The Good Wife is an American TV series created by husband and wife, Robert and Michelle King. All 156 episodes of the series were aired on CBS. The series starred actors and actresses such as Julianna Margulies, Matt Czuchry, Archie Panjabi, Josh Charles, Mackenzie Vega, and many others. The Good Wife premiered on September 22, 2009, and its last episode aired on May 8, 2016.
The Good Wife series tells of a woman named Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) who is married to a disgraced former state’s attorney, Peter Florrick (Chris Noth). Her marriage had been blissful up until Peter began to face a series of humiliating scandals that ended up ruining his career and also resulted in him being jailed. Alice must now seek to provide for herself and her two kids and to do so, she had to return to the labor market after living 13 years as a good housewife. With her husband facing jail time for corruption and prostitution charges, Alicia goes back to work as a litigator at Lockhart and Gardner law firm.
The Inspiration Behind The Series
Michelle and Robert King got the idea of the series from various sex scandals they witnessed in the United States politics. Most significantly was the Bill Clinton and John Edwards scandals, and it made them wonder what happens to the wives of these politicians accused of such crimes. What really queried them was what the wives of these men did even after these men end up admitting their crimes, knowing that some of these women halted their careers for their husbands to pursue theirs, so what was next for such women? The couple then decided to create a series based on their assumptions and research on such cases.
The Good Wife Cast
Julianna Margulies as Alicia
As the titular character in Good Wife, Julianna Margulies played the character of Alicia, the series lead character and wife of Peter Florrick, who the state’s attorney found guilty of corruption and prostitution charges. Julianna’s character in The Good Wife can be described as independent, smart, and a good wife who is protective of her kids. After the arrest of her husband, she had to assume the position of breadwinner and provide for her two teenage kids, Grace and Zach. In other to do so, she had to get back to being a working-class woman after living as a housewife for 13 years. She returned to work at a law firm when she started working at Lockhart Gardner, working as a junior litigator.
Julianna’s lead role in The Good Wife is one of the best roles in her acting career. It won her several awards such as a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Television Critics Association Award. The mother of one is married to Keith Lieberthal. They got married on November 10, 2007, and gave birth to their only child in January the following year.
Julianna was born on June 8, 1966, in Spring Valley, New York. Julianna has a B.A from Sarah Lawrence College. She started acting in 1991 and has starred in films such as Evelyn, Snake on a Plane, Stand Up Guys, and The Upside. She played the lead role in TV series Canterbury’s Law and has also played main roles in ER, The Grid, and Dietland. She featured in all 156 episodes of The Good Wife as its lead character.
Matt Czuchry as Cary Agos
Matt Czuchry played the role of Cary Agos, a young lawyer who graduated from Harvard Law School. He worked at the same law firm with Alicia worked and they had an ongoing rivalry because she got all the positions he aimed at. He was appointed as the Deputy State’s Attorney of Cook County in the third season of the series but soon got demoted due to his in-office affair. He resigned and went back to work at Lockhart Gardner. Matt starred in 154 episodes of The Good Wife, missing out on only two episodes.
The New Hampshire-born actor started his acting career in 2000 and has starred in other TV series such as Gilmore Girls, Hack, and Young Americans. He is currently playing the main role in The Resident. He was born on May 20, 1977, to Andrew Czuchrya and Sandra Czuchry. He has a degree from the College of Charleston.
Archie Panjabi As Kalinda Sharma
Kalinda Sharma was portrayed by British actress Archie Panjabi. Kalinda Sharma worked at Lockhart Gardner as its in-house Investigator. Archie’s character in the film is impossible to fluster, ineffable, private, and can get physically violent sometimes. Even though some of her tactics are quite questionable, it is no doubt that it helped the firm win so many cases and it made her a key figure at Lockhart Gardner. Her character doesn’t like to keep close friends but she ended up being close with the show’s lead character, Alicia. It was later revealed in the show that Sharma once had a one-night stand with Alicia’s husband before she and Alicia met. It damaged Alicia’s relationship with Sharma for a while, but the pair soon slowly reconciled.
The British actress was born in London on May 31, 1972. She graduated from Brunel University and started her acting career in 1995. She has starred in films such as Bend it like Beckham, Yasmin, and A Mighty Heart. She also plays the role of Nas Kamal in the American TV show Blindspot. In 1998, Archie Panjabi got married to Rajesh Nihalani and they have been together ever since.
Graham Phillips As Zach
Graham Phillips played the role of Alice and Peter’s teenage son, Zach Florrick in The Good Wife. Graham’s character in the series is stubborn but smart and has good moral judgment. Like most teenagers whose fathers are put away, Zach is protective of his mother. He is highly skilled in computers and also shows interest in his mother’s profession. He ends up going to Georgetown University. Graham Phillips featured in 76 episodes of The Good Wife, from 2009 to 2016.
Graham Phillips is an actor and singer, born on April 14, 1993, in Orange County, California. The actor, who attended Princeton University, started acting when he was nine years old and has starred in films such as Evan Almighty, XOXO, Blockers, and Ben 10: Race Against Time.
Makenzie Vega As Grace Florrick
Makenzie Vega is among The Good Wife cast, appearing as Grace Florrick, Alice and Peter’s teenage daughter and younger sister of Zach. Her character is described as compassionate, naïve, and friendless. She seemed to be the one who was hurt the most following her parent’s separation as she idolized her father and despite the accusations laid against her dad, which she didn’t understand, she wanted him to come back home.
Mackenzie Vega was born on February 10, 1994, in Los Angeles, California to a Colombian father and an American mother named Gina Rue. She has an older sister named Alexa Vega, who is an actress as well. Mackenzie started acting professionally in 1999 when she was just 5 years old. She is currently married to Blair Norfolk; the couple got married in a secret wedding on February 4, 2017. They didn’t make their union public until three weeks after the wedding.
Josh Charles as Will Gardner
Josh Charles portrayed Will Gardner, a name partner at the law firm Alicia works at. He was also an old friend of the series’ lead character and it was Gardner who helped secure Alicia her job at the law firm. And even though he favors her occasionally, he tries to keep it a secret so his colleagues wouldn’t question his reasons for favoring Alicia. Both Gardner and Alicia had feelings for each other and they acted on their feelings when they started having an affair at the end of the series’ second season. When Grace got missing at the beginning of the following season, Alicia ended their relationship stating that she wanted to focus more on her children. In the fifteenth episode of the fifth season. Gardner was shot dead in the courtroom by Jeffrey Grant (Hunter Parrish) his client.
Josh Charles is a Maryland-born actor who is married to Sophie Flack; the couple has two kids together. The actor had starred in films such as After Life, Bad People, Adult Beginners, and Amateur. He has also featured in TV shows such as Sports Night, Masters of Sex, and Law and Order: True Crime.
Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart
Christine Baranski appeared in The Good Wife as Diane Lockhart, a name partner at Lockhart Gardner law firm. She is a co-managing partner with Will Gardner and they both dated for a while in the series.
Christine was born to Virginia and Lucien Baranski on May 2, 1952, in Buffalo, New York. She is more than just an actress, she is also a singer and producer. She used to be married to the actor, Matthew Cowles. The two were married from October 1983 until the day Matthew died on May 22, 2014. They have two daughters, Isabel and Lily. Isabel is a lawyer and was born in 1984, while Lily was born in 1987 and she chose the same career path as her parents by becoming an actress.
Has the TV Series Ended or Is There a Sequel?
After producing seven seasons of the series, CBS announced on February 7, 2016, that the show was going to end with its seventh season as its final season. However, a spin-off and sequel to the show, The Good Fight, debuted on the 19th of February 2017.
The sequel stars The Good Wife alum, Christine Baranski and newcomers to the franchise Rose Leslie, Delroy Lindo, Michael Sheen, Erica Tazel, Justin Bartha, and more.
