Entertainment industry’s most honoured actresses, CHRISTINE BARANSKI

One of the entertainment industry’s most honoured actresses, CHRISTINE BARANSKI (Tanya) has achieved acclaim in every medium in which she has performed. The two-time Tony, Emmy, Screen Actors Guild and American Comedy award winner recently starred opposite Ray Romano in Welcome to Mooseport and opposite Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere in the Academy Award®-winning film Chicago. Other film credits include The Guru, opposite Heather Graham and Marisa Tomei; the box-office hit Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas; Bowfinger, opposite Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy; the wildly controversial Bulworth, opposite Warren Beatty; and Cruel Intentions, opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon.

A native of Buffalo, Baranski developed a passion for acting while performing in high-school productions and read about Juilliard’s acting program, which was only a year old at the time. After graduating from Juilliard, she began earning roles in regional productions and off-Broadway. She received her big break when she was cast in Tom Stoppard’s hit Broadway comedy The Real Thing, directed by Mike Nichols and starring Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons. In that same year, she also married, gave birth to her first child and won a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for her performance.

Baranski went on to earn a second Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for her performance as a chain-smoking hyperkinetic in Neil Simon’s Rumors, and a Drama Desk Award for Lips Together, Teeth Apart, in a role that was written for her by Terrence McNally. Additional appearances on the Great White Way include Hurlyburly and The House of Blue Leaves.

Baranski co-starred with Nathan Lane and Robin Williams in the box-office smash The Birdcage, for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award. She also co-starred in Jeffrey, the film based on Paul Rudnick’s acclaimed off-Broadway play about gay life in the age of AIDS. Past roles include the memorable mistress of Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune and parts in Legal Eagles, The Ref, Lovesick, Addams Family Values, Life With Mikey and 9½ Weeks.

In addition to an Emmy Award for the hit CBS comedy Cybill, Baranski received an American Comedy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy, as well a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy. She also received three additional Emmy and three Golden Globe award nominations. Baranski also starred with John Larroquette on the NBC sitcom Happy Family.

In addition to her films, Baranski was seen in the Los Angeles production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. She was also seen as a guest on Frasier, for which she received a fifth Emmy Award nomination.

Baranski divides her time between Connecticut and Los Angeles.