Matthew Cowles (September 28, 1944 – May 22, 2014) was an American actor and playwright. Matthew Cowles is the son of actor and theatre producer Chandler Cowles, he was born in New York City. In 1980, he married actress [Kathleen Dezina], his All My Children co-star. In 1983 he married actress Christine Baranski with whom he had two daughters, Isabel (born 1984) and Lily (born 1987). In a New York Times profile of his wife, he was described as “the black sheep member of a family with ties” to Drexel banking and the Cowles Publishing Company. He was an enthusiastic motorcycle rider. Matthew Cowles died from congestive heart failure on May 22, 2014. Cowles taught religious education at the Church of the Nativity. In 1966 Matthew Cowles played the title role in Edward Albee’s short-lived adaptation of James Purdy’s comic novel Malcolm on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre. Cowles’ first television part was Joe Czernak in the series NYPD in 1969. He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series in 1978 and as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Daytime Drama Series in 1981, both for his part as Billy Clyde Tuggle in All My Children, a role that he created and wrote. Cowles’ first film was the comedy drama Me, Natalie (1969) in which he played Harvey Belman. Al Pacino also made his debut in this film. In 2010, Matthew Cowles played a supporting role in Martin Scorsese’s film Shutter Island.