Alec Baldwin Biography

news-details Well-known for his remarkable work of displaying convincing characters in just about every genre, Alec Baldwin unmistakably is one of Hollywood's prominent actors whose talent has been widely acknowledged by both critics and audiences. Spending his early life along with his five siblings in Massapequa, Long Island, New York which is also the place he was born on April 3, 1958 as Alexander Rae Baldwin III, he basically has developed an interest in performing arts since he was still a little boy, and even had been involved in some stage productions of Massapequa High School where he studied at. However, this apparently could not exceed his fondness for law field for he later decided to take political science major at The George Washington University in Washington D.C. following his high school graduation and passed the next three years there. It was during this time that this eldest son of Carol Newcomb and Alexander Rae Baldwin, Jr. began to be involved in professional acting after surprisingly obtained a seat in Undergraduate Drama Program of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts through an audition he joined casually upon a friend's challenge.

Eventually gave up his study of political science to learn more about portraying characters in a series of academic classes, including the training at prestigious Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, Alec effectively used his spare time to undertake double job as a waiter also lifeguard at a Manhattan's health club restaurant. It was in this place that he later met a casting assistant who saw his potentiality and suggested him to attend an audition for TV drama series of �The Doctors" (1963-1982) in which he wonderfully succeeded getting the role of Billy Allison Aldrich. Joined this NBC's soap opera for two years until its season finale, he then headed for Los Angeles in 1984 to star in CBS' primetime drama, �Knots Landing" (1979-1993) before performed in several TV-movie projects, namely �Love on the Run� (1985), �Dress Gray� (1986), and �The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory� (1987).

All of these appearances certainly helped him to move further for Alec next managed to acquire a major part which was also his film acting debut in "Forever, Lulu" (1987), followed by performances in �Beetle Juice� (1988), �Married to the Mob� (1988), �Working Girl� (1988), and �Great Balls of Fire!� (1989) among others. To his delight, the breakthrough role he anticipated was finally materialized through John McTiernan's action thriller, �The Hunt for Red October� (1990), as the movie soared to be a box-office hit with the income of more than 200 million U.S. dollar in international market, consequently brought him to worldwide recognition. Continued to compile his film resume, he then was cast to be a male lead in Jerry Rees' �The Marrying Man� (1991) opposite Kim Basinger, to whom he ultimately gave his heart for this raven-haired actor happily married her on August 19, 1993, the year he earned a BFA degree from NYU.

Involved in a series of fair-resulted movies, such as �Glengarry Glen Ross� (1992), �Malice� (1993), and �The Getaway� (1994) in which he starred together with Basinger, Alec joyously welcomed his daughter, Ireland Eliesse Baldwin, on October 23, 1995 while marked his return to the small screen production through a TV-movie version of �A Streetcar Named Desire� (1995) alongside Jessica Lange, John Goodman, plus Diane Lane. Received huge praise from the critics due to his brilliant portrayal as Stanley Kowalski in this adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play, he gloriously gained a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special at Emmy Awards while also scored the same honor at Golden Globe Awards in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV in 1996. This striking man of Irish and French descent afterwards spent the rest 1990s to explore diverse characters in various film genre as seen in �The Juror� (1996), �The Edge� (1997), �Mercury Rising� (1998), and �Notting Hill� (1999).

By the third millennium, Alec had enhanced his status to be one of the high-profile actors for he not only once again acquired the same nomination at Golden Globe Awards, but also another of Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries at Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2001 through his role as a prosecutorial attorney in the TNT's miniseries of "Nuremberg� (2000). However, this glory was marred on January 12, 2001 as Basinger suddenly filed for divorce and caused him had to fight the rumor of his abusive behavior for years after the official break-up in February 2002. In the meantime, he amazingly continued to collect more credits when garnered numerous honors at prestigious award events for his fantastic enactment of Shelly Kaplow in �The Cooler� (2003), notably an Oscar nomination in the category of Best Actor in a Supporting Role by the year 2004.

Joined the high-profile film productions of �Along Came Polly� and �The Aviator� which both came up in 2004, Alec then teamed up with Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst to film �Elizabethtown� (2005) before acquired a recurring part in NBC's acclaimed sitcom, �Will & Grace� (1998-2006). Once more obtained an Emmy Awards' nomination in 2005, this time for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series category through his role as Will's new boss named Malcolm, he afterwards was seen in �Fun with Dick and Jane� (2005) alongside Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni while also starred together with Luke Wilson, Nikki Reed, plus Carrie-Anne Moss in �Mini's First Time� (2005). Still had 4 other projects to appear in the same year, namely �Brooklyn Rules�, �Lymelife�, �The Swimmer�, and �Simply Halston,� he proceeded to keep shining brightly in 2006 through �Running with Scissors�, �The Departed�, �The Good Shepherd�, �Untitled Marc Klein Project�, and �Street.�

Aside from his profession as Hollywood actor, Alec has established a solid career in theatrical productions he had developed by the time he was trained under Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in which he joined its project of �A Midsummer Night's Dream.� Nabbed his Broadway debut in 1986 through Joe Orton's "Loot,� he has built such an impressive list of stage experience since, performing in "Serious Money" (1988), "Prelude to a Kiss" (1990), and "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1992), the latter led him to acquire the Best Actor (Play) nomination at Tony Awards in the same year. Also involved in "Macbeth" (1998), "Gross Points" (2001), and "The Twentieth Century" (2004), he ventured into film production in 1994 after founded El Dorado Productions which has made among others �Heaven's Prisoners� (1996), �The Confession� (1999), �State and Main� (2000), plus a TNT TV-movie entitled �Second Nature� (2003).

Already became a professional actor with notable accomplishment, it is not hard for Alec to add more film projects to his resume, naming that of comedy romance flick �The Girls' Guide to Hunting & Fishing� and drama �Vivaldi�, both slated to come up by the year 2007. Prior to the release of these two pictures, he smoothly marked the early period of the year with winning a Golden Globe Award in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series � Musical or Comedy, thanks to his role in �30 Rock.�