Alec Baldwin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| This article or section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (December 2007) |
| Alec Baldwin | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Alexander Rae Baldwin III |
| Born | April 3 1958 Amityville, New York |
| Spouse(s) | Kim Basinger (1993-2002) |
| Official site | AlecBaldwin.com |
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 multiple times.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] 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.[1] Baldwin was raised in a Catholic family of Irish and French descent.[2][3] 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 (Homicide: Life on the street), William (Backdraft), and Stephen (The Usual Suspects) all followed him in becoming actors.
[edit] Film & television work
Baldwin's first major role was as Billy Aldrich on the daytime soap opera 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. In 1986, he made 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. His film career was then firmly established with his role as Jack Ryan in The Hunt for Red October (1990).
In 1991, Baldwin 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 title character in 1994's The Shadow. 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 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. Barrett Moore, a retired plastic surgeon, in the series Nip/Tuck. 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.
[edit] 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 has received numerous awards and honors for his portrayal as Jack Donaghy, including a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award. He was again nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Comedy or Musical in 2007 for the role.[4]
[edit] 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)
- "Coffee's for closers" monologue (Blake in Glengarry Glen Ross)
[edit] 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 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 played the title role in 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.
[edit] Politics
Baldwin 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. 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." When asked if he was qualified, 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. I wouldn't leave New York for California."[5]
During his appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on December 11, 1998, eight days before President Bill Clinton was to be impeached, Baldwin said "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".[6] Baldwin later apologized to Hyde for his remarks and NBC has promised never to re-air the show.[citation needed]
In 2000, an interview with Basinger appeared in the German magazine Focus, in which the actress 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 criticized 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.[7] 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 has called Vice President Dick Cheney a terrorist, and claimed that "he terrorizes our enemies abroad and innocent citizens here at home indiscriminately.".[8] 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".[9]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".[10]
In 2002, conservative 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.[11][12][13] 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 Hyde and Cheney. 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." Baldwin later said Whitman made no attempt to assist Baldwin or curtail the call, so he walked out of the studio. On March 28, according to Baldwin, WABC President and General Manager Tim McCarthy phoned him to "apologize for Sean's attacks."[14][15]
Baldwin once compared the 2000 presidential election 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."[16]
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."[15] 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."
Baldwin serves on the board of People for the American Way.
Baldwin frequently expresses his opinions in blogs on The Huffington Report. Despite being perceived as a liberal, he is not afraid to voice his objections to folly where he sees it on the left, such as in the Writers Guild conduct of a labor strike.
[edit] Personal life
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 (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, and 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.[17] 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.[18] Basinger, who is already facing charges for a previous violation of court orders concerning Baldwin's visitations rights,[19] denied that she leaked the tape to the press.[20] 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."[21] 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".[18]
[edit] Filmography
[edit] 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 | Mr. 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 | Lawrence "Larry" Quinn | ||
| 2004 | Along Came Polly | Stan Indursky | |
| Double Dare | (documentary) | ||
| The Last Shot | Joe Devine | ||
| The Aviator | Juan Trippe | ||
| The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie | Dennis (Plankton's Minion) | (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 | ||
| World in Conflict (Game) | Lt. Parker (narrator) | voice | |
| 2008 | Lymelife | Mickey Bartlett | completed |
| Bachelor No. 2 | post-production | ||
| Solitary Birds | Harry Cainne | pre-production | |
| 2009 | The Forbidden City | in production | |
| Broadway: The Next Generation | (documentary) |
[edit] Short subjects
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/97/Alec-Baldwin.html
- ^ http://www.helenheart.com/alec/article/interview89.html
- ^ Newsday
- ^ Hollywood Foreign Press Association 2008 Golden Globe Awards For The Year Ended December 31, 2007. HFPA (2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-13.
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/magazine/29wwln_q4.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
- ^ "'Scarborough Country' for April 23", MSNBC, April 23, 2007.
- ^ http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/leave.htm
- ^ Will They Go to Court?
- ^ Republicans Married into the Wrong Family
- ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin/delay-is-the-new-republic_b_18785.html
- ^ Baldwin-Drudge spat may lead to lawsuit (html). Media Life Magazine (2002). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
- ^ Drudge Threatens Baldwin Over Gay Slur (html). IMDB (2002). Retrieved on 2007-07-27.
- ^ Howard Stern Show Archives (html). MarksFriggin.com (2002-08-05). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
- ^ Alec Baldwin v. Sean Hannity in Radio Donnybrook
- ^ a b Hannity Makes Political Pornography
- ^ Alec Baldwin says disputed vote damaged democracy
- ^ Alec Baldwin's Threatening Message to Daughter (html). TMZ.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-09.
- ^ a b Michelle Caruso (2007-02-21). Alec oops! My kid's no pig (html). New York Daily News. Retrieved on 2007-08-12.
- ^ Kim Basinger Faces Trial in Custody Case. Washington Post (2006-10-04). Retrieved on 2007-12-09.
- ^ "Basinger Calls Baldwin 'Unstable and Irrational'", People
- ^ Baldwin sez sorry for ripping his 11-year-old daughter, but Basinger has driven me 'to the edge'
[edit] External links
- Official Site
- Alec Baldwin at the Internet Movie Database
- Alec Baldwin at the Voice Chasers Database
- 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 narrates the meat.org video
- Alec Baldwin's Charity Work
- Performance Working in the Theatre seminar video at the American Theatre Wing, April 2003
Baldwin Brothers |
|---|
| Alec (1958) • Daniel (1960) • William (1963) • Stephen (1966) |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Chris Cooper for Adaptation. | National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor 2003 for The Cooler | Succeeded by Thomas Haden Church for Sideways |
| Preceded by Sean Hayes for Will & Grace | Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series 2006 for 30 Rock | Succeeded by TBD |
| Preceded by Steve Carell for The Office | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy 2007 for 30 Rock | Succeeded by TBD |
bg:Алек Болдуин da:Alec Baldwin de:Alec Baldwin et:Alec Baldwin es:Alec Baldwin fr:Alec Baldwin io:Alec Baldwin id:Alec Baldwin it:Alec Baldwin nl:Alec Baldwin ja:アレック・ボールドウィン no:Alec Baldwin oc:Alec Baldwin pl:Alec Baldwin pt:Alec Baldwin ru:Болдуин, Алек sr:Алек Болдвин fi:Alec Baldwin sv:Alec Baldwin tg:Алек Болдуин tr:Alec Baldwin
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since December 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1958 births | American film actors | American Roman Catholics | American vegetarians | American voice actors | Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (television) | Gemini Award winners | Irish-Americans | Liberals | Living people | New York actors | New York Democrats | New York University alumni | People from Long Island | People from Nassau County, New York | Soap Opera Digest Award winners
