends that he was the actor who played Billy Clyde Tuggle. When contacted, Cowles said he had never hear of Maislin. “What can I tell you?,” he told the Miami Herald, “Death comes to the least of us and the greatest of us. One day, it will be true, I guess.”