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Alexander Rae Baldwin III
(born April 3, 1958) is an American Academy Award-nominated, Screen Actors Guild
Award-winning, and Golden Globe Award-winning actor. He is the eldest of the
"Baldwin brothers".
****
Birth name Alexander Rae
Baldwin III
Born April 3, 1958 (age
48)
Massapequa, New York,
United States
Height 5' 11" (1.80 m)
Spouse(s) Kim Basinger
(divorced)
Notable roles Blake in
Glengarry Glen Ross
Jack Ryan in The Hunt for
Red October
Adam Maitland in
Beetlejuice
Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock
****
Biography
Early
life
Baldwin was born in
Massapequa, Long Island, New York, to Catholic parents Alexander Rae Baldwin II
and Carol Newcomb Martineau. His brothers are Daniel, Stephen, and William
Baldwin, all of whom are actors; he also has two sisters, Jane and Elizabeth.
The Baldwin siblings attended Alfred G. Berner High School in Nassau County.
Alec (Class of 1976) and Daniel (Class of 1979) played football there under
Coach Bob Reifsnyder, who is in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Baldwin is frequently
described as Irish American, though his background includes English and Irish
ancestry on his father's side and distant French and Canadian ancestry on his
mother's. His maternal grandmother was born in Nova Scotia; his Irish ancestry
comes from his paternal great-grandmother, Helen Irene McNamara.[1]
When Baldwin was young,
he worked as a busboy at the famous New York City disco Studio 54. Baldwin
attended George Washington University from 1976 to 1979, where he was known as
"Alex." After losing a student body president election, he transferred to New
York University to study acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute under
Elaine Aiken and Geoffrey Horne. He then returned to NYU in 1994 and graduated
with a BFA that year.
The other Baldwin
brothers, Daniel Baldwin (Homicide: Life on the street), William Baldwin
(Backdraft), and Stephen Baldwin (The Usual Suspects) all followed him in
becoming well-known actors.
Film
and television career
Baldwin's first major
role was as Billy Aldrich on the daytime soap The Doctors from 1980 to its
cancellation in 1982. In the fall of 1983, he starred in the short lived series
Cutter to Houston. He shot to stardom co-starring on Knots Landing as the
preacher son of Julie Harris and spent most of the 1980s appearing in television
series, before turning to film in 1986, making his film debut with a minor role
in She's Having a Baby. In 1987, he appeared in Beetlejuice and, in 1988,
Working Girl. Both of these films were box office successes that raised his
profile.
After appearing in
several other supporting roles, Baldwin starred as Jack Ryan in The Hunt for Red
October, which grossed over $100 million after its release in March 1990.
However, he turned down reprising the role in subsequent Tom Clancy movies.
Instead, Harrison Ford took over the Jack Ryan character for Baldwin in Patriot
Games and Clear and Present Danger, and has since been played by Ben Affleck in
The Sum of All Fears.
Baldwin subsequently had
several notable roles in early 1990s films. His role in the beginning of
Glengarry Glen Ross is considered by many to be the best performance of an
ensemble cast that included Jack Lemmon and Al Pacino. In 1991, he met his
future wife Kim Basinger on the set of the critically panned The Marrying Man.
He appeared opposite Basinger again in The Getaway, a 1994 remake of the 1972
film of the same name.
Baldwin's late 1990s
roles varied in terms of critical and box office reception, and included several
thrillers, such as The Edge, The Juror (opposite Demi Moore) and Heaven's
Prisoners. He has shifted more toward roles as a character actor, including his
Academy Award nominated turn in 2003's The Cooler and working with director
Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio in both The Aviator and The Departed among
other roles.
He is also a voice actor,
working in the films Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and Thomas the Tank
Engine and Friends.
Baldwin has hosted
Saturday Night Live 13 times as of November 2006. He is reportedly one of only
two people (the other being Christopher Walken) who have standing invitations to
host the show whenever they want.
Baldwin has been
nominated for an Emmy Award five times (see below) but has yet to have won any:
1996: Outstanding Lead
Actor in a Miniseries or Special, for Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named
Desire
2001: Outstanding
Miniseries, for Nuremberg (as producer)
2002: Outstanding
Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special, for Path to War
2005: Outstanding Guest
Actor in a Comedy Series, for Will & Grace
2006: Outstanding Guest
Actor in a Comedy Series, for Will & Grace
He wrote an episode of
Law & Order entitled Tabloid, which aired in 1998.
Baldwin also stars in the
NBC sitcom 30 Rock alongside Tina Fey; the show debuted in the fall of 2006. He
was nominated for -- and won -- a Golden Globe for his work on this show.
In 2001, Baldwin directed
and starred in an all-star version of The Devil and Daniel Webster with Anthony
Hopkins, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Dan Aykroyd. This film has yet to be released,
however. The film became an asset of a federal bank fraud trial in 2003, where
financial investor Jed Barron, of Las Vegas, was convicted of bank fraud while
financing the movie. The film's producer, David Glasser, was also under
investigation. The film eventually was acquried by producer Bob Yari and his
company. In 2007 the Yari Film Group announced it would give the film, now
titled Shortcut to Happiness a theatrical release in the spring. Starz also
announced they had acquired pay TV rights for the film.
Stage
career
Baldwin made his Broadway
debut in 1986, in a revival of Joe Orton's Loot alongside theatre veterans Zoe
Wanamaker, Zeljko Ivanek, Joseph Maher and Charles Keating. This production
closed after three months.
His other Broadway
credits include Caryl Churchill's Serious Money with Kate Nelligan and a highly
acclaimed revival of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire which garnered
him a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor. This production also featured
Jessica Lange, Amy Madigan, Timothy Carhart, James Gandolfini, and Aida
Turturro. Baldwin would receive an Emmy Award nomination for the television
version of the production, in which both he and Lange reprise their roles. That
version featured John Goodman and Diane Lane.
In 1998 Baldwin starred
in the title role of "Macbeth" at the Public theater alongside Angela Bassett
and Liev Schreiber. The production was directed by George C. Wolfe.
In 2004, Baldwin starred
in a revival of the play Twentieth Century with Anne Heche.
On June 9, 2005, he
appeared in a concert version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South
Pacific at Carnegie Hall. He starred as Luther Billis, alongside Reba McEntire
as Nellie and Brian Stokes Mitchell as Emile. The production was taped and
telecast by PBS on April 26, 2006.
In 2006, Baldwin made
theatre news in Roundabout Theatre Company's Off-Broadway revival of Joe Orton's
Entertaining Mr. Sloane. He locked horns with co-star Jan Maxwell who quit the
show early because of Baldwin's admitted outbursts due to the temperature in the
theatre.
Criticisms
He was criticized by Jack
Valenti, Rush Limbaugh, and Brit Hume for his appearance on Late Night with
Conan O'Brien on December 11, 1998, eight days before President Bill Clinton was
impeached. In an outburst that Baldwin later referred to as a "parody", he said
that "if we were in another country... we would stone Henry Hyde to death and we
would go to their homes and kill their wives and their children. We would kill
their families".[2] Baldwin later apologized to Hyde for his remarks and NBC has
promised never to re-air the show.[3] (A video of the outburst can be seen here
[1])
In 2000, an interview
with Basinger appeared in the German magazine Focus, in which the actress
allegedly said that Baldwin promised to leave the United States if George W.
Bush beat Al Gore for the presidency. This statement provoked a great deal of
controversy for both Baldwin and Basinger. He was chastised by Florida governor
Jeb Bush and had to temporarily shut down his website due to what he described
as hundreds of "hideous and graphic" writings from "political extremists whose
only goal is to harass and disrupt." Baldwin claimed he never heard of Focus and
that Basinger was never interviewed, although subsequently he did admit the
interview took place. He has stated that he never threatened to leave the United
States and believed he might be confused with director Robert Altman, who did
indeed make a vow to leave the United States if Bush was reelected. As
Snopes.com has shown, no actual quote has ever been published showing that
Baldwin in fact made the controversial promise.[4] Baldwin said; "I think my
exact comment was that if Bush won it would be a good time to leave the United
States. I'm not necessarily going to leave the United States."[2][3]
Baldwin is often painted
in the press as having a temper. After an October 11, 2006 New York City plane
crash, it was reported in the tabloid paper the NY Post that Baldwin was seen
arguing with NYPD Officer for not letting him cross at a cordoned off area of
the crash site. A publicist later corrected the report, saying that Baldwin was
on his way to a taping of the Howard Stern radio program, and was simply asking
the officer for directions. A later report of Baldwin loudly berating a hostess
in a nearby lounge for not speaking English. Baldwin later stated that the story
was "ridiculous." [4][5]
Politics
Baldwin, a liberal
Democrat, has always had an active interest in politics and is frequently
rumored to be a candidate for public office. He recently revealed in a British
magazine interview that he plans to leave acting in a few years to pursue a
career in politics. He has recently called Vice President Dick Cheney a
terrorist, and claimed that "he terrorizes our enemies abroad and innocent
citizens here at home indiscriminately.".[5] He later recanted this statement,
saying that Cheney was not a terrorist but rather "a lying, thieving oil whore
and a murderer of the U.S. Constitution".[6] Baldwin has continued to level
strong criticisms at the Bush Administration on his blog labeling Bush a "trust
fund puppet" and Cheney a "constitution hating sociopath" and a "hate-filled
maniac".[7] Baldwin talked about the harm he believes Bush did to democracy by
comparing the presidential election of 2000 to the September 11, 2001 attacks;
"I know that's a harsh thing to say, perhaps, but I believe that what happened
in 2000 did as much damage to the pillars of democracy as terrorists did to the
pillars of commerce in New York City," [6] Baldwin and commentator Bill O'Reilly
have been in a number of conflicts. Despite their political differences,
however, Baldwin stated on his blog after an interview with O'Reilly, that he
"was aggressive, but was a gentleman throughout", and also called O'Reilly a
"talented broadcaster."[8] Baldwin, however, also referred to O'Reilly's
employer, Fox News Channel, in the same blog post as "Roger Ailes'
Luftwaffe/Looney Bin news operation."
On March 26, 2006,
Baldwin guest-hosted Brian Whitman's talk show on WABC radio in New York. During
the show, conservative talk show hosts Sean Hannity and Mark Levin called the
show and were heard on air. Both Hannity and Levin confronted Baldwin about his
previous comments about Vice-President Cheney and Rep. Hyde. During the
conversation, Hannity accused Baldwin of not appearing on his show as agreed,
and Baldwin replied that he would never do Hannity's show. After Hannity accused
him of attacking the president in a time of war, Baldwin attempted to move on to
the next caller. Hannity interrupted, saying "you don't tell the truth." Baldwin
responded by calling Hannity "a no-talent whore." The conversation turned into a
series of verbal taunts between Hannity, Levin and Baldwin. According to the
actor, Whitman made no attempt to assist Baldwin or curtail the call, so Baldwin
walked out of the studio. On March 28, according to Baldwin, WABC President and
General Manager Tim McCarthy telephoned him to "apologize for Sean's
attacks."[9] [10]
When asked in an
interview with the New York Times what his ideal office would be to run for
Baldwin replied:
"If I ever ran for
anything, the thing I would like to be is governor of New York... That's what I
hate about Arnold Schwarzenegger. His only credentials are that he ran a fitness
program under some bygone president...I'm Tocqueville compared to
Schwarzenegger. When asked why not be govenor of California, Baldwin replied;
"Then I would have to live in California. And who wants to live in
California?"[7][8]
Baldwin serves on the
board of People for the American Way.
Relationship with Kim Basinger
Alec Baldwin's marriage
to Kim Basinger came to end in 2000, when they officially separated. A year
later, Basinger filed for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court. The ensuing
divorce proceedings and custody battle have been a source of fodder for tabloid
reporters, who have republished unsubstantiated claims by Basinger that she was
physically and emotionally abused during the course of their marriage, and
counter-claims by Baldwin's attorneys denying Basinger's charges and stating
that Basinger had any number of untreated mental problems, including alcoholism.
In their 2004 trial, he was awarded ongoing custody of his daughter Ireland and
joint legal custody of her as well.
Since his break up with
Basinger, he has dated Janine Turner, Kristin Davis, Ally Sheedy, and attorney
Nicole Seidel.
Trivia
He was a huge fan of the
nationally synicated radio show Loveline hosted by Adam Carolla and Dr. Drew.
Baldwin revealed on Too Late with Adam Carolla that his driver recorded episodes
of Loveline so the two of them could listen to Loveline while commuting to and
from movie productions.
Baldwin is a frequent
guest on The Howard Stern Show and also a close friend to Stern.
He claims he is a vegan,
and mentioned on Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show that he became one to impress
his wife.
While he has never been
medically diagnosed, Baldwin has said that he suffers from obsessive-compulsive
disorder. [9]
During filming of The
Aviator (2004), Baldwin could not keep his eyes off Leonardo DiCaprio's
forehead. He says, "Leo DiCaprio has this thing where when he really is
concerned about something... he screws up his forehead and it looks like some
kind of Chinese or Japanese character on his forehead. You feel like they're
gonna put ink on it and stamp it on a piece of paper (make it) the symbol for
anger or something."
Baldwin and George W.
Bush share a common ancestor in John Howland.
Is often seen at New York
Knicks games.
He is portrayed by a
puppet in the film Team America: World Police and the soundtrack ends with a
song sung by Kim Jong-il's character with the chorus "You are worthless Alec
Baldwin."
Famous for his very dark
and hairy chest.
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2007 The Forbidden City
(Pre-Production)
Lymelife Mickey Bartlett
(In Production)
The Girls' Guide to
Hunting & Fishing Archie Knox (Post-Production)
2006 The Good Shepherd
Sam Murach
Brooklyn Rules Caesar
The Departed Ellerby
Running with Scissors
Norman Burroughs
Mini's First Time Martin
2005 Fun with Dick and
Jane Jack McCallister
Elizabethtown Phil
DeVoss
2004 The Aviator Juan
Trippe
The SpongeBob SquarePants
Movie Dennis (Voice Only)
Along Came Polly Stan
Indursky
The Last Shot Joe Devine
2003 The Cat in the Hat
Lawrence "Larry" Quinn
The Cooler Shelly Kaplow
2002 The Adventures of
Pluto Nash M.Z.M (uncredited)
2001 The Royal Tenenbaums
Narrator (voice only)
Final Fantasy: The
Spirits Within Capt. Gray Edwards (voice only)
Cats & Dogs Butch (voice
only)
Pearl Harbor Lt. Col.
James Doolittle
2000 State and Main Bob
Barrenger
Thomas and the Magic
Railroad Mr. Conductor
1999 Outside Providence
Old Man Dunphy
Notting Hill Jeff King
(uncredited)
1998 Mercury Rising Lt.
Col. Nicholas Kudrow
1997 The Edge Robert
Green
1996 Ghosts of
Mississippi Bobby DeLaughter
Heaven's Prisoners Dave
Robicheaux
The Juror Teacher
1994 The Shadow Lamont
Cranston/The Shadow
The Getaway Carter 'Doc'
McCoy
1993 Malice Dr. Jed Hill
1992 Glengarry Glen Ross
Blake
Prelude to a Kiss Peter
Hoskins
1991 The Marrying Man
Charley Pearl
1990 Alice Ed
Miami Blues Frederick J.
Frenger Jr.
The Hunt for Red October
Jack Ryan
1989 Great Balls of Fire!
Jimmy Swaggart
1988 Talk Radio Dan
Working Girl Mick Dugan
Married to the Mob
'Cucumber' Frank de Marco
Beetlejuice Adam
She's Having a Baby Davis
McDonald
TV
appearances
Clerks: The Animated
Series - Voiced Leonardo Leonardo
30 Rock - debuted in the
fall of 2006 on NBC
Las Vegas - Jack Keller,
fictional character who is an ex-CIA employee, episodes 12 and 32.
Thomas the Tank Engine &
Friends - Narrator/Voices. He narrated the American Thomas episodes in 1998 and
2003, after George Carlin left and Baldwin was replaced by Michael Angelis in
2003.
Storytime with Thomas -
Along with Ringo Starr in 1998.
The Simpsons - Guest
appearance in two episodes (1998: 13.17) - Himself.
Friends (8.17, 8.18) -
Phoebe's annoyingly optimistic boyfriend Parker.
Nip/Tuck (2004: 2.16) -
Dr. Barrett Moore (plastic surgeon), husband of Ava Moore, a male-to-female
transsexual who formerly went by Avery Tanner.
Will & Grace (2005: 7.23,
7.24, 8.01, 8.03, 8.04, 8.05) - Malcolm
Saturday Night Live -
hosted 13 times as of November 2006; cameoed three times (in the monologue of
the Ben Affleck/Nelly episode from season 30; in two sketches of the Steve
Martin/Prince episode from season 31; and in the monologue of Annette Bening/Gwen
Stefani/Akon episode December 9, 2006).
Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom - Regular narrator
of the present incarnation of the series (2002 - present)
References
-
^ http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=tdowling&id=I36475
-
^ http://secure.mediaresearch.org/news/mediawatch/1999/mw19990111p4b.html
-
^
http://www.mrc.org/cyberalerts/1998/cyb19981222.asp#5
-
^
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/leave.htm
-
^
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin/will-they-go-to-court_b_15875.html
-
^
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin/republicans-married-into-_b_16131.html
-
^
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin/delay-is-the-new-republic_b_18785.html
-
^
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin/hannity-makes-political-p_b_18009.html
-
^
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/3/26/221245.shtml
-
^
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin/hannity-makes-political-p_b_18009.html
****
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