Raven-haired, suavely handsome and prolific actor Alec Baldwin was born on April 3, 1958 in Massapequa, New York, and is the oldest, and easily the best-known, of the four Baldwin brothers in the acting business (the others are Stephen Baldwin, William Baldwin and Daniel Baldwin).
Baldwin is the son of Carol Newcomb (Martineau) and Alexander Rae Baldwin, Jr., who was a high school teacher and football coach. He is of English, Irish, French, Scottish, and German descent.
Alec burst onto the TV scene in the early 1980s with appearances on several series, including The Doctors (1963) and Côte ouest (1979), before scoring feature film roles in Prise (1987), Beetlejuice (1988), Working girl - Quand les femmes s'en mêlent (1988), Veuve, mais pas trop... (1988) and Conversations nocturnes (1988). In 1990, Baldwin appeared in the first on-screen adaptation of the "Jack Ryan" character created by mega-selling espionage author, Tom Clancy. The film, À la poursuite d'Octobre Rouge (1990), was a box office and critical success, with Baldwin appearing alongside icy Sean Connery. Unfortunately, Baldwin fell out with Paramount Studios over future scripts for "Jack Ryan", and subsequent Ryan roles went to Harrison Ford.
Baldwin instead went to Broadway to perform "A Streetcar Named Desire", garnering a Tony nomination for his portrayal of "Stanley Kowalski" (he would reprise the role in a 1995 TV adaptation). Baldwin won over critics as a lowlife thief pursued by dogged cop Fred Ward in Le flic de Miami (1990), met his future wife Kim Basinger while filming the Neil Simon comedy, La chanteuse et le milliardaire (1991), starred in the film adaptation of the play, Prelude to a Kiss (1992) (in which he starred off-Broadway), and made an indelible ten-minute cameo as a hard-nosed real estate executive laying down the law in Glengarry (1992). He also made a similar tour-de-force monologue in the thriller, Malice (1993), as a doctor defending his practices, in which he stated, "Let me tell you something: I am God".
Demand for Baldwin's talents in the 1990s saw more scripts swiftly come his way, and he starred alongside his then-wife, Kim Basinger, in a remake of the Steve McQueen action flick, Guet-apens (1994), brought to life the famous comic strip character, The Shadow (1994), and starred as an assistant district attorney in the civil rights drama, Les fantômes du passé (1996). Baldwin's distinctive vocal talents then saw him voice US-aired episodes of the highly popular UK children's show, Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (1984), plus later voice-only contributions to other animated/children's shows, including Clerks (2000), Comme chiens et chats (2001), Final Fantasy: Les créatures de l'esprit (2001) and Bob l'éponge, le film (2004).
In the early 2000s, Baldwin and Basinger endured an acrimonious break-up that quickly became tabloid fodder but, while his divorce was high-profile, Baldwin excelled in a number of lower-profile supporting roles in a variety of films, including Séquences et conséquences (2000), Pearl Harbor (2001), Lady Chance (2003) (for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor), Aviator (2004), Polly et moi (2004) and Les infiltrés (2006). As he was excelling as a consummate character actor, Baldwin found a second career in television comedy. Already known for his comedic turns hosting Saturday Night Live (1975), he essayed an extended guest role on Will & Grace (1998) in 2005 before taking on what would arguably become his most famous role, that of network executive "Jack Donaghy", opposite Tina Fey in the highly-acclaimed sitcom, 30 Rock (2006). The role brought Baldwin two Emmy Awards, three Golden Globes, and an unprecedented six Screen Actors Guild Awards (not including cast wins).
Continuing to appear in films as 30 Rock (2006) wrapped up its final season, Baldwin remarried in 2012 to Hilaria Baldwin (aka Hilaria Lynn Thomas), and is rumored to be considering political office.
