The Stunning Transformation Of Big Bang Theory's Christine Baranski Over The Years

Christine Baranski has been a staple in the entertainment industry for decades, and her fans know her from her diverse portfolio. Be it as the no-nonsense Dr. Beverly Hofstadter on "The Big Bang Theory;" her musically inclined characters in "Chicago," "Into the Woods," or the "Mamma Mia!" movies; or even as lawyer Diane Lockhart on "The Good Wife," there aren't many genres Baranski hasn't been seen in — but she didn't get there overnight.

Like many famous actors, Baranski worked her way up from school plays and bit parts to become a household name. Interestingly, she's typically not the leading lady of the movies and TV shows she stars in, but her deadpan comedic timing and sophistication end up stealing the spotlight every time she's on screen. She's also known for playing women who take charge and refuse to take any BS from anyone. In an interview with W Magazine about her character on "The Gilded Age," Baranski shared: "One of my castmates came to work with my picture on a T-shirt and my quotation 'Heads have rolled for less.' I thought if you make it onto a T-shirt that's being worn at a gay pride parade, you've certainly entered cult status." And indeed she has.

Christine Baranski was born in Buffalo, New York in 1952, and rooming with her stage-performing grandmother as a child sparked Baranski's curiosity to become a performer herself. She was class president for four years straight and participated in plays, both onstage and off, in high school. Baranski told "CBS Sunday Morning" in 2022 that she was glad she went to a school that didn't have any boys. "I did things that I might have been shy doing it if I was in a school with guys," she admitted. 

Baranski looks unrecognizable in a teenage throwback photo from her youth, also sharing with "CBS Sunday Morning" she got the lead in her school productions, including the musical "Mame." Furthermore, she told the outlet that the voice fans easily recognize today sounded much different back then. "I kind of sounded like a girl from the Midwest," she revealed, adding that she used to say words using the hard "R" sound before attending a prestigious fine arts school. 

In 1970, Christine Baranski was admitted to The Juilliard School, a performing arts conservatory in New York City that is home to many famous alumni who trained there, including Robin Williams, Jessica Chastain, and Anthony Mackie. She studied drama and graduated in 1974.  However, the actress was initially waitlisted when she first applied. One thing fans never knew about Baranski is that she got caps for her teeth to get into the school. "I had my teeth capped and would do a series of syllable and 'S' exercises," she told The New Yorker. "Then I returned to New York for an audition and did nothing but pages of 'S' words, and they let me in. So I would say I got in by the skin of my teeth."

Baranski revealed to "CBS Sunday Morning" that the first person she shared the news with that she'd gotten into Juilliard was with her mother. Hilariously, the two celebrated by drinking Manhattans and getting wasted at a hotel. "That was the only time I got drunk with my mother," Baranski confessed, laughing. She also added how grateful she was to have had that experience with her mom. 

It wasn't until six years after graduating from Juilliard that Baranski made her Broadway debut in the thriller "Hide and Seek." The show had a short run — only 13 performances in total, including previews, but Baranski would go on to star in many more Broadway shows and win two Tony awards.

In 1980, the same year Christine Baranski made her Broadway debut, she starred in the made-for-TV movie, "Playing for Time." It told the incredible true story of Auschwitz concentration camp prisoners trying to avoid death by playing music for Nazis. Pretty heavy material compared to Baranski's more well-known projects.

A few years after that, Baranski guest-starred on an episode of "All My Children," joining the ranks of many celebs who got their start on soap operas. Baranski seemed to constantly be working throughout the late 1980s and '90s, starring in movies like "Addams Family Values" and "The Birdcage," and doing 87 episodes of the Chuck Lorre sitcom "Cybill" — a show she won a Primetime Emmy award for in 1995 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Baranski would later reunite with Lorre on "The Big Bang Theory," which he co-created with Bill Prady.

Moreover, Baranski guest-starred on three '90s staples: "Law & Order," "3rd Rock from the Sun," and "Frasier." For the former, she played two different characters on the procedural in 1991 and 1994.

Some of Christine Baranski's most notable works happened in the aughts, starting off with the live-action Christmas classic, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Baranski played the snooty Martha May Whovier who was the not-so-secret love interest of the Grinch.

Two years later, Baranski starred in the film-adaptation of the Broadway musical, "Chicago," portraying reporter Mary Sunshine. She, along with the rest of her co-stars, won both a Critics Choice Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for best cast.

In 2008, Baranski was in another film adaptation of a Broadway musical, this time for "Mamma Mia!" She was Tanya Chesham-Leigh, one of lead character Donna Sheridan's best friends. The movie was a total success, grossing $610 million worldwide on a $52 million budget. If Baranski wasn't a household name before, she certainly solidified herself in pop culture with these three movies alone.

Christine Baranski became even more of a pop culture icon when the legal crime drama, "The Good Wife," first premiered on CBS. She would go on to star in all 156 episodes alongside Julianna Margulies until the series ended in 2016. Baranski's character, Diane Lockhart, wanted an all-female law firm. When asked about this by The Hollywood Reporter, Baranski said, "I would like to think that, at best, this show opened the door for other shows about women and about strong women, about women who aren't victims and aren't crazy people or addicts or victims of circumstance, or victims of unhappy male relationships." She reprised her role on the spin-off series, "The Good Fight," which ran for six seasons.

Also in 2009 was Baranski's first appearance on "The Big Bang Theory," as the mother of Leonard Hofstadter (played by Johnny Galecki). Dr. Beverly Hofstadter's humorless character ended up being one of the funniest aspects of the show, and she'd go on to do a total of 16 episodes of the sitcom through 2019.

"The Gilded Age," an HBO show that follows the drama between rich families in 1880s New York City, began in 2022 and stars Christine Baranski as Agnes Van Rhijn, the powerful matriarch of the old money Van Rhijn family. Baranski asked Variety, "Who wouldn't want to play an elitist snob written by [series creator] Julian Fellowes?" While this character is hardly the first sophisticated snob Baranski has played onscreen, she's definitely one of the most memorable. Baranski told the outlet how much she loves saying Agnes's shocking one-liners, and that this is actually her first period piece in her career.

In addition to "The Gilded Age," Baranski has also been working on many animated projects, lending her voice to shows like "The Bravest Knight," "Praise Petey," and "Fancy Nancy." Moreover, she got to play a version of herself on an episode of "The Simpsons," in a spoof of "Mamma Mia!" You know you've made it as a performer when you become your own character on a mega pop culture series like that.