Hollywood-Clan - Alec Baldwin has three brothers, but none of them were as successful as him
There's a small scene in the movie "Clueless," a teenage comedy from 1995 that's almost forgotten but which was a clever jab, where Alicia Silverstone and her friends are sitting on the schoolyard and checking out the boys who walk by. One of the girls sighs: "Hmm, let me see, a Baldwin."
The film's director Amy Heckerling later revealed that she had completely made up the term "Baldwin" for good-looking boys, but of course that was not the case in reality. In the 90s cinema scene, four brothers from Long Island, New York, were making a name for themselves, or rather, making themselves seen, with their bedroom poses and a strong belief in their effect and their ability.
The Baldwins – in the USA, this became a term for this brother quartet, led by the eldest, Alexander Rae Baldwin, who set out to conquer cinema, television, and the rest of the entertainment world. Notably, the two sisters Elizabeth and Jane were also part of the group, but they went their own ways.
There's a Baldwin Beach and a Baldwin Harbor
It's worth noting that the Baldwins can trace their family history back 404 years. Their ancestors stem from the English-Irish settlers John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley, who went ashore as the first settlers from the old world from the ship "Mayflower" in Cape Cod in 1620.
However, since other passengers on the ship also reproduced diligently over the generations, the number of "Mayflower" descendants is estimated to be far beyond the millions today. The name Baldwin is also widespread in the USA, not far from the brothers' birthplace in Massapequa, New York, there is also the Baldwin Cove and the Baldwin Harbor.
In Massapequa, one of those typical commuter suburbs of New York with streets in a checkerboard pattern and houses with front yards, Alec, Daniel, William, and Stephen were born between 1958 and 1966. Their father Alec Sr. was a history teacher, their mother worked in market research. With the two sisters, the family was complete, making even the nicest house cramped and their middle-class income modest.
Alec Baldwin didn't want to live like his father
They had little, as Alec Baldwin often recounted. "My whole life was just about: I have to earn money, I have to earn money. I don't want to live like my father." About living with his three brothers, he once said: "We had nothing, we had to entertain ourselves, and that's why we were entertaining." There's an undated photo from the earlier 80s that probably shows the quartet posing shirtless and almost gleefully displaying their only capital to escape the monotony of their suburban existence: themselves.
The pose fits in with the sweatiness and body cult of the 80s, but the coolness in their effort already hints at imitation. They look like good, but just imitation Rolex watches, which could be bought on New York street markets. Only one of them became "the river from which all drank," as Alec described himself at one point.
Alec Baldwin studied politics in New York at first, but he soon switched to acting school and played his first roles in TV productions on Broadway in 1980. His breakthrough in cinema came in 1990 as CIA analyst Jack Ryan in "The Hunt for Red October" alongside Sean Connery. Baldwin built his Hollywood career from there with roles that were always unforgettable American archetypes – agents, corporate bosses, or family men – and filled them with his screen presence without being ostentatious.
Alec Baldwin's problem is his temper
In real life, Baldwin stumbled more than once over his hot-headedness. He brawled with photographers, was arrested for defamation, was dragged out of his car drunk, and a airline kicked him off the plane because he refused to end a game on his phone. All little things, but they added up to a volcanic temper in person, someone who stirs things up and then thinks about it, or not even that.
His worst years were already behind him, Baldwin once said, those young years when he was "daily on drugs and daily drunk." Since 1985, he had been free of drinks and drugs. Only his temper remained. The whole country could hear it in 2007 when a voice mail message became public in which Baldwin called his then 11-year-old daughter Ireland a "pig without a brain." It took years for father and daughter to speak again.
Even Alec's brothers managed to make it in front of film and television cameras. Why exactly, is not entirely clear, it was the time when America loved the family business: Beau and Jeff Bridges, Peter and Jane Fonda, or the Arquette siblings. It was probably because producers believed that if Alec Baldwin worked at the box office, and the other three brothers looked just as similar, they would also work.
Stephen Baldwin: We even conquer the planet
There was no lack of self-confidence in the family, as Stephen Baldwin once described: "The funny thing is that we were all quite local celebrities before we became famous. It was because our friends went to school with our father, and we knew so much about everyone in our environment. And Alec was student body president and quarterback in football. We were a well-known family. That showed us that if we could conquer Massapequa, then we could even conquer the planet."
The planet, now. William first had modest success as a model and appeared in a supporting role in Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July" for the first time in front of the camera. Following roles in films like "Backdraft," "Sliver," and "Fair Game" were notable because they had a postscript. "Fair Game," the attempt at an action thriller with the former supermodel Cindy Crawford, collected numerous awards for being the worst film and the actors for being the worst pair on the screen.
William Baldwin was rarely seen in the cinema
Thirty years after the making of "Sliver" (1993), Sharon Stone told that producer Robert Evans had advised her to sleep with William Baldwin to make him perform better. Baldwin vented angrily on social media: "Is she still infatuated with me, or is she still hurt because I rejected her advances all those years ago?" And: "I have so much dirt on her that your head would spin, but I've kept quiet." William was soon rarely seen in the cinema, but he was still active in TV productions like "Supervolcano" or "Ice Storm."
Daniel Baldwin also made it in front of the camera several times, mostly in B-movies like "Attack of the 20-Foot Woman" or "Fallout – Threat from Space." With great passion, he was seen on reality TV, where he moderated from a fitness club or a rehab clinic. In 2015, he also appeared in the British version of "Celebrity Big Brother."
Stephen Baldwin still remains, having played alongside Kevin Spacey in Bryan Singer's successful thriller "The Usual Suspects" in 1995. However, he didn't stay in this league for long and was then seen in projects like "Sex Monster" or "Snake Man". He gained attention outside of cinema when he identified as a member of the "born-again Christians" after the September 11 attacks, a religious sect that, among other things, strongly opposes same-sex marriage because they believe it would mean the downfall of America.
It's no surprise that Stephen is among Trump's supporters, unlike Alec, who is passionate about the Democrats. It's worth noting that Stephen's daughter Hailey is married to pop star Justin Bieber. And: Stephen is the only one of the three brothers who was present at the opening of the trial against Alec in 2021 in the courtroom regarding the fatal shooting of a camera woman.
"Since my brothers and I became known in Hollywood, they may not like how I see it, but from my perspective, we're just four simple athletes from Long Island," Stephen Baldwin said in 2012.
- Stephen Baldwin, one of the Baldwin brothers from Long Island, New York, gained attention outside of acting when he publicly identified as a member of the "born-again Christians" following the September 11 attacks.
- Daniel Baldwin, another member of the Baldwin family from the USA, is known for his appearances in B-movies and reality TV shows. He has moderated from a fitness club and a rehab clinic, and in 2015, he participated in the British version of "Celebrity Big Brother."
- Alec Baldwin's brothers, including Stephen and Daniel, also had successful careers in Hollywood, following in the footsteps of their eldest brother. Their fame allowed them to navigate the entertainment industry, but their paths diverged significantly in terms of roles and projects.
