His introduction to the business came as Billy Aldrich on the NBC daytime serial, "The Doctors" (1980-82), but he first attracted serious attention as a charismatic TV preacher Joshua Rush on "Knots Landing" (CBS, 1984-85). Within a few years, Baldwin established himself as a stage lead, landing roles in a 1986 revival of "Loot" and Craig Lucas' 1990 fairy tale, "Prelude to a Kiss. A seemingly ubiquitous character player in films he appeared in "Forever Lulu" (1986), "Working Girl" (1988) and "Married to the Mob" (1988) Baldwin mainly performed in the shadow of more established actors in larger or showier roles. He was memorable as the goofy bespectacled husband in "Beetlejuice" (1988) and made good impressions in "Talk Radio" (1988) and "The Hunt for Red October" (1990), despite the charismatic presence of Eric Bogosian in the former and Sean Connery in the latter. Baldwin also showed himself capable of fitting into ensemble work, like the odd whimsy of Woody Allen's "Alice" (1990) and the blistering one-upmanship of "Glengarry Glen Ross" (1992), the latter role being created for the film version of David Mamets award-winning play.

 

Baldwin's leading roles began proliferating in the 1990s, and "Miami Blues" (1990) his first film as a top-billed player showcased him to great effect as a psychopathic thief and murderer in a hard-hitting drama. Though "The Marrying Man" (1991), co-starring future wife Kim Basinger, and a reprise of his stage role in the movie version of "Prelude to a Kiss" (1992) passed without much notice, "Malice" (1993) brought some acclaim for his turn as a slick surgeon in another entry from the psychological thriller school. One of his most ambitious films "The Shadow" (1994), a rendering of the cult radio and pulp-fiction mystery hero, came maddeningly close to working, only to squander a great production design and star-studded supporting cast.

 

Unhappy with the scripts for the sequels to "The Hunt for Red October, Baldwin, in an oft-questioned move, turned over his Jack Ryan role to Harrison Ford in order to play Stanley Kowalski opposite Jessica Lange in a 1995 Broadway revival of "A Streetcar Named Desire. Though he received critical raves and a Tony Award nomination, his film career stalled with a spate of bad movies. Baldwin offered characters on both sides of the law in 1996: in the lackluster "The Juror, he was the malevolent thug trying to sway the vote of the title character played by Demi Moore; and in the lurid Louisiana of "Heaven's Prisoners, he portrayed a recovering alcoholic and former homicide detective drawn into a mystery. In "Ghosts of Mississippi" (1996), he was a crusading district attorney attempting to bring the murderer of Medgar Evers to justice. Baldwin next played a fashion photographer who becomes stranded with the husband of a model with whom he has fallen in love in "The Edge" (1997) and offered a turn as an out-and-out villain in "Mercury Rising" (1998).

 

In a return to the character-driven roles with which he began his career, Baldwin accepted the secondary role of the widowed, blue-collar father of a troubled teen in "Outside Providence" (1999), but many felt he was miscast in the part. His turn as The Conductor in the middling children's film "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" (2000) also did little to dispel the notion that Baldwin's career was in decline. But he persisted nonetheless. The small screen provided the actor with one of his best roles, as the dedicated US attorney prosecuting Nazis war criminals in the above-average TNT miniseries, "Nuremberg" (2000), a role that earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role Miniseries or Television Movie. Baldwin followed with a winning comic turn as a movie star with a bloated ego and a penchant for underage girls in David Mamet's "State and Main" (2000), then segued to big-budget spectacles essaying WWII hero General James Doolittle in the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced "Pearl Harbor" (2001).

 

Throughout his career, Baldwin had often made time for another of his passions: politics. Although he had frequently been touted to run for various offices, the performer appeared more content to be involved in other ways: fundraising and lobbying. His own reputation was hurt by bad press stemming from various incidents he and Basinger reportedly acted up during the filming of "The Marrying Man" (they claim the studio did not fulfill promises made); a shouting match with a driver of horse-drawn carriages in NYC in front of reporters; a decision not to grant press interviews, and an attack on a paparazzo in 1995, to name a few. When Baldwin re-emerged to promote his films in 1997, he worked hard to repair his tarnished image and stood by his wife proudly as she reaped various awards for her role of hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold in L.A. Confidential (1997).

 

Despite his one-time statements that he planned to quit acting, Baldwin ushered in the new millennium preparing to make his feature directorial debut with a remake of "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (2002) with co-stars Anthony Hopkins and Jennifer Love-Hewitt. Baldwin was also nominated for his first Emmy for his role in the HBO drama, "Path to War." In 2003, Baldwin who was unafraid to move into character roles and had displayed a knack for comedy with several successful hosting stints on "Saturday Night Live (NBC, 1975- ) had one of his best years as a supporting player in three diverse roles. First, he battled Mike Myers' Cat in the live-action adaptation of "Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat" before taking a tough-as- nails role of an old school Vegas casino boss who uses and abuses his only friend, a sad sack (William H. Macy), in the slick indie "The Cooler" a role that earned him his first nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards. In a sillier mode he played Ben Stiller's tough-talking, always inappropriate boss in the over-the-top romantic comedy, "Along Came Polly.

 

Baldwin found himself in another spoof on Hollywood with The Last Shot (2004). As the lead FBI agent running an elaborate sting operation disguised as a film set, Baldwin received modest reviews for a movie that fared poorly at the box office. In The Aviator (2004), Martin Scorseses epic biography about maverick billionaire Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio), Baldwin played the founder of Pan American Airways, Juan Trippe, the troubled tycoons main competitor and eventual provocateur of a trumped-up scandal bought and paid for through a compliant Washington Senator (Alan Alda). Although seen only in the opening sequences of writer-director Cameron Crowe's romantic comedy "Elizabethtown" (2005), Baldwin's performance as the flummoxed athletic shoe tycoon Phil DeVoss, who would lose billions on the failed design of his golden boy designer (Orlando Bloom), was a deadpan comedic delight.

 

Baldwin continued to deliver laughs on the small screen in recurring roles on the hit sitcom "Will & Grace" (NBC, 1998-2006), and in a more serious vein as a plastic surgeon on the FX series "Nip/Tuck (2003- ), followed by the dubious ex-partner of Big Ed Deline (James Caan) on NBCs hit series Las Vegas (2003- ). Meanwhile, Baldwin maintained a steady presence on the big screen, co-starring in the high-profile comedy, Fun With Dick and Jane (2005), a remake of the 1976 film starring Jane Fonda and George Segal. In the updated version, Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni played Dick and Jane Harper, a married couple so desperate to retain their deluxe suburban home and luxury cars after Dick loses his job that they resort to armed robbery. Baldwin played Dicks boss who promotes him to vice president, but really sets him up as the public whipping boy for a major financial scandal. He then starred in the independent dark comedy Minis First Time (2006), playing the stepfather of an opportunistic teenager (Nikki Reed), with whom he plots to kill the girls alcoholic, pill-popping mother (Carrie-Ann Moss). Despite positive reviews and good performances all around, Baldwin managed to churn a few stomachs, thanks to a creepy shower scene with co-star Reed. At the same time he was knocking it out of the park with each impressive role, privately, he was also going through a messy custody battle with ex-wife Kim Basinger at the time of its release, causing him to retreat from promoting a worthy film.

 

Baldwin next joined an all-star cast that included Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg and Jack Nicholson in The Departed (2006), director Martin Scorseses slick adaptation of the excellent Hong Kong crime thriller Infernal Affairs (2002). Baldwin gave an excited and often hilarious performance as a sweaty South Boston police captain whose department has one of its officers (DiCaprio) deep undercover inside a criminal syndicate run by the deviant Frank Costello (Nicholson). Baldwin continued a busy 2006 with Running with Scissors (2006), playing the alcoholic father of a young man (Joseph Cross) who along with the boys unstable mother (Annette Bening) puts him into the care of a psychologist (Brian Cox) running a house full of weirdoes. He next appeared in Robert De Niros second directing effort, The Good Shepherd (2006), a look at an idealistic Yale student (Matt Damon) who joins the secretive spy agency OSS during World War II and helps form the CIA after the war, only to grow disillusioned from the suspicious and paranoid environment of the Cold War.

 

While Baldwin had a fantastic 2006 on the big screen many critics hailed all three of his performances from that year nothing compared to his return to regular series television. On 30 Rock (NBC, 2006- ), former Saturday Night Live alum Tina Feys ripping single-camera comedy about the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of an S.N.L.-like show, Baldwin played the bombastic and preening network vice president Jack Donaghy, whose cultured air and haughty nonchalance served as the perfect foil to the dressed-down immaturity of the rest of the cast. In one scene after another, Baldwin stole the show from Fey, Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski all sharp comedians in their own right. For his performance, Baldwin deservedly won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Musical or Comedy Series and was largely responsible for the low-rated critical darling to get picked up for a second season.

 

Baldwins good fortune throughout 2006, however, was soon washed away by a debacle involving his 11-year-old daughter, his ex-wife Kim Basinger and the abusive voicemail message heard round the world. The actor had been battling Basinger for custody rights to their only child, Ireland, since their divorce was finalized in 2002. On April 11, 2007, Baldwin berated his daughter in a voicemail after she was not available for a scheduled phone call, calling her a rude, thoughtless, little pig and saying that she [didnt] have the brains or the decency as a human being. Baldwin quickly apologized on his website after a tape of the voicemail was leaked to the celebrity website TMZ.com. But by then it was too late a media firestorm had been ignited once the cable networks ran with the story. The actor later accused his former wife of leaking the tape, which would have constituted a violation of their court order. Basinger naturally denied leaking the tape, but did receive her fair share of criticism when pundits weighed in on her allegedly putting her child into the center of her divorce woes. But it was Baldwin who bore the brunt of the media attacks, prompting him to publicly state his desire to leave 30 Rock. NBC, however, quickly refused his request, assuring that Baldwin would appear for a second season.