Christine Baranski, an Emmy and two-time Tony award-winning actress and singer, will be featured in the eighth and final installment of this year’s Lesher Foundation’s Newsmakers: Lesher Speaker Series at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek on Oct. 28.
Baranski, who is best known recently for her roles as Diane Lockhart in “The Good Wife,” its spinoff series, “The Good Fight,” and her guest role as Dr. Beverly Hofstadter in “The Big Bang Theory,” is expected to discuss her career and how she got into the entertainment industry, while also addressing her role as a proponent of female empowerment.
Baranski was invited to speak as a replacement for actress Laura Linney, who was originally scheduled for the speaker series finale before becoming unavailable due to a new acting commitment in London.
Similar to other events in the speaker series, Baranski’s appearance will help highlight a local nonprofit to raise awareness and connect with the community. The organization associated with Baranaski’s event is the Diablo Regional Arts Association (DRAA), which is a nonprofit partner of the Lesher Center of the Arts.
The DRAA raises funds to support the Lesher Center for the Arts and has provided outreach programs for the arts to more than 65,000 East Bay students and teachers. The nonprofit also produces the Headliners Series, which features performers from the world of comedy, dance, theater, and world music.
Series producer Michael White believes Baranski is especially fitting to wrap Newsmakers’ 20th anniversary speaker series because of her diversity of experience and talent in the field of arts. Her talk will be followed by a Q&A session moderated by Heather Holmes, a news anchor for KTVU Fox Channel 2.
“Christine is an entertainment icon,” White said.
A 1974 Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate of The Juilliard School in New York City, Baranski received her big break in the hit Broadway comedy “The Real Thing,” which earned her the 1984 Tony Award for best featured actress in a play.
Baranski went on to earn her second Tony Award in 1989 for her performance in the play “Rumors.” She also won the 1995 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in the sitcom “Cybill.”
In her career, Baranski has been nominated for 15 Primetime Emmy Awards.
Baranski has also starred in iconic films such as “Chicago,” which at the time of its 2002 release became the highest-grossing live-action musical in film history; “Mamma Mia!,” the fifth highest-grossing film of 2008; and the 2000 box office hit “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” based off of the famous Dr. Seuss story book.
Currently, Baranski is starring in the historical HBO Max drama series “The Gilded Age.”
Family had health challenges
Outside of her illustrious acting career, Baranski has had to overcome medical hardships with her family. Baranski was her husband’s primary caretaker as he struggled with diabetes in the last years of his life, according to the United Talent Agency. Her husband, the late actor and playwright Matthew Cowles, died of congestive heart failure in 2014.
In her family, Baranski’s mother suffered from three different cancers during her lifetime, and both her brother and father dealt with heart-related issues.
“She’s been dealt with some challenges from people in her life who have had medical [issues],” White said. “I think we’re going to spend some time [discussing] that too.”
Baranski represents the ethos of the Lesher Center, particularly her desire to promote the arts and reach out to underrepresented communities, which is why she was matched with the DRAA, said Steve Lesher, the Lesher Foundation’s board president and executive producer of the speaker series.
“It’s the artists that make life worth living,” Lesher said. “[Baranski] is very on theme for us in that way.”
During the Sept. 30 speaker series event featuring Frank Abagnale, Lesher announced the lineup for the 2026 Newsmakers season. The scheduled speakers include former U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman; Rick Steves, the leading authority on European travel; Former President Joe Biden’s press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre; actor, producer, director, and Latino community activist Edward James Olmos; former CIA Chief of Disguise Jonna Mendez; sportscaster and author Bob Costas; and Eileen Collins, a retired NASA astronaut and Air Force colonel who was the first female space shuttle pilot.
Mansi Swaminathan is a 12th grader at California High School in San Ramon and a CCYJ contributor. This story was made possible by support from the Lesher Foundation, its Newsmakers speaker series, and the Bay City News Foundation. Stories are produced independently by the CCYJ news team.