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John Francis "Jack" Donaghy ( /ˈdɒnəɡiː/ DON-ə-gee) is a fictional character on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He begins the series as the Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for General Electric, and later serves as the head of NBC after it is bought by the fictional Kabletown.

Donaghy is played by Alec Baldwin, who has received two Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, six Screen Actors Guild Awards and one Television Critics Association Award for his portrayal of this character.

Character history[link]

Childhood[link]

Jack Donaghy had an unhappy and impoverished childhood in South Boston^[1] and Sadchester, Massachusetts.^[2] When he was two, his father lured him to the edge of a swimming pool with a puppy and pushed him in the pool,^[3] and later abandoned his family. His mother Colleen Murphy Donaghy has nagged him his whole life,^[4] even blaming him for John F. Kennedy's death^[5] and for his father leaving. However, she was also devoted to her children. For example, it was noted that she had traded sexual favors with F. A. O. Schwarz for Christmas presents for Jack and his siblings.^[5] Young Jack took to calling his collie "Pop" until the dog was accidentally run over by the mailman and left to die in the street by his mother, which caused him to cry. The dog had earlier been neutered, causing Jack to charge his mother with "cutting off Pop's balls." His mother even tried to send him to Vietnam when he was 12 to make a man out of him. He also played hockey, the piano and the flute as a child, prompting his mother to embarrass him by having him play "The Star-Spangled Banner" on said flute in front of his team. He was also the captain of the diving team.

Adulthood and career[link]

Due to his family's poverty, Donaghy began working at the age of 12, as a stevedore at the Port of Boston. He attended Princeton University,^[6] where he played football and baseball for the Tigers, joined the Princeton Charter Club, played Maria in an all-male production of West Side Story,^[7] was a member of the "Twig and Plums" secret society, and was a classmate of Michelle Obama.^[8] In addition to the Amory Blaine Handsomeness Scholarship,^[2] his jobs during college included "the day shift at a graveyard, and the graveyard shift at a Days Inn"; recording every word in the English language for the linguistics department (to preserve the perfect American accent in case of nuclear war); and as a janitor at a primate laboratory.^[9] He later attended Harvard Business School,^[10] which he paid for by working as a Swan Boat operator, and where he was voted "Most" by his classmates. ^[2] Carly Simon's 1972 hit song "You're So Vain" was, in fact, written by him.^[2]

Post college, Jack worked as an intern for Senator Ted Kennedy, where Jack developed an extremely liberal political world-view. At some point, though as yet unexplained, he underwent a complete reversal of his philosophy and became a conservative Republican.

In the years after working for Kennedy, Jack, "thrived" on fear, bow hunting polar bears, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, once driving a rental car into the Hudson River to practice escaping, showering with Greta Van Susteren and overcoming a peanut allergy through sheer willpower. Jack once practiced martial arts under Chuck Norris, but they had a falling out after he switched to another dojo.

It is revealed in "Live from Studio 6H" that, as a young employee in the GE poisons division in 1986, Jack answered phones during a live telethon. During that broadcast, Tracy Jordan realised his talent for getting laughs as a performer. A 16-year-old Liz Lemon made a crank call, claiming to have been a nurse in the war who was impregnated by General Electric when he was Colonel Electric. Jack's loyalty to GE and his handsomeness impressed Don Geiss who transferred Jack to the microwave ovens division.

After years of market research, he finally made his "greatest triumph" in the form of the Trivection oven, a product he created at General Electric, having first envisioned it while responding to Liz Lemon's crank call in 1986. It was on the strengths of the Trivection oven that, in mid 2006, he replaced recently deceased Gary to become "Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming".^[11] Jack was the catalyst for bringing Tracy Jordan onboard the NBC sketch show The Girlie Show, despite head writer Liz Lemon's objections. Jack made sure that Tracy was the main star and ensured the show's name was changed to TGS with Tracy Jordan after bribing a test audience with pizza.

In "The Baby Show," it is shown that his mother still constantly calls him and that she now wants to move in with him from her retirement home, which has rocks made of foam since she tends to fall down a lot, in Orlando, Florida.^[12] However, at the end of the episode, he blackmails Josh Girard into taking all his mother's calls for him for the rest of Josh's life (Jack says that his mother will outlive Josh - "she's like Castro"), since Josh has a flawless "Jack Donaghy" impersonation.

In the wake of the episode "Fireworks," Jack is demoted to "Vice President of East Coast Television" when CEO Don Geiss takes his "Microwave Oven Programming" duties away from him, although a comment to Liz suggests that it may have been given back to him. At some point, he wrote a book entitled Jack Attack: The Art of Aggression in Business.

Acting on Don Geiss' advice, Jack gets engaged to Christie's auctioneer Phoebe. However, Liz later discovers that Phoebe is actually an unscrupulous gold digger. Jack refuses to believe this since Phoebe had told him that Liz is infatuated with him and he decides to continue with their wedding. The situation is resolved in the season finale, "Hiatus," when Jack has a heart attack during an argument with his mother and Phoebe and realizes that he is not in love with Phoebe. Also in "Hiatus," Jack's middle name is revealed to be Francis.

At the start of season two, Jack has recovered from his heart attack and becomes a candidate to succeed Don Geiss as CEO of GE, competing against his arch-rival, Vice-President of West Coast Television Devon Banks, who, despite being openly gay, has gotten engaged to Geiss' daughter Kathy. Later in the season, Jack wins the coveted job of Geiss' replacement, only to lose it when Geiss slips into a diabetic coma. Banks makes a power grab, convincing the board of directors that the CEO's seat should stay with the family and getting his fiancee Kathy appointed, with Banks as the power behind the throne. Jack is demoted and humiliated, and leaves GE for a position in George W. Bush's administration. This proves to be hopeless, and Jack attempts to get himself fired. He succeeds this by funding a "gay bomb," a weapon that would cause enemy soldiers to "go totally gaybones for each other." The chemical warfare is accidentally released in a secret war bunker, and it is implied that Jack has sex with Dick Cheney. This implication is furthered when Jack confesses his sins to an ill-prepared priest in "St. Valentine's Day."

Season Three sees Jack starting again at GE - in the mailroom, and working his way up to the top again. Jack contemplates sleeping with Kathy Geiss to save the company from Devon's plan to shut GE down completely for two years, but is able to avoid this with Liz' help. In the end, Kathy signs a contract making Jack her main business advisor, and Devon runs away. Don Geiss emerges from his coma shortly thereafter, but stuns Jack with the news that he has decided to stay on as GE's chairman after all. Jack remains in his position as head of NBC, telling Liz Lemon how many times an episode she can use the phrase "Cat Anus."

At the end of season three, Jack discovers that Jimmy Donaghy is not his real father. Similar to Mamma Mia, Jack finds that he has three possible fathers. Liz invites them to TGS saying they won a contest, and Jack quickly finds that his father is Milton Greene, a Bennington College professor. Getting in an argument with Milton about politics, he says to Liz that he does not want to tell Milton, but Liz convinces him otherwise. After Jack tells Milton that he is Milton's son, Milton tells Jack he needs a kidney or he will die. Jack finds that he is not a match and organizes a "We Are the World"-type charity called "Kidney Now," with celebrities singing a song that asks anyone who is a match to give Milton a kidney.

In season four, Devon Banks comes back at Jack with a revenge plan involving the United States government trying to shut down GE. Jack is able to get out of it and it is not known what happens to Devon. In "Secret Santa," Jack is described by Jonathan as being the "best gift giver in the world." One year, Jonathan bought Jack a $95 bottle of olive oil for Christmas and in return Jack had Jonathan's sister released from a North Korean jail. When Liz and Jack finally agree to exchange gifts, they agree on spending zero dollars for each other (with both trying to one-up the other). Jack has Jonathan drive all over Pennsylvania to find a program of Liz's production of The Crucible, framed in wood from her stage and not reimbursing Jonathan for gas. Liz calls in a bomb threat at Penn Station (getting Frank, Toofer, and Lutz arrested in the process) to keep Jack's high school crush in town. Finally, Jack brings in Larry Wilcox in character as Jon Baker for Liz.

Donaghy's goal at GE is to become CEO, like Geiss and Jack Welch. This becomes impossible in 2010 when he learns from his girlfriend Avery that Philadelphia-based cable company Kabletown has bought NBC from GE. At first, Jack doubts the story because he hasn't heard anything, but then he finds out from Welch that the sale is happening and that Geiss is dead. Jack connects with an old colleague from GE who left to join Kabletown, and discovers that NBC's new owners don't make anything, they get over 90% of their revenue from men ordering porn on demand. This worries Jack, until he has an idea for Kabletown to create "porn for women," essentially women paying to have men on their TV screens listen to them talk and nod approvingly.

Relationships[link]

Jack married an Italian woman named Bianca (Isabella Rossellini), with whom he apparently made love on the floor of the Concorde shortly after their wedding, though he claims his mother deliberately had a heart attack to prevent him from going on his honeymoon. He and Bianca were eventually legally separated in 1989 because, in his words, he "couldn't keep up with her on any level." Though they weren't legally divorced, Jack went on to introduce Bianca as though they were. In the episode "Black Tie," Bianca shows up and he passes Liz off as his girlfriend to make Bianca jealous. When Liz pretends Jack has proposed to her, Bianca attacks her and Jack is finally satisfied that Bianca still wants him. In the episode "Up All Night," he and Bianca are finally officially divorced after 18 years of legal separation. Jack acquires "full stake in the Arby's franchises [he and Bianca] bought outside of Telluride" in the divorce settlement.

Jack had a brief relationship with Phoebe (Emily Mortimer), an auctioneer, and goes as far as proposing marriage. Even after Liz discovers that Phoebe is a gold-digger, it is only during a heart-attack-causing argument with his mother Colleen that Jack realizes that he does not love Phoebe, and calls off the engagement at the end of Season 1.

Jack begins a relationship with liberal Congresswoman Celeste "CC" Cunningham (Edie Falco). In spite of their ideological differences, they are a well-matched pair and, after a period of secrecy, eventually go public. Their bliss does not last long, as their long-distance relationship begins to negatively affect both their jobs, and they break up.

After accidentally breaking both of his mother's hips, Jack is forced to allow her to move in with him. He hires an attractive Puerto Rican nurse, Elisa (Salma Hayek), to care for her, and falls in love with her. He proposes — moments before she confesses to murdering her husband. Subsequently, they do not marry.

In the fourth season Jack had a reunion with Nancy Doherty (née Donovan) (Julianne Moore), his old high school crush. He was torn between her and his new flame, CNBC anchor Avery Jessup (Elizabeth Banks). After having sex with Nancy, he confesses that he is in love with both Nancy and another woman. In the Season 4 finale, Avery and Nancy meet by chance, and Nancy discovers that Avery is pregnant. Nancy is the one to tell Jack.

In Season 5, Jack and Avery get married in the Caribbean and give birth to a daughter while in Canada (despite their efforts to cross the border and ensure she is born in America). Their daughter is named Elizabeth "Liddy" Donaghy, and their pediatrician is named Dr. Kevorkian. For a brief period, Liz and Jack are married because of the fact that the minister marrying Jack and Avery did not speak English and Liz was standing in as best man after Bob Ballard could not make it. Avery was kidnapped and held hostage in North Korea in the Season 5 episode "Everything Sunny All the Time Always".

In Season 6's penultimate episode, "The Return of Avery Jessup", Avery returns to the United States in exchange for a North Korean spy. In the Season 6 finale, "What Will Happen to the Gang Next Year?", Jack and Avery plan to renew their vows, but eventually divorce each other because of Jack's relationship with Avery's mother and Avery's relationship with Scott Scottsman, a fellow captive. Jack also admits that he and Avery got married because of their baby.

Personality[link]

Jack is portrayed as a slick, yet scrupulous network executive with an affinity for overtly backhanded compliments, which are usually directed towards TGS head writer Liz Lemon (whom he refers to by her last name more often than not). Although his first priority is to run a successful business, Jack often shows a human side, as when he doesn't fire Kenneth Parcell after beating him at poker when Kenneth bet his job, or when he rushes to take Lemon home after oral surgery despite being with Jessup.^[13] He has made it clear that he respects Liz's abilities and considers her a friend, albeit by calling for her advice at odd times. In "Jack the Writer", he tried to develop a friendly relationship with the writers, particularly Liz, and made it clear that his feelings were hurt when Liz told him to stay out of the writers' room (although he apparently couldn't let go of his pride to say this directly).

However, he still has distinct personality flaws. For example, in "The Aftermath," he changed the name of The Girlie Show without consulting Liz and then refused to tell Jenna that Liz had nothing to do with it because he thought Liz needed to learn how to handle her employees. After he discovered that a product he helped create for Tracy Jordan was dangerous in "The Rural Juror," he decided to sell it overseas to get around U.S. safety regulations. At the very least, however, he said he admired Tracy's integrity for choosing to back out of the enterprise.

Jack is a conservative Republican (initially supporting Mitt Romney).^[14] However, contrary to some conservative stereotypes he apparently has no issue with homosexuality (setting Liz Lemon up on a date with his lesbian friend)^[15] He is a firm believer in capitalism, stating in "The Baby Show" that "business gets me off", in "Hard Ball" that negotiation is his favorite thing in the world since it is, in his words, "the essence of capitalism." In "St. Valentine's Day", he refers to capitalism as his religion. Jack's business background clashed with the show's staff when he insisted on having the show use product placement (or "product integration" as he calls it) in the episode "Jack-tor." Citing Six Sigma, Jack has also tried to involve himself with the staff. Much to Liz' annoyance, he has even tried to "help" her with issues in her personal life, as seen in "Blind Date" and "Jack Meets Dennis," his reasoning that the quality of her life will reflect the quality of her work. In "The Source Awards," he started his own winery "Donaghy Estates" after purchasing a vineyard on the north fork of Long Island. Despite the wine being reviewed in Robert Parker's Wine Newsletter as tasting like "the urine of Satan after a hefty portion of asparagus," he attempted to market it to the hip-hop community as a replacement for Cristal champagne.

Jack dyes his hair and has it cut every two days (he declares that "your hair is your head-suit"), and is shown to be very formal. So far, he has almost always appeared on the show in suits and in "Tracy Does Conan" it is revealed that he considers tuxedos appropriate evening wear regardless of whether there is any kind of occasion ("It's after six. What am I, a farmer?"). In contrast, Liz and the other writers wear casual clothing most of the time and appear generally laid-back. A line by Liz in the episode "Jack-tor" suggests that he finds Asian women in their twenties especially attractive, though he seems to be open to dating women of other races. He is Irish Catholic, naming his fists after St. Patrick and St. Michael (though in "St. Valentines Day", it is stated he "has no faith, only capitalism"). Jack collected cookie jars and displayed them at conventions using the alias "Victor Nightingale", but gave his collection to Kenneth when a PI told him that it could hurt his chances at getting Geiss's job.

In "Corporate Crush," Liz mentions that Jack "goes to Sbarro when he's angry, the New York Stock Exchange when he's horny, and Christie's when he's depressed." He states in an NBC Business News interview that the individuals first on his speed dial are Warren Buffett on his BlackBerry and Jimmy Buffett on his iPhone. Jack is a talented painter,^[16] is still a talented flautist, and can also do a backflip, which he states is "90% confidence." Jack has also expressed an interest in science and admits that as a child he wanted to be a marine biologist until his father discouraged him.

Family[link]

The Donaghys come from County Steve, Ireland, where they were "whiskey testers and goblins."^[2] Jack's very eccentric family sees much drama and infighting, and includes:

• Jimmy^[17] Donaghy (/ˈdɒnəfiː/, DON-ə-fee); Brian Murray) – Jack's father is closely allied with Eddie. Jack considers both of them a disgrace to the Donaghy name (which he pronounced differently than Jack). Jack also believes his father belongs in the "Smiling Irish Bastard Hall Of Fame".^[18] It is later revealed that Jimmy is not Jack's biological father, as he was absent when Jack was conceived. Jack's mother had a sexual relationship with a man named Milton Green during this time, making him Jack's biological father.
• Colleen Donaghy (Elaine Stritch) – Jack's overbearing mother who lives in a Florida retirement home; her maiden name was Murphy, a family Jack considers to be "a bunch of mud farmers and sheep rapists".^[19] Despite Colleen being overbearing she actually likes Liz Lemon (in the episode "Hiatus"), she mistook Liz for Jack's fiancée which was actually Phoebe, when Jack told her that it wasn't Liz that he was marrying, Colleen's response was "Why the hell not?"
• Eddie Donaghy (/ˈdɒnəhiː/, DON-ə-hee); Nathan Lane) – Jack's brother with whom he's been in constant rivalry with years, who apparently works as a swindler. It is revealed that they both played very harsh tricks on each other during their childhood, such as Eddie blinding Jack with a bottle rocket, and Jack microwaving Eddie's parakeet. He also thinks that Liz could be considered to be "a very beautiful woman...if [she] didn't scowl so much."
• Patrick Donaghy (Boris McGiver) – another brother.
• Patricia Donaghy (Siobhan Fallon) – a sister of Jack's.
• Katherine Catherine Donaghy (Molly Shannon) – another sister of Jack's; married to a man named Bobby.
• Margaret (Alice Kremelberg) – a teenage relative seen sitting silently and scowling through the family reunion; she is implied to be his illegitimate sister, but it is also mentioned that she "certainly has Mom's smile." Her grin seems to imply that she enjoys when her new-found family fights.
• Tim – Jack's cousin, a former NBA referee who bet and/or fixed professional basketball games.
• Milton Green (Alan Alda) - Jack's affable biological father, as revealed in "Mama Mia". Milton is a professor at Bennington College, and was in desperate need of a new kidney when they first met in "Mamma Mia". He subsequently received one in the Season 3 finale "Kidney Now!" It was later revealed that the kidney belonged to Elvis Costello in the episode "Christmas Attack Zone". Milton is a stereotypically liberal Vermont resident and a devotee of Jimmy Carter on whom he is writing a multi-volume biography; this causes the conservative Jack no end of embarrassment and consternation.
• Spider-Man - Milton Green's son and Jack's half brother. He named himself, a tradition in Milton's family that both Jack and Avery scoff at. He was referred to in the episode "Christmas Attack Zone".
• Avery Jessup (Elizabeth Banks) - Jack's ex-wife and mother to their daughter, Liddy. She is kidnapped to North Korea and involuntarily married to Kim Jong-un. Avery has been the First Lady of North Korea since 29 December 2012. In the episode "The Return of Avery Jessup", Avery returns to the United States in exchange for a North Korean spy. In the Season 6 finale, "What Will Happen to the Gang Next Year?", Jack and Avery plan to renew their vows, but eventually divorce each other because of Jack's relationship with Avery's mother and Avery's relationship with Scott Scottsman, a fellow captive. Jack also admits that he and Avery got married because of their baby.
• Elizabeth "Liddy" Donaghy - Jack's Canadian-American daughter whom he sired with Avery. She is called Liddy in honour of Liddy Dole, G. Gordon Liddy, and Jack's martial arts instructor Li Di. Jack trains her to say his trademark, "Good God, Lemon."
• Elizabeth "Liz" Lemon (Tina Fey) - Jack's accidental ex-wife to whom he is technically married when the officiant of his and Avery's wedding mistook Liz as the bride because she was wearing tennis whites and a mosquito net. In the course of a feud between them during their brief marriage, Liz holds a press conference (dressed as Jacqueline Kennedy and sporting a bad Boston accent) and announces that she and Jack have decided to donate $5 million dollars to "The Jack and Elizabeth Donaghy High School for Teen Drama, The Arts, and Feelings." During a meeting with NBC Human resource mediator Jeffrey Weinerslav, the two realize that they have had the longest and most meaningful relationship either of them has ever had, and apologize to each other with Liz agreeing to sign the divorce papers and Jack promising to restore TGS's budget.

Celebrity love interests[link]

Before his marriage Donaghy usually dated women who are celebrities or powerful figures in the media. Often, he hints that he is having or has had a relationship with them, but it is rarely explicitly stated. These women include:

• Greta Van Susteren, journalist (implied in "Jack-Tor", "showered with.")
• Condoleezza Rice, academian (implied in "The Break Up", confirmed in "The Source Awards" and "Everything Sunny All the Time Always")
• Maureen Dowd, journalist (implied in "The Rural Juror")
• Elizabeth Hurley, actress (mentioned in "Black Tie")
• Beyoncé Knowles, singer-actress (mentioned in "Black Tie")
• Martha Stewart, TV hostess (mentioned in "Black Tie")
• Alexis Stewart, daughter of Martha (mentioned in "Black Tie")
• Shakira, singer (mentioned in "Black Tie")
• Katie Couric, journalist (mentioned in "The C Word")
• Joan Baez, singer (mentioned in "Christmas Special")
• Kathy Hilton, actress and mother of Paris Hilton ("The Ones")
• Peggy Fleming, American former figure skater (mentioned in "Apollo, Apollo")
• Dusty Springfield, British singer, "Jack's first love"
• Carla Bruni, wife of Nicolas Sarkozy (hinted in "Black Light Attack!", in which Jack says he has had office relationships only with women he could transfer or introduce to Sarkozy)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jack Donaghy at The Internet Movie Database

Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin with fiance, Hilaria Thomas in 2011.
Born	Alexander Rae Baldwin III (1958-04-03) April 3, 1958 (age 54) Long Island, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1980–present
Spouse	Kim Basinger (m. 1993–2002; divorced)
Partner	Hilaria Thomas (engaged)
Children	1
Website
http://www.alecbaldwin.com/

Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.

Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work, for two seasons (6 and 7), on the soap opera Knots Landing, in the role of Joshua Rush. He has since played both leading and supporting roles in films such as Beetlejuice (1988), The Hunt for Red October (1990), The Marrying Man (1991), The Shadow (1994), Notting Hill (1999), The Aviator (2004) and The Departed (2006). His performance in the 2003 film The Cooler garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Since 2006 he has starred as Jack Donaghy on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, receiving critical acclaim for his performance and winning two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and seven Screen Actors Guild Awards for his work on the show, making him the male performer with most SAG Awards ever.

He is the eldest of the Baldwin brothers working in Hollywood.

Early life[link]

Baldwin was born on Long Island, New York, the son of Carolyn Newcomb (née Martineau) and Alexander Rae Baldwin, Jr., a high school history/social studies teacher and football coach.^[1] Baldwin was raised in a Roman Catholic family of Irish, English, and French descent.^[2][3] He has three younger brothers, Daniel, William, and Stephen, who also became actors. Baldwin has two sisters, Beth Baldwin Keuchler (born 1955), and Jane Baldwin Sasso (born 1965).^{[citation needed]}

Baldwin attended Alfred G. Berner High School in Massapequa, Long Island, and played football there under Coach Bob Reifsnyder, who is in the College Football Hall of Fame. He worked as a busboy at the famous New York City disco Studio 54. Baldwin attended George Washington University from 1976 to 1979. He then transferred to New York University to study acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute under Elaine Aiken and Geoffrey Horne.^[4] He returned to NYU in 1994 and graduated with a BFA that year. On May 12, 2010, he gave a commencement address at New York University and was awarded a Doctor of Fine Arts degree, honoris causa.^[5]

Career[link]

Stage[link]

Baldwin made his Broadway debut in 1986, in a revival of Joe Orton's Loot alongside theater veterans Zoë Wanamaker, Željko Ivanek, Joseph Maher and Charles Keating.^[6] This production closed after three months. His other Broadway credits include Caryl Churchill's Serious Money with Kate Nelligan and a highly acclaimed revival of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. His performance as Stanley Kowalski in the latter garnered him a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor. Baldwin also received an Emmy nomination for the 1995 television version of the production, in which both he and Jessica Lange reprised their roles, alongside John Goodman and Diane Lane. In 1998, Baldwin played the title role in Macbeth at the Public theater alongside Angela Bassett and Liev Schreiber in a production directed by George C. Wolfe. In 2004, Baldwin starred in a revival of Twentieth Century with Anne Heche.

On June 9, 2005, he appeared in a concert version of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific at Carnegie Hall. He starred as Luther Billis, alongside Reba McEntire as Nellie and Brian Stokes Mitchell as Emile. The production was taped and telecast by PBS on April 26, 2006. In 2006, Baldwin made theater news in Roundabout Theatre Company's Off-Broadway revival of Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr. Sloane. In 2010, Baldwin starred opposite Sam Underwood in a critically acclaimed revival of Peter Shaffer's Equus, directed by Tony Walton at Guild Hall in East Hampton, NY.

Television[link]

Baldwin's first major acting role was as Billy Aldrich on the daytime soap opera The Doctors from 1980 to 1982. In fall 1983, he starred in the short-lived television series Cutter to Houston. He then co-starred in the television series Knots Landing from 1984 to 1986. In 1986, Baldwin starred in Dress Gray, a four-hour made-for-television miniseries, as an honest cadet sergeant who tries to solve the mystery of a murdered gay classmate.^[7] The film was adapted by Gore Vidal from the novel by Lucian Truscott IV.

Between 1998 and 2003, Baldwin was the U.S. narrator for the children's show Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, narrating all 52 episodes of Series 5 and Series 6. He portrayed Arnold Pagani in a Goosebumps episode, "Bad Hare Day". Baldwin appeared in a celebrity edition of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in November 2000, competing against Jon Stewart, Charlie Sheen, Vivica A. Fox and Norm Macdonald. He won $250,000 for PAWS, and used Kim Basinger as one of his "phone-a-friend" partners. He voiced Blue Barron in Teen Titans.

In 2002, Baldwin appeared on two episodes of Friends as Phoebe Buffay's overly enthusiastic love interest, Parker. He also portrayed a recurring character in a number of episodes in seasons 7 and 8 of Will & Grace, in which he played Malcolm – a "top secret agent" and the lover of Karen Walker (Megan Mullally). He also guest-starred in the first live episode of the series. Baldwin wrote an episode of Law & Order entitled "Tabloid", which aired in 1998. He played the role of Dr. Barrett Moore, a retired plastic surgeon, in the series Nip/Tuck.

On July 7, 2007, Baldwin was a host at the American leg of Live Earth, which was broadcast on NBC.^{[citation needed]}

Baldwin stars in the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, which first aired October 2006. Baldwin met his future co-stars Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan while appearing on Saturday Night Live. He has received two Emmy Awards,^[8] two Golden Globe awards and five Screen Actors Guild Awards for his role. Baldwin received his second Emmy nomination for Best Actor in a Television Comedy or Musical as Jack Donaghy in 2008, marking his seventh Primetime Emmy nomination and first win. He won again in 2009. Since season 3, Baldwin has been credited as producer of the show.

Baldwin joined TCM’s The Essentials Robert Osborne as co-host beginning in March 2009.^[9][10]

Baldwin co-hosted the 82nd Academy Awards with Steve Martin in 2010.^[11] He has hosted Saturday Night Live sixteen times, the most recent being the Season 37 premiere on September 24, 2011. He currently holds the record for most times hosting Saturday Night Live, eclipsing Steve Martin.^[12]

Film[link]

Baldwin made his film debut with a minor role in the 1987 film Forever, Lulu. Also in 1988, he appeared in Beetlejuice and Working Girl. He gained further recognition as a leading man with his role as Jack Ryan in The Hunt for Red October (1990).

Baldwin met his future wife Kim Basinger when they played lovers in the 1991 film The Marrying Man. He appeared with Basinger again in The Getaway, a 1994 remake of the 1972 Steve McQueen film of the same name. Next, in a brief role, Baldwin played a ferocious sales executive in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), a part added to the film version of David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning stage play (including the monologue "Coffee's for closers"). Later that year, he starred in Prelude to a Kiss with Meg Ryan, which was based on the Broadway play. The film received a lukewarm reception by critics and grossed only $22 million worldwide.^[13]

In 1994, Baldwin made a foray into pulp fiction-based movies with the role of the title character in The Shadow. The film made $48 million. In 1996 and 1997, Baldwin continued to work in several thrillers including The Edge, The Juror and Heaven's Prisoners.

Baldwin shifted towards character acting, beginning with Pearl Harbor in 2001. He played Lt. Col. James Doolittle in the film, which, with a worldwide box office of $449,220,945, remains the highest grossing film Baldwin has appeared in his acting career.^[14] Baldwin was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance in the 2003 gambling drama The Cooler.^[4] He appeared in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (2004) and The Departed (2006).^[4] In 2006, he starred in the film Mini's First Time, alongside Nikki Reed and Luke Wilson. Baldwin performed opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar in the 2007 romantic comedy, Suburban Girl. In 2009, he co-starred in the hit romantic comedy It's Complicated with Meryl Streep and Steve Martin. In 2001, he voiced Butch in Cats & Dogs.

Baldwin directed and starred in an all-star version of The Devil and Daniel Webster with Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Dan Aykroyd in 2001.^[15] The then-unreleased film became an asset in a federal bank fraud trial when investor Jed Barron was convicted of bank fraud while the movie was in production. The film eventually was acquired by The Yari Group without Baldwin's involvement.^[16]

In 2003, he served as the antagonist in the live-action film The Cat in the Hat.

In 2007, the Yari Film Group announced it would give the film, now titled Shortcut to Happiness, a theatrical release in the spring and cable film network Starz! announced they had acquired pay TV rights for the film. Shortcut to Happiness was finally released in 2008. Baldwin, displeased with the way the film had been cut in post-production, demanded that his directorial credit be changed to the pseudonym "Harry Kirkpatrick".^[17]

In 2009, Balwin appeared in a series of commercials for Hulu that premiered during the Super Bowl broadcast.

In 2010, Baldwin made a 5-second cameo appearance with comedian Andy Samberg in a musical video titled "Great Day" featured on the bonus DVD as part of Lonely Island's new album "Turtleneck & Chain". In this video, Samberg plays an enthusiastic, upbeat cocaine addict who believes that Tom Petty (who also co-stars) and Alec Baldwin are his very best friends--only to be quickly rejected by both. After finding out the hard way they are quite the opposite and feeling heartbroken, the addict then briefly sings about losing them.

Baldwin has also worked as voice actor in films such as The Royal Tenenbaums, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Thomas and the Magic Railroad and The Spongebob Squarepants Movie. As of March 2011 Baldwin has signed on to star alongside Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Julianne Hough, and Mary J. Blige in the film adaptaion of the jukebox hit musical Rock of Ages. Baldwin will play Dennis Dupree, the aging owner of a Sunset Strip rock club, when production begins in May 2011.

Radio[link]

On January 12, 2009, Baldwin became the host of The New York Philharmonic This Week, the nationally broadcast radio series of the New York Philharmonic.^[18] He has recorded two nationally distributed public service radio announcements on behalf of the Save the Manatee Club.^[19]

On October 24, 2011, WNYC public radio released the first episode of Baldwin's new podcast Here's the Thing, a series of interviews with public figures including artists, policy makers and performers. The first two episodes featured actor Michael Douglas and political consultant Ed Rollins.^[20]

Personal life[link]

Baldwin with Kim Basinger at the 1994 César Awards ceremony in Paris.

In 1990, he met his future wife, actress Kim Basinger, when they played lovers in the film The Marrying Man.^[21] They married in 1993^[22] and had a daughter, Ireland, in October 1995.^[23] On January 12, 2001, Basinger filed for divorce,^[24] which was finalized in February^{[citation needed]} 2002.^[25]

Since summer 2011,^[26] Baldwin has been dating Hilaria Thomas, an instructor with Yoga Vida in Manhattan.^[27][28] As of April 2012, Baldwin and Thomas are engaged.^[29] In August 2011, Baldwin moved from the Upper West Side and to SoHo,^[30] where they live together.^[31]

Baldwin is a Catholic.^[32][33]

Runway Incident[link]

In December of 2011, Alec was waiting on an American Airlines flight at LAX, and playing Words with Friends on his phone. When instructed to put away the "electronic device" by the stewardess, he reportedly became belligerent, and was eventually removed from the plane. He later publicly apologized, though only to the passengers so delayed, not the airline or Federal regulators.^[34]

In 2012, a commercial for Capital One credit cards (for which Alec is a spokesman) made a humorous reference to this event: A viking character from the famous ad series asks about the phone Alec is using, and Baldwin replies, in a very facetious way, that it is not to be used on the runway, ending with a very chiding "no!" A commercial for Best Buy, also humorously referenced the event in which the Words With Friends co-creators are on a plane and are interrupted by a stewardess looking down at them, clearing her throat and signaling them to put their phones away while saying, "we created Words With Friends."

Baldwin also made a guest appearance on SNL's Weekend Update posing as the captain of the plane he was removed from in a bit poking fun at the situation.

[edit] A Promise to Ourselves

In 2008 Alec Baldwin and Mark Tabb published their book, A Promise to Ourselves, which chronicles Baldwin's seven-year battle to remain a part of his daughter's life.^[35][36]

Baldwin contends that after their separation in December 2000, his former wife, Kim Basinger, endeavored to deny him access to his daughter by refusing to discuss parenting,^[37] blocking visitation,^[38] not providing telephone access,^[39] not following court orders,^[40] not dropping their daughter off for reasons of it being inconvenient,^[41] and directly lobbying the child.^[42] He contends she spent over $1.5 million in the effort.^[43]

Baldwin called this parental alienation syndrome.^[44] Baldwin has called the attorneys in the case "opportunists" and has characterized Basinger's psychologists as part of the "divorce industry". He has faulted them more than Basinger, and writes, "In fact, I blame my ex-wife least of all for what has transpired. She is a person, like many of us, doing the best she can with what she has. She is a litigant, and therefore, one who walks into a courtroom and is never offered anything other than what is served there. Nothing off the menu, ever."^[45]

Baldwin wrote that he has spent over a million dollars,^[46] has had to put time aside from his career,^[47] has had to travel extensively,^[48] and needed to find a house in California (he lived in New York),^[49] so he could stay in his daughter's life.^[35]

Baldwin contended that after seven years of these issues, he hit a breaking point, and on April 11, 2007, left an angry voicemail message in response to another unanswered arranged call in which Baldwin called his daughter a "rude, thoughtless little pig".^[50] He contends that the tape was sold to TMZ, which released the recording despite laws against publishing media related to a minor without the permission of both parents.^[51] Baldwin admitted he made a mistake, but asked not to be judged as a parent based on a bad moment.^[52] He later admitted to Playboy in June 2009 that he contemplated suicide over the voice mail that leaked to the public. Of the incident, he said "I spoke to a lot of professionals, who helped me. If I committed suicide, [ex-wife Kim Basinger's side] would have considered that a victory. Destroying me was their avowed goal."^[53]

During the autumn of 2008, Baldwin toured in support of the book, speaking about his experiences related in it.^{[54][55][56][57]}

Political views[link]

Baldwin serves on the board of People for the American Way. He is an animal rights activist, and a strong supporter of PETA,^[58][59] for which he has done work that includes narrating the video entitled Meet Your Meat.^[60] Baldwin also lent his support to the Save the Manatee Club by donating his time to record several public service announcements for the group, which had contacted him following his role in "Bonfire of the Manatees", an episode of The Simpsons in which he was the voice of a biologist working to save the endangered mammals.^[61]

During his appearance on the comedy late night show Late Night with Conan O'Brien on December 12, 1998, eight days before President Bill Clinton was to be impeached, Baldwin said, "If we were in another country ... we would stone Henry Hyde to death and we would go to their homes and kill their wives and their children. We would kill their families, for what they're doing to this country."^[62] Baldwin later apologized for the remarks, and the network explained it was meant as a joke and promised not to rerun it.^[63]

Baldwin said in a 2006 interview with the New York Times that if he did become involved in electoral politics, he would prefer to run for Governor of New York. When asked if he was qualified for the office, Baldwin responded that he considered himself far more qualified than California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.^[64] In June 2011, The Daily reported that Baldwin was mulling a 2013 run for Mayor of New York City, in the wake of a potential early race shakeup after candidate Congressman Anthony Weiner's sexting scandal.^[65] However, on December 21, 2011, Baldwin said he was abandoning plans to run for the office and would instead continue in his role on 30 Rock.^[66]

In February 2009, Baldwin spoke out to encourage state leaders to renew New York's tax break for the film and television industry, stating that if the "tax breaks are not reinstated into the budget, film production in this town is going to collapse and television production is going to collapse and it's all going to go to California".^[67]

During the 2011 Emmy Awards, Baldwin was slated to appear in a taped skit. However, the producers of the show cut a portion of the skit containing a reference to Rupert Murdoch and the News International phone hacking scandal. Baldwin told Access Hollywood Live that he asked them not to air his performance. Producers complied and he was replaced with Leonard Nimoy.^[68]

Filmography[link]

References[link]