kids encyclopedia robot

William Baldwin facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
William Baldwin
Billy Baldwin, GLAAD Awards 2008.jpg
Baldwin at the 2008 GLAAD Awards
Born
William Joseph Baldwin

(1963-02-21) February 21, 1963 (age 61)
Other names Billy Baldwin
Alma mater Binghamton University
Occupation Actor
Years active 1989–present
Spouse(s)
(m. 1995)
Children 3
Family Baldwin

William Joseph Baldwin (born February 21, 1963) is an American actor. A member of the Baldwin family, he is the second-youngest Baldwin of the four Baldwin brothers. He has starred in the films Flatliners (1990), Backdraft (1991), Sliver (1993), Virus (1999), The Squid and the Whale (2005), Forgetting Sarah Marshall, in which he portrayed himself, and the Netflix show Northern Rescue (2019). Baldwin is married to singer Chynna Phillips.

Early life

Baldwin was born in Massapequa, New York, the son of Carol Newcomb (née Martineau), founder of The Baldwin Fund and Alexander Rae Baldwin, Jr. His father was a high school history/social studies teacher and football coach. He is the brother of actors Alec, Daniel, and Stephen, sometimes collectively known as the Baldwin brothers, and of sisters Beth and Jane, all together known as the Baldwin family. Baldwin was raised in a Catholic family, and has Irish and French ancestry. A graduate of Alfred G. Berner High School and Binghamton University, where he was a varsity wrestler, he has a degree in political science.

Career

1980s

Before starting his acting career, Baldwin was a fashion model for Calvin Klein. His first starring role was in a TV movie as Robert Chambers, alongside Danny Aiello and Lara Flynn Boyle in The Preppie Murder, which aired on ABC in 1989. Baldwin also appeared in the 1989 film Born on the Fourth of July, starring Tom Cruise, where he had a minor role as a U.S Marine during the Vietnam War. His brothers Daniel and Stephen also had minor parts in the film.

BaldwinGrey88OscarsByAlanLight
Baldwin with Jennifer Grey at the 1988 Academy Awards.

1990s

Baldwin's first featured film was Internal Affairs, in which he starred alongside Richard Gere and Andy García. He then starred in big-budget films such as Flatliners with stars such as Julia Roberts, Kiefer Sutherland and Kevin Bacon. He portrayed Chicago firefighter Brian McCaffrey in Backdraft with Kurt Russell and also with an ensemble cast including Donald Sutherland, Scott Glenn, Rebecca De Mornay, and Robert De Niro. His role in 1993 film Sliver along with Sharon Stone earned him the MTV Movie Award for Most Desirable Male.

In 1995, among other diverse characters he has played in his career, Baldwin was on Joel Schumacher's shortlist for Batman Forever to play the title character; Schumacher's four diverse choices were Daniel Day-Lewis, Ralph Fiennes, Val Kilmer and Baldwin. The role went to Val Kilmer. Baldwin starred alongside Cindy Crawford in Fair Game. Then in 1996, he starred in a low-budget film by Miramax Films titled Curdled and was paid US$150,000 for his performance, compared to the $1.7 million he received for his role in Sliver; his performance in the film was slightly acclaimed by critics. In 1998, he appeared in Warren Beatty's film Bulworth as Constance Bulworth's lover. In 1999, Baldwin teamed up with Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Sutherland for the science fiction thriller Virus and played alongside Peter Gallagher in the Showtime original movie, Brotherhood of Murder.

2000s

Billybaldwin
Baldwin in 2008

In 2001, Baldwin played a leading role in the television film Double Bang which aired on HBO. Since then, Baldwin has played in other projects such as Red Rover in 2003, Park, Feel and Lenexa, 1 Mile in 2006, and Adrift in Manhattan, A Plumm Summer, Noise, and Humble Pie in 2007. His 2004 film Art Heist received much attention when it was released on DVD. Baldwin has continued to act in films and on television, but has not taken many leading roles. He was well received in a supporting role in the 2005 film The Squid and the Whale alongside Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels, for which he earned the Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Cast. ..... In 2008, he appeared in the comedy film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which stars Jason Segel and Kristen Bell, as Detective Hunter Rush.

2010s

In February 2010, Baldwin played Batman in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, a loose adaptation of Grant Morrison's JLA: Earth 2 story. Baldwin portrayed Dr. Willam van der Woodsen, father of Serena and Eric van der Woodsen, on the third and fourth seasons of Gossip Girl. Baldwin was also featured with his brother Daniel in UniGlobe Entertainment's breast cancer docudrama, 1 a Minute. The documentary was made by Namrata Singh Gujral, and features breast cancer survivors Olivia Newton-John, Diahann Carroll, Melissa Etheridge, Namrata Singh Gujral, Mumtaz, Jaclyn Smith, Daniel Baldwin and Priya Dutt. Baldwin was cast in the second season of Parenthood, which aired Fall 2010. He played Gordon Flint: a charismatic bachelor, the boss of Adam Braverman (Peter Krause) and a love-interest for Adam's sister, Sarah (Lauren Graham). In 2011, Baldwin starred in the Lifetime Original Movie, The Craigslist Killer which aired January 3, 2011. He played the lead detective on the case of the killer, Philip Markoff, who connected with victims through Craigslist ads placed in Boston, Massachusetts.

..... The film was directed by Shawn Piller. In July 2011, Baldwin joined the CBS drama Hawaii Five-0 for a multi-episode arc. On March 22, 2012, Baldwin guest starred on the NBC show 30 Rock. Baldwin plays Lance Drake Mandrell, an actor who plays Jack Donaghy – the role played in the series by Baldwin's real-life brother Alec – in a made-for-TV movie within the show. Baldwin is currently a model for Sacoor Brothers. Baldwin appeared in the fourth and final season of Wilfred, replacing Dwight Yoakam in the role of Bruce. In 2015, he narrated for the documentary A Wing and a Prayer, a film about American fighter pilots who assisted in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and the founding of the Israeli Air Force.

In 2016, Baldwin signed on and currently has a recurring role on the 2016 reboot of the television series MacGyver as Elwood Davis, Riley's estranged father on CBS Television Studios. On November 21, 2017 Baldwin joined the main cast on a television series along with Miles Teller in Too Old To Die Young which was released in the summer of 2019 on Amazon Video. Currently, Baldwin stars and executive produces Northern Rescue, a Canadian drama television series produced by CBC Television distributed internationally on Netflix. The first season of 10 episodes debuted on March 1, 2019.

2020s

In 2021, Baldwin starred in War of the Worlds: Annihilation. Baldwin appeared in the horror film Candyland (2022).

Personal life

In 1995, Baldwin married singer Chynna Phillips of the music group Wilson Phillips, daughter of musician John Phillips and Michelle Gilliam. Together, they have three children, daughters Jameson (b. 2000) and Brooke (b. 2004) and son Vance (b. 2001).

Baldwin splits his time between an estate in Santa Barbara, California, and another in Bedford Corners, New York, which is 30 minutes away from his brother Stephen's estate in Nyack, New York.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1989 Born on the Fourth of July U.S. Marine – Vietnam
1990 Internal Affairs Officer Van Stretch
1990 Flatliners Joe Hurley
1991 Backdraft Brian McCaffrey
1993 Three of Hearts Joe Casella
1993 Sliver Zeke Hawkins MTV Movie Award for Most Desirable Male
Nominated – Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor
1995 A Pyromaniac's Love Story Garett
1995 Fair Game Detective Max Kirkpatrick Nominated – Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple (shared with Cindy Crawford)
1996 Curdled Paul Guell
1998 Bulworth Constance Bulworth's Lover
1998 Shattered Image Brian
1999 Virus Steve Baker
2000 Primary Suspect Christian Box
2000 Relative Values Don Lucas
2001 Double Bang Billy Brennan
2001 One Eyed King Frankie Thomas
2001 Say Nothing Julian Grant
2002 You Stupid Man Brady
2003 Red Rover Will Taylor
2004 Art Heist Bruce Walker
2005 The Squid and the Whale Ivan Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Cast
2006 Lenexa, 1 Mile Dan Cooney Sr.
2006 Park Dennis
2006 Feel Nathan
2007 Adrift in Manhattan Mark Phipps
2007 American Fork Truman Hope
2007 A Plumm Summer Mick Plumm
2007 Noise Mayor's Chief of Staff
2008 Forgetting Sarah Marshall Detective Hunter Rush
2008 Lymelife Co-producer
2010 Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Batman (voice) Direct-to-video
2010 1 a Minute Himself
2011 Jock the Hero Dog Boatman
2012 Dino Time Sarco (voice)
2013 Stranger Within Robert Moore
2013 Be My Valentine Dan
2014 The Wisdom to Know the Difference Dennis
2014 Aftermath Shane (voice)
2015 A Wing and a Prayer Narrator Documentary
2016 Chronology Mr.Rose
2016 Blowtorch Detective Frank Hogan
2017 The Broken Key Friar Hugo
2017 Maximum Impact Man in Shadows
2018 Abigail Falls Peter
2018 Minutes to Midnight Mr. Walters
2018 Welcome to Acapulco Drake Savage
2018 1st Born Saul
2018 The Trouble Joey Mangepanni
2018 Born Again Dead Haskell
2019 Backdraft 2 Brian McCaffrey Direct-to-video
2019 You Are Here Keith
2020 2 Graves in the Desert Mario
2020 Beckman Reese
2021 Fourth Grade Charlie
2021 Church People Mr. Cameron
2021 War of the Worlds: Annihilation General Skuller
2022 Dakota Monty Sanders
2022 Candy Land Post-production
2023 South Wind American agent
2023 Billie's Magic World
TBA No Address Robert Filming

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1989 The Preppie Murder Robert Chambers Television film
1999 Brotherhood of Murder Tom Martinez Television film
2003 E.D.N.Y. Mike 'Mad Dog' Kelly Television film
2004–2005; 2007 Danny Phantom Johnny 13 (voice) 3 episodes
2006 Waterfront Paul Brennan 5 episodes
2007–2009 Dirty ... Money Patrick Darling 23 episodes
2010–2012 Gossip Girl William Van Der Woodsen 11 episodes
2010 Parenthood Gordon Flint 8 episodes
2011–2012 Hawaii Five-0 Frank Delano 5 episodes
2011 The Craigslist Killer Detective Bennett Television film
2012 30 Rock Lance Drake Mandrell Episode: "Kidnapped by Danger"
2012 Men at Work Shepard Peters Episode: "Inventing Milo"
2013 Be My Valentine Dan Television film
2013 Copper William 'Wild Bill' Eustace 2 episodes
2014 Wilfred Bruce Episode: "Patterns"
2015 Forever Oliver Clausten Episode: "The Wolves of Deep Brooklyn"
2015 Hot in Cleveland Dane Stevens 3 episodes
2015 Lead With Your Heart Ben Walker Television film
2016 Hit the Floor Jackson Everett 4 episodes
2017 While You Were Dating Nick Stendahl Television film
2017–2019 MacGyver Elwood Davis 6 episodes
2018 Insatiable Gordy Greer Episode: "Banana Heart Banana"
2018 The Purge David Ryker 5 episodes
2018 Dream Corp, LLC Dad Episode: "Can't Touch This"
2019 Northern Rescue John West 10 episodes
2019 Too Old to Die Young Theo 10 episodes

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: William Baldwin para niños

kids search engine
William Baldwin Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.