Career
He started his acting career as a television actor in 1980 in the soap opera ‘The Doctors’ as Billy Aldrich, a young man who is killed by an old woman. He acted in the series till 1982.
In 1984, he started appearing in the soap opera ‘Knots Landing’ as Joshua Rush, one of the main characters in the series. He acted in 40 episodes of the show and left it when his character was killed.
In 1986, Alec made his Broadway debut in a revival of the play, ‘Loot’. He appeared in several other stage productions including a revival of Tennessee Williams’ ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’.
He made his film debut in 1987 with a minor role in the film ‘Forever, Lulu’. The next year he was roped in for small bits in ‘Beetlejuice’ and ‘Working Girl’.
He finally landed a leading role in the film ‘The Hunt for Red October’ in 1990 in which he played the character of Jack Ryan. The story was set during the Cold War era.
He was part of the cast of the 1994 superhero film, ‘The Shadow’ which was based on a fictional character of the same name created by Walter Gibson. The movie also had John Lone, Penelope Ann, and Tim Curry.
He acted in ‘Thick as Thieves’ in 1998 which was a film based on the novel of the same name by Patrick Quinn. He had Andre Braugher, Bruce Greenwood and Rebecca De as his co-stars.
In 2000 he starred in a comedy film, ‘State and Main’ which is about some filmmakers who want to make a film on an old mill. The cast included Philip Seymour, Sarah Jessica Parker and William Macy.
He played Shelly Kaplow, a casino boss, in the 2003 comedy film ‘The Cooler’ which revolves around the story of an unlucky man known as “Cooler”. The film received positive reviews and Baldwin’s role was especially appreciated.
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Along with films, he had kept active in television also and played the role of Jack Donaghy in the television sitcom ’30 Rock’ that ran on NBC. The show premiered in October 2006 and he played this till 2013 when the show wound up. The series is considered to be one of his best performances.
He was among the supporting cast of the movie ‘The Departed’ in 2006 which was a crime drama directed by Martin Scorsese. The film had Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon in lead roles. The movie was a big hit and won several awards.
He played the ex-husband of a bakery owner in the romantic comedy film, ‘It’s Complicated’ in 2009. The story is about ex-spouses who begin an affair complicating the current relationships they are in right now.
From 2009 to 2011, Alec Baldwin co-hosted the TCM's weekly film series, 'The Essentials' along with Robert Osborne. He returned back as the sole host of 'The Essentials' in 2017, after the death of Robert Osborne.
In 2013, he came up with a weekly show on MSNBC, titled 'Up Late with Alec Baldwin'; but the show was cancelled after five episodes.
