Matthew Cowles Death: ‘All My Children’ Actor Dies At 69, Actress Wife Christine Baranski Left Widowed [PHOTOS]

Former All My Children Soap Opera actor Matthew Cowles has died, leaving behind his famous wife, Christine Baranski.

The actor, who was 69, passed away at his Connecticut home on Thursday, May 22, though no cause has been released.

Cowles rose to fame playing the villainous Billy Clyde Tuggle on the long-running ABC soap from 1977 to 1990, where his character was best known for his obsession with the character of Dixie Martin (Cady McClain), kidnapping her and trying to kill her husband, Tad Martin, before presumably dying after a bridge explosion.

The character resurfaced in the Prospect Park online reboot, where he professed to be a changed man who had found God, and after his character won a large lottery prize, he made a sizeable donation to a women's center Dixie ran and bean trying to live as a distinguished citizen of the town's elite.

Cowles was married to The Good Wife actress Christine Baranski for nearly 30 years, and is survived by her, as well as their two daughters, Isabel and Lily.

McClain tweeted about her former co-star's passing, calling him a lovely man whose passing was "so sad."

"@enriquevbjr @broadwayworld so sad. What a lovely man...I adored working with him last year. So kind," she wrote.

The news of Cowles' death was confirmed May 23 by the actor's manager, Tsu Tsu Stanton, who tweeted:

"#Matthew Cowles passed away on 5/22. I had the pleasure of being his manager. He was a very gifted and kind man who loved life and everyone."