Alec Baldwin Biography

Summary

"Alexander Rae 'Alec' Baldwin III" (born April 3, 1958) is an Emmy- and Academy Award-nominated, and Golden Globe Award-winning, American actor. He is the eldest of the Baldwin brothers, and has starred in many movies and TV shows such as '30 Rock'. He is also noted for having hosted 'Saturday Night Live' thirteen times.

Biography

Early life

Baldwin was born in Massapequa, New York, the son of Carol Newcomb (née Martineau) and Alexander Rae Baldwin, Jr., a high school history/social studies teacher and American football coach. Baldwin was raised in a Catholic family of Irish and French descent. He attended Alfred G. Berner High School in Massapequa, Long Island, and played football there under Coach Bob Reifsnyder, who is in the College Football Hall of Fame. Baldwin used to work as a busboy at the famous New York City disco Studio 54. He 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 & television work

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 1988, he appeared in "Beetlejuice" and "Working Girl". Both of these films were box office successes that raised his profile.

Baldwin subsequently had several notable roles in early 1990s films. 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. He also played the part of Lamont Cranston AKA The Shadow in the 1993 movie by 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 11, 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.

He also performed as the narrator in the hit RTS video game World in Conflict.

Baldwin has been nominated for an Emmy Award six times (see below):

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"

2007: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, for "30 Rock"

Baldwin wrote an episode of "Law & Order" entitled 'Tabloid,' which aired in 1998. He played the role of Dr. Barett Moore, a retired plastic surgeon. 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 acquired 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. Also slated for 2007, Baldwin will star opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar in the romantic comedy, "Suburban Girl".

On July 7, 2007, Baldwin presented at the American leg of Live Earth. He also recorded two nationally distributed public service radio announcements on behalf of the Save the Manatee Club.

"30 Rock"

Baldwin stars in the Emmy Award-winning NBC sitcom "30 Rock", which won the 2007 Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. Baldwin had personally met the series creator Tina Fey and one of his co-stars Tracy Morgan during several tapings of Saturday Night Live. Baldwin was reported to be one of the first cast and was very excited to be working on the series. He plays the role Jack Donaghy in which he has received numerous award and honors including a Golden Globe & Screen Actors Guild Award.

Monologues

Baldwin has had several bits of monologue immortalized for their impact. Popular among his more remembered quotes:

'Ice cream scoop' monologue (Dr. Jed Hill in "Malice")

'I AM God' monologue (Dr. Jed Hill in "Malice")

'Put that coffee down! Coffee's for closers only.' dialogue (Blake in "Glengarry Glen Ross")

Two of Baldwin's movie characters have expressed difficulty keeping track of time while moving through different time zones. In 'The Hunt for Red October,' Admiral Greer (James Earl Jones) jokingly greets Ryan (Baldwin) at CIA headquarters, and then asks him when it was that he last slept; Ryan answers, 'I don't know, this thing is still on London time.' In the movie, 'The Edge,' the self-centered Robert Green (Baldwin) describes a time zone function on his new watch, saying that it spares him the torture of 'adding three hours.'

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 alleged outbursts due to the temperature in the theatre. Statements by other cast members did not support Ms. Maxwell's assertions and show management elected not to try to persuade Maxwell to remain with the production.

Politics

Baldwin, a political liberal, has always had an active interest in politics and is often the target of aggressive attacks by right-wing conservative media. 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.'. 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'.

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'.

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.'

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 to be impeached. In a skit that Baldwin later referred to as a 'parody,' a claim supported by the supplemental oxygen prop that Conan administers at the end of the clip, Baldwin 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'. Baldwin later apologized to Hyde for his misconstrued remarks and NBC has promised never to re-air the show.

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 re-elected. As Snopes.com has shown, no actual quote has ever been published showing that Baldwin in fact made the controversial promise. 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.'

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.' 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.'

In 2002, conservative internet blogger Matt Drudge threatened to sue Baldwin for his appearance on the Howard Stern show, during which Baldwin claimed that Drudge was gay and had tried to hit on him in the hallway at ABC studios in Los Angeles when he was doing the Gloria Allred show. No other action was taken by Drudge.

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 among 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.'

When interviewed by the "New York Times", Baldwin was asked what public office he would consider running for, he replied:

'If I ever ran for anything, the thing I would like to be is governor of New York. The interviewer asked if Baldwin was qualified to be governor and Baldwin answered: '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 governor of California, Baldwin replied: 'Then I would have to live in California. And who wants to live in California?' (... more) (... more)

Baldwin serves on the board of People for the American Way.

Personal Life

Alec Baldwin's marriage to Kim Basinger came to an end in 2000 when they officially separated. A year later, Basinger filed for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court.

In March 2004, Baldwin and Basinger agreed to share custody of their daughter, Ireland Eliesse (known as 'Addie', born October 23, 1995) . The judge presiding over the case issued a gag order, requiring Baldwin and Basinger to avoid commenting publicly about the case.

On April 11, 2007, Ireland failed to answer a pre-arranged phone call from her father. As Baldwin later explained, years of financially and emotionally draining battles with Basinger to gain some custodial rights to remain in his daughter's life, he became frustrated and left an angry voicemail message for her. The child's private message was then leaked to the celebrity website TMZ.com on April 19, 2007 by persons unknown. Baldwin's lawyers filed court papers accusing Basinger and her lawyer Neal Hersh of giving the tape to the website TMZ.com, run by Harvey Levin, in violation of a court order protecting the child's privacy. Basinger, who has violated court orders in the past, denied that she leaked the tape to the press. The matter is "sub judice". Baldwin subsequently apologized for losing his temper, stating, 'I have been driven to the edge by parental alienation for many years.' Baldwin discussed his outburst in the media, including an appearance on The View. Baldwin stated that he is writing a book about the issue of messy divorce. He said that once his book is published, 'I'm sure more people will understand the incredible strains created by parental alienation'.

He and his ex-wife made a guest appearance on an episode of The Simpsons, along with Ron Howard.