Who is William Baldwin? Everything You Need to Know (2024)

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William Baldwin was born February 21, 1963 in Massapequa, New York, to Carol Newcomb and Alexander Rae Baldwin. He has five siblings: Alec, Daniel, Stephen, Beth, and Jane. His brothers are all popular actors, and they are collectively referred to as the ‘Baldwin Brothers’.

The close-knit family traces its ancestry to France and Ireland. Baldwin studied at the Alfred G. Berner High School and later graduated with a degree in political science from Binghamton University. He was also an amateur wrestler at college.

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William Baldwin began his career as a fashion model and worked for Calvin Klein. He was eventually noticed by many celebrities, and thus began his voyage as an actor. He made his debut on TV in 1989 with the movie ‘The Preppie Murder’. He was also seen in the TV movie, ‘Born on the Fourth of July’, in the same year.

He received longer and full-length roles in the 1990s. In the early 1990s, he starred in ‘Internal Affairs’ (1990) ‘Flatliners’ (1990), ‘Backdraft’ (1991), ‘Three of Hearts’ (1993), and ‘Sliver’ (1993). His performance in ‘Sliver’ and ‘Backdraft’ was praised by many, and the movies were popular at the box office.

In 1995, he starred as Garet in the Joshua Brand comedy ‘A Pyromaniac's Love Story’. He followed this role up with the action crime drama ‘Fair Game’, which was popular with the audience, but it received negative reviews from the critics.

For the remainder of the decade, he had to contend with fewer roles. He was seen as Paul Guell in ‘Curdled’, as Brian in ‘Shattered Image’, as Steve Baker in ‘Virus’, and as Tom Martinez in the TV movie ‘Brotherhood of Murder.’

In 2000, he was cast as Christian Box in the Jeff Celentano mystery thriller ‘Primary Suspect’; despite a big budget, the film was a flop. He later starred in the Eric Styles comedy, ‘Relative Values’, alongside Julie Andrews and Edward Atterton.

In 2001, he was first seen in the role of Billy Brennan in the Heywood Gould drama ‘Double Bang’ and later in the crime thriller ‘One Eyed King’. He wrapped up the year with a supporting role in the thriller ‘Say Nothing’.

In the next couple of years, Baldwin starred in a string of supporting roles in both TV and movies. His notable credits include ‘You Stupid Man’ (2002), ‘R.U.S./H. (2002), ‘Red Rover’ (2003), ‘E.D.N.Y. (2003), and ‘Art Heist’ (2004).

He was cast as Ivan in the Noah Baumbach comedy drama ‘The Squid and the Whale’. He starred alongside Owen Kline, Jeff Daniels, and Laura Linney in this critically hit movie.

In 2006, he played minor roles in the movies ‘Lenexa, 1 Mile’ and ‘Park’. He was cast in the lead role of the Matt Mahurin drama ‘Feel’, where Baldwin starred alongside Tom Bower and Grant Chang. The movie, however, performed poorly at the box office.

In 2006, William Baldwin also landed his first recurring role on TV. He played the role of Paul Brennan in the TV drama ‘Waterfront.’ He shared screen space with Bruce MacVittie and Joe Pantoliano in this moderately popular series. He was seen in five episodes.

In 2007, he played the role of Mark in ‘Adrift in Manhattan’ and later as Truman Hope in the comedy ‘American Fork’. The unique story of ‘American Fork’ impressed many, and the movie was a hit with the audience. He also played the role of Mick Plumm in ‘A Plumm Summer’ and a minor role in ‘Noise.’

William Balwdin landed his second breakthrough in 2007 when he was cast as Senator Patrick Darling in the drama TV series ‘Dirty Sexy Money’. Created by Craig Wright, the series also featured Peter Krause and Donald Sutherland. It was positively reviewed by many critics.

Since then, Baldwin started focusing more on TV and gradually opted out of movies. In 2008, he played a supporting role in the hit comedy ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ before landing the role of Gordon Flint in the TV series ‘Parenthood’ (2010).

In 2010, he landed the recurring role of William van der Woodsen in the hit sitcom ‘Gossip Girls’ and appeared in eleven episodes. His other roles in the next few years included appearances in ‘The Craigslist Killer’ (2011), ’30 Rock’ (2012), ‘Men at Work’ (2012) and ‘Hawaii Five-0’ (2011–2012).

In 2013, he played the role of Dan in the TV movie ‘Be My Valentine’ and later as William Eustace in the TV series ‘Copper’. In the next year, he was seen as Dennis in ‘The Wisdom to Know the Difference’ and in the series ‘Wilfred’ as Bruce.

In 2015, he appeared in the recurring role of Dane in ‘Hot in Cleveland’ and later in minor roles in ‘Forever’ and ‘Lead with Your Heart.’ Next year, he starred as Jackson Everett in the series ‘Hit the Floor’ and as Detective Frank Hogan in ‘Blowtorch.’

In 2017, he was seen in the movies ‘Maximum Impact’, ‘The Broken Key’, and ‘While You Were Dating’. He also started playing the recurring role of Elwood in the series ‘MacGyver’, a role he intermittently played until 2019.

2018 proved a productive year for Baldwin. He was seen in movies such as ‘Abigail Falls’, ‘Minutes to Midnight’, ‘1st Born’, and ‘Cut Off.’ He was also seen in a guest role in the TV series ‘Dream Corp LLC’ and ‘Insatiable.’

His impressive streak in 2018 continued. He played the role of David Ryker in the Amazon action horror ‘The Purge.’ Created by James DeMonaco, the series starred other actors like Gabriel Chavarria, Hannah Emily Anderson, and Jessica Garza.

In 2019, he appeared in a leading role as John West in the series ‘Northern Rescue’. Later, he played the role of Theo in the mini series ‘Too Old to Die Young’. He was also seen in the movies ‘Welcome to Acapulco’ and ‘You Are Here’.

William Baldwin’s upcoming projects include the movies ‘Church People’, ‘S.O.S. Survive or Sacrifice’, and ‘The Trouble.’ He is also slated to the play the role of Mario in the Benjamin Goalabré thriller ‘Trunk’, scheduled for release in 2020.

William Baldwin is most remembered for his early acting roles in movies, such as ‘Sliver’ and ‘Backdraft’, as they launched his career as an actor. His innocent and charming performances in these movies won the hearts of many. Despite a minor role in the critical hit ‘The Squid and the Whale,’ Baldwin’s performance was praised widely.

William Baldwin is currently married to the actress and singer Chynna Phillips, and the couple tied the knot in September 1995. They had been dating for four years before their wedding. They have three children: Jameson Leon, Brooke Michelle, and Vance Alexander.

William Baldwin’s favorite genre of music is jazz, and his favorite artists include Count Basie and Van Morrison.