ACTOR
Alec Baldwin
67 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (67)
- #001
A joke Alec Baldwin made about being interested in buying a Filipina wife caused an uproar in the Philippines. As a result, Filipino senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. (also an actor) scolded Baldwin and even vowed to personally beat him if he ever visited the Philippines. Despite apologizing for the joke, Baldwin was effectively banned from visiting the Philippines.
- #002
Alec Baldwin is one of only two people who receive a standing invitation to host Saturday Night Live (1975) every year (schedules permitting). The other is Christopher Walken.
- #003
Alec Baldwin's numerous impressions of actor Robert De Niro are among De Niro's favorites.
- #004
On February 15, 2011, Alec Baldwin was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of Eva Longoria's restaurant Beso on Hollywood Boulevard, seven blocks from ex-wife Kim Basinger's star. His brother Stephen Baldwin, his daughter Ireland and his friend Megan Mullally attended the ceremony.
- #005
In a 2013 interview, Alec Baldwin claimed he had donated all the money he earned from the Capital One commercials to charity and even that he was "addicted to giving the money away."
- #006
Alec Baldwin and his ex-wife, actress Kim Basinger, are vegetarians. He has said Basinger persuaded him to adopt the diet and lifestyle. Both remain advocates for animal rights. During their marriage, the couple had a total of 11 dogs, seven cats and one wolf.
- #007
Alec Baldwin was considered by Tim Burton and Warner Brothers Studios for the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in Batman (1989), which went to Michael Keaton.
- #008
A teetotaler, Alec Baldwin entered Alcoholics Anonymous at the age of 26.
- #009
Alec Baldwin is good friends with actress Meryl Streep.
- #010
On Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993), Alec Baldwin revealed that he suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
- #011
As part of his preparations for The Hunt for Red October (1990), Alec Baldwin was trained to operate a Los Angeles-class attack submarine at the New London Submarine Base in Connecticut.
- #012
On December 6, 2011, Alec Baldwin was removed from an American Airlines flight at Los Angeles International Airport, reportedly for not turning off his cell phone.
- #013
Alec Baldwin turned down two roles that later went to his actor friend Harrison Ford. He first declined to reprise the role of Jack Ryan in Patriot Games (1992), then turned down the lead in The Fugitive (1993).
- #014
Alec Baldwin played the on-screen husband of Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine (2013) and of Julianne Moore in Still Alice (2014), both of whom won the Best Actress Oscar in consecutive years.
- #015
Alec Baldwin worked at Studio 54 in the 1970s.
- #016
On September 24, 2011, Alec Baldwin surpassed Steve Martin as the person who has hosted Saturday Night Live (1975) the most times (16). Martin had hosted 14 times at that point. The two co-hosted the 82nd Annual Academy Awards (2010) in 2010. As of February 2017, Baldwin holds the record for hosting Saturday Night Live (1975), with 17 episodes.
- #017
On February 11, 2010, Alec Baldwin argued with his daughter Ireland on the phone and threatened to take pills. When Ireland tried to call him back and could not reach him, she called 911. The same day, Alec was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital before being released several hours later.
- #018
In his memoir, Alec Baldwin estimates that he spent about $1.5 million over a seven-year period fighting his ex-wife Kim Basinger's efforts to block his parental access.
- #019
Alec Baldwin replaced Harrison Ford for the role of Jack Trainer in Working Girl (1988) and was demoted to the smaller role of Mick Dugan. Because Melanie Griffith was not yet a big enough name to carry a film (she received third billing despite being the lead), Fox demanded that the male lead be played by a box-office star or they would not greenlight the project. "So Mike Nichols had to call Alec and say, 'Look, I'm really sorry. Circumstances have changed. Would you do the other part?' Alec understood and was very gracious about it. He came in and really nailed that character. It was an odd adjustment," producer Douglas Wick recalls.
- #020
Alec Baldwin names Gary Oldman as one of his favorite actors.
- #021
Alec Baldwin has a daughter, Ireland Eliesse Baldwin, also known as Ireland Baldwin, born on October 23, 1995, with his ex-wife Kim Basinger.
- #022
In 1996, he was acquitted of assault charges against a paparazzi photographer. He was not the first Alexander Baldwin in the family to be acquitted of a criminal charge: in 1938 his grandfather Alexander Baldwin I, an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, New York, was acquitted of bribery, but was still disbarred and would never practice law again.
- #023
At George Washington University, Baldwin ran for president but lost by two votes.
- #024
On April 11, 2007, he caused a scandal by leaving a profanity-filled voicemail for his daughter Ireland in which he called her a "thoughtless little pig," which was later made public in the media.
- #025
He has seven children with his wife Hilaria Baldwin: Carmen Gabriella, August 23, 2013; Rafael Thomas, June 17, 2015; Leonardo Ángel Charles, September 12, 2016; Romeo Alejandro David, May 18, 2018; Eduardo Pau Lucas, September 8, 2020; Lucia (born via surrogate), March 20, 2021; and Ilaria Catalina Irena, September 22, 2022.
- #026
He is one of six children of Carol M. Baldwin of Syracuse, New York, and the late Alexander R. Baldwin Jr., a social studies teacher and football coach at Massapequa High School, where one of his students was Brian Kilmeade. Alec's siblings are William Baldwin, Stephen Baldwin, Daniel Baldwin, Jane Sasso and Elizabeth Baldwin. He is the brother-in-law of Chynna Phillips, Kennya Baldwin and Joanne Smith-Baldwin, and a cousin of actor Joseph Baldwin.
- #027
He dated Lori Loughlin, Tatum O'Neal, Kristin Davis, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Lori Singer and Holly Gagnier.
- #028
Baldwin wrote the episode Tabloid (1998), based on his experiences with tabloid reporters.
- #029
In 1979 he auditioned on a dare for the New York University drama degree program (and was accepted). He studied at New York University's prestigious Tisch School of the Arts and trained at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. He teaches theater at the Ross School in New York.
- #030
In both films for which he won an Oscar, his co-star was Cate Blanchett: The Aviator (2004) and Blue Jasmine (2013).
- #031
In an AFI poll, Last Tango in Paris (1972) was named his all-time favorite film.
- #032
He was the first non-cast member of Saturday Night Live (1975) to play Donald Trump in the show's "SNL" format.
- #033
He has appeared in six films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Working Girl (1988), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006), BlacKkKlansman (2018), A Star Is Born (2018) and Tár (2022). The Departed won in the category.
- #034
Education: George Washington University, Washington, D.C. (majored in political science); New York University, New York City (majored in drama; Bachelor of Arts, 1994).
- #035
He was nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his role as Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live (1975), but lost to Henry Winkler of Barry (2018).
- #036
He impersonated Robert De Niro several times on Saturday Night Live (1975), and was then set to appear in De Niro's directorial effort The Good Shepherd (2006).
- #037
A longtime outspoken liberal Democrat, he was said to have considered running for mayor of New York City in 2011, based on his announcement that he was retiring from acting. He later denied it on Late Show with David Letterman (1993) and stated that his intention was to enter politics, but he decided against it and announced he would renew his contract for 30 Rock (2006).
- #038
He has worked with all four actresses who played Bruce Wayne's love interests in the Burton/Schumacher Batman films. He married Kim Basinger and appeared with her in The Getaway (1994). He and Michelle Pfeiffer appeared in Married to the Mob (1988). He and Nicole Kidman appeared in Malice (1993). He and Elle Macpherson appeared in The Edge (1997).
- #039
In his 2017 memoir, he wrote that he was the inspiration for the prima donna actor in What Just Happened (2008). He was not pleased about it, and was even angrier when Robert De Niro offered him the role. After he turned it down, Bruce Willis took the part.
- #040
Alec Baldwin joked that Ben Kingsley described his performance in Sexy Beast (2000) as having "stolen" The Cooler (2003).
- #041
Susan Sarandon once described him as "fucking brilliant" and nominated him for President.
- #042
The first film he ever watched was How the West Was Won (1962).
- #043
He did voice-over work in television commercials for both General Electric and Subaru.
- #044
He was named one of the world's 50 most beautiful people by People magazine.
- #045
Baldwin is said to have been the first choice to play news anchor Frank Vitchard in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), but the role went to Luke Wilson.
- #046
He auditioned for the role of Bobby Grady in Ken Russell's Crimes of Passion (1984), which went to John Laughlin.
- #047
He received an honorary Doctor of Letters (Litt. D) from Montclair State University at its 2004 commencement ceremony.
- #048
A big fan of novelist James Lee Burke, he owns the rights to a series of books featuring the character Dave Robiceaux. One of them, Heaven's Prisoners (1996), was released in 1996.
- #049
During Bill Clinton's impeachment trial, he appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993) and told the cheering audience that the trial's presiding judge, Henry Hyde, and his family should be stoned to death. He later apologized and said it was only a joke.
- #050
In September 2013, Baldwin officially announced that he would host his own television talk show, Up Late with Alec Baldwin (2013), on MSNBC starting in October 2013 (Fridays at 10:00 p.m.). After only one month on the air, however, the series was cancelled in November 2013 following Baldwin's angry use of a "gay slur" during his latest encounter with photographers standing outside his Manhattan apartment building.
- #051
He appeared in three films with Matt Damon: The Departed (2006), The Good Shepherd (2006) and Downsizing (2017). The pair also appeared together in several episodes of 30 Rock (2006).
- #052
Alec Baldwin appeared in two titles featuring George Stubbs's painting 'Horse Attacked by a Lion' — 30 Rock (2006) (second season, the auction house) and Working Girl (1988) (Katherine Parker's office).
- #053
He was considered for the role of Dr. Curtis McCabe in Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky (2001), which went to Kurt Russell.
- #054
He was considered for the role played by Patrick Swayze in Ghost (1990).
- #055
He was once engaged to Janine Turner.
- #056
He was Christopher Nolan's first choice for the role of Leonard Shelby in Memento (2000).
- #057
In the summer of 2002 he taught a "Master Theater Workshop" at New York's Southampton College, where his friend James LaRocca was dean.
- #058
He is Justin Bieber's uncle.
- #059
In 1991, Baldwin received the Hollywood Women's Press Club's Sour Apple Award for his contempt for publicity and the press.
- #060
He was dropped from Henry & June (1990) two weeks before filming began.
- #061
In 1995, he took on the role of Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (1995), a role created by Marlon Brando, who played Vito Corleone. On Saturday Night Live (1975), he portrayed Robert De Niro, who played the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II (1974) opposite Brando's older Don Corleone.
- #062
Empire magazine named him one of the 100 sexiest stars in film history (#80).
- #063
He is a former student of acting teacher David Gideon.
- #064
Both of his parents were of Irish origin, and his other roots included English, French-Canadian, German and Scottish.
- #065
He was initially listed for The Fugitive and Patriot Games, and in both cases Harrison Ford took his place.
- #066
He graduated from Alfred G. Berner High School in Massapequa, Long Island, New York.
- #067
He is the former son-in-law of Don Basinger.
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