Alec Baldwin

Alec Baldwin
File:101455504 cfe28bb081 o.jpg
Born	Alexander Rae Baldwin III
Spouse	Kim Basinger (1993-2002)
Children	Ireland Baldwin (b.1995)
Parent	Alexander Rae Baldwin Jr. & Carolyn Newcomb Martineau
Website	AlecBaldwin.com

Alec Baldwin (born Alexander Rae Baldwin III on April 3, 1958 in Amityville, New York) is an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy Award-winning and a 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" and is also noted for hosting "Saturday Night Live" 13 times.

Early life

Baldwin was born in Amityville, New York, to parents Alexander Rae Baldwin II and Carol Newcomb Martineau. The Baldwin siblings attended Alfred G. Berner High School in Massapequa, Long Island. 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, Irish, and German 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.

Baldwin used to work 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 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.

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

• 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

He wrote an episode of Law & Order entitled "Tabloid," which aired in 1998.

He starred in an episode of Nip/Tuck entitled "Joan Rivers", in 2004. He played the role of Dr. Barett Moore, a retired plastic surgeon.

Baldwin also stars in the NBC sitcom 30 Rock alongside Tina Fey; the show debuted in the fall of 2006. He won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award 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 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.

Slated for 2007, Alec 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.

Baldwin recently recorded two nationally distributed public service radio announcements on behalf of the Save the Manatee Club.

Big Line scenes

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)
• "Coffee is for closers..." dialogue (Blake in Glengarry Glen Ross)

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.

Politics

Baldwin, a political liberal, has always had an active interest in politics. 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 an outburst 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 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."

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

Baldwin's politics are parodied in the film Team America: World Police, wherein he is portrayed as the head of the "Film Actors' Guild" (F. A. G.), an organisation which co-ordinates the political activity of American actors. In the film, North Korean president Kim Jong-il is portrayed as the chief villain, with a plan to simultaneously detonate Weapons of Mass Destruction worldwide; Baldwin is seen as the Korean leader's principal Western appeaser. Kim's plan is thwarted, however, and the closing credits are accompanied by Kim Jong-il singing his own composition "You are worthress, Arec Barrwin".

Personal relationships

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.

In March 2004, Baldwin and Basinger agreed to share custody of their daughter, Ireland Eliesse (known as "Addie", born 1995-10-23) . 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. Calling her a "thoughtless little pig", the frustrated Baldwin 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 have also made a guest appearance on The Simpsons, with an episode revolving around their marriage, and their life in Springfield.

Filmography

Features:

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Forever, Lulu	Buck
1988	She's Having a Baby	Davis McDonald
	Beetlejuice	Adam
	Married to the Mob	Frank de Marco
	Working Girl	Mick Dugan
	Talk Radio	Dan
1989	Great Balls of Fire!	Jimmy Swaggart
	Tong Tana	(narrator)	(documentary)
1990	The Hunt for Red October	Jack Ryan
	Miami Blues	Frederick J. Frenger Jr.
	Alice	Ed
1991	The Marrying Man	Charley Pearl
1992	Prelude to a Kiss	Peter Hoskins
	Glengarry Glen Ross	Blake
1993	Malice	Dr. Jed Hill
1994	The Getaway	Carter 'Doc' McCoy
	The Shadow	Lamont Cranston/The Shadow
1995	Two Bits	(narrator)
1996	Wild Bill: Hollywoos Maverick	(narrator)	(documentary)
	The Juror	Teacher
	Heaven's Prisoners	Dave Robicheaux
	Looking for Richard		(documentary)
	Ghosts of Mississippi	Bobby DeLaughter
1997	The Edge	Robert Green
1998	Thick as Thieves	Mackin, The Thief
	Mercury Rising	Lt. Col. Nicholas Kudrow
1999	The Confession	Roy Bleakie
	Notting Hill	Jeff King
	Outside Providence	Old Man Dunphy
2000	The Acting Class	Himself
	Thomas and the Magic Railroad	The Conductor
	State and Main	Bob Barrenger
2001	Pearl Harbor	Lt. Col. James Doolittle
	Cats & Dogs	Butch	(voice)
	Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within	Capt. Gray Edwards	(voice)
	The Royal Tenenbaums	(narrator)	(voice)
2002	The Adventures of Pluto Nash	M.Z.M.
2003	The Cooler	Shelly Kaplow
	Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There
	The Cat in the Hat	Quinn
2004	Along Came Polly	Stan Indursky
	Double Dare		(documentary)
	The Last Shot	Joe Devine
	The Aviator	Juan Trippe
	The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie	Denis	(voice)
2005	Elizabethtown	Phil DeVoss
	Fun with Dick and Jane	Jack McCallister
2006	Mini's First Time	Martin
	The Departed	Capt. George Ellerby
	Running with Scissors	Norman Burroughs
	The Good Shepherd	Sam Murach
2007	Suburban Girl	Archie Knox
	Brooklyn Rules	Caesar Manganaro
	Shortcut to Happiness	Jabez Stone
2008	Lymelife	Mickey Bartlett	(completed)
	Solitary Birds	Harry Cainne	(pre-production)
2009	Bachelor No.2		(filming)
	The Forbidden City		(in production)
	Broadway: The Next Generation		(documentary)

Short Subjects:

• Scout's Honor (1999)
• Brighter Days (2003)

External links

• Official Site
• Alec Baldwin at IMDb
• Template:Voice actor
• Political contributions of Alec Baldwin
• Alec Baldwin's Blog at Huffington Post
• Alec Baldwin speaks out about travelling animal acts.
• Alec Baldwin circus ad
• Alec Baldwin addresses Congress
• Alec Baldwin's Charity Work
• Performance Working in the Theatre seminar video at the American Theatre Wing, April 2003
• [2]

Template:S-awards