Alec Baldwin's Real Name: Alexander Rae Baldwin III

Quick answer: Alec Baldwin was born Alexander Rae Baldwin III on April 3, 1958, in Amityville, New York, and grew up in nearby Massapequa on Long Island. He played Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock and Jack Ryan in The Hunt for Red October. An involuntary manslaughter case over the 2021 Rust shooting was dismissed in 2024 (Britannica; CBS News).

Real name and early life

Britannica gives his name in full as Alexander Rae Baldwin III. The Library of Congress name authority files him as "Baldwin, Alec, 1958-," with the variant "Baldwin, Alexander Rae, 1958-." One LOC citation lists his birthplace as Massapequa, where Britannica says he was raised.

Britannica says he was the second of six children, and his three brothers, Stephen, William, and Daniel, also became actors. He started out interested in law and enrolled at George Washington University in 1976. He later transferred to New York University to study drama and completed a B.F.A. in 1994. While in college he joined the soap opera The Doctors (1980–82).

Career highlights

After Knots Landing (1984–85) and a Broadway debut in Loot (1986), Baldwin played a ghost in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice (1988). His turn as CIA analyst Jack Ryan in The Hunt for Red October (1990) made him a star. He won an Obie for Prelude to a Kiss and received a Tony nomination as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (1992). He also played the brutal sales motivator in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992).

He earned an Oscar nomination for The Cooler (2003). As network executive Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock (2006–13), he won Emmys in 2008 and 2009 and three Golden Globes.

The Rust case

On October 21, 2021, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was wounded when a pistol Baldwin was holding during a rehearsal for Rust fired a live round. Baldwin has said he did not pull the trigger and did not know the gun held live ammunition. He was charged with involuntary manslaughter. In July 2024, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case midtrial, ruling that the state had withheld evidence. In December 2024 the special prosecutor dropped an appeal, ending the criminal case. Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was separately convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Hutchins's parents and sister are pursuing a civil lawsuit against him, according to CBS.

Baldwin then sued the prosecutors in 2025. Courthouse News reported in October 2026 that a federal judge had dismissed most of his claims on prosecutorial immunity grounds, while some claims against one prosecutor may proceed.

Name notes for searchers

Alec is short for Alexander, and he has used it professionally throughout his career. He is the third Alexander Rae Baldwin. One LOC citation records the suffix as "II," but Britannica gives "III."