William Baldwin's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Gossip Girl William van… Dirty Sexy Money Patrick Dar…

Main Movie Roles 2008 - Forgetting Sarah Marshall 2007 - Adrift in Manhattan 2006 - Park 2005 - The Squid and the Whale 2002 - You Stupid Man 2001 - one eyed king 1999 - Virus 1998 - Bulworth 1996 - Curdled 1995 - A Pyromaniac's Love Story 1995 - Fair Game 1993 - Sliver 1993 - Three of Hearts 1991 - Backdraft 1990 - Internal Affairs 1990 - Flatliners 1989 - Born on the Fourth of July

BIOGRAPHY:

William Joseph "Billy" Baldwin (born February 21, 1963) is an American actor, producer, and writer, known for his starring roles in such films as Flatliners (1990), Backdraft (1991), Sliver (1993), Fair Game (1995), Virus (1999), Double Bang (2001), as Johnny 13 in Danny Phantom (2004–2007), Art Heist (2004), The Squid and the Whale (2005), as Senator Patrick Darling in the TV drama Dirty Sexy Money (2007–2009) on ABC, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010), and now Baldwin is currently a regular guest on Gossip Girl as William van der Woodsen and Parenthood as Gordon Flint. Billy's most recent role was as lead detective Brian Albert in the Lifetime Original Movie The Craigslist Killer.

Early life
Baldwin was born in Massapequa, New York, the son of Carol Newcomb (née Martineau) 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. Baldwin was raised in a Catholic family of Irish, English and French descent. A graduate of Berner High School and Binghamton University, he has a degree in political science and is known for his enthusiastic support and contributions to the university, and in particular, its wrestling team.


Career

1980s
Before starting his acting career, he was a fashion model for Calvin Klein. William's first starring role was in a TV movie as Robert Chambers, alongside Lara Flynn Boyle in The Preppie Murder, which aired on ABC in 1989. Baldwin got great reviews for his performance. Billy was also cast in the 1989 blockbuster film Born on the Fourth of July starring Tom Cruise, and brothers Stephen and Daniel. Billy played in a minor role as a U.S Marine during the Vietnam War

1990s
He then starred in hit movies like Flatliners with Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts and Kevin Bacon. He portrayed Chicago firefighter Brian McCaffrey in Backdraft, co-starring Kurt Russell, Robert De Niro, Scott Glenn, and Donald Sutherland. The movie was directed by Ron Howard and was an instant success. Baldwin starred alongside Cindy Crawford in the 1995 film Fair Game, then in 1996 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 with Sharon Stone in 1993. In 1999, Baldwin teamed up with Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Sutherland for the science fiction thriller "Virus", and alongside Peter Gallagher in the Showtime original movie, Brotherhood of Murder.

2000s
In 2001, Baldwin played a leading role in the television film Double Bang which aired on HBO because producers thought the movie would be a box-office failure. Since then, Baldwin has played in other projects such as Red Rover in 2003, Art Heist in 2004, "Park", Feel and Lenexa, 1 Mile in 2006, Adrift in Manhattan, A Plumm Summer, Noise, and Humble Pie in 2007. 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. He also co-starred in ABC's Dirty Sexy Money as Donald Sutherland's oldest son, Patrick Darling IV, for the duration of the show until April 2009. Among other diverse characters he has played in his career, Baldwin was on Joel Schumacher's shortlist for Batman Forever to play the caped crusader. His four diverse choices were Daniel Day-Lewis, Ralph Fiennes, Val Kilmer and Baldwin. Audiences got to hear his first time playing Batman in February 2010 in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, a loose adaptation of Grant Morrison's JLA: Earth 2 story.

2010s
In 2010, Baldwin portrayed Dr. Willam van der Woodsen, father of Serena and Eric van der Woodsen, on the 3rd season of Gossip Girl for 3 episodes. He will reprise his role in the 4th season, his episodes will air in Feb. 2011. Baldwin was also featured in UniGlobe Entertainment's breast cancer docu-drama titled 1 a Minute along with brother Daniel Baldwin, scheduled for release in 2010. The documentary was made by actress Namrata Singh Gujral and will feature breast cancer survivors Olivia Newton-John, Diahann Carroll, Melissa Etheridge, Namrata Singh Gujral, Mumtaz and Jaclyn Smith as well as Daniel Baldwin and Priya Dutt. Baldwin was recently cast in the second season of Parenthood to play a boss and love interest for several episodes. William Baldwin joined Parenthood for a multi-episode arc this fall as Gordon Flint, the "wealthy, charismatic" boss of Adam (Peter Krause), a bachelor who also has eyes for Adam's sister Sarah (Lauren Graham).


TRIVIA:

• William and his brothers were all wrestlers in high school, and he even wrestled in college. Aside from being a wrestler in high school, William also played on both the high school football and baseball team.
• Studied political science at university.
• The Creative Coalition ( TCC ) elected William its their new president.
• Four years after they got together, William and Chynna were married on September 9th, 1995 at the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Roman Catholic Church in South Hampton, New York.
• William worked as an aide on Capitol Hill for U.S. Representive Thomas J. Downey ( New York/ Democrat).
• William, who trained for three weeks at the Chicago Fire Academy, rode along with the Chicago Fire Department's Squad 5 while preparing for his role as Brian McCaffrey in _Backdraft (1991)_ (qv).
• (27 February 2000) Baldwin and pop singer 'Chynna Phillips' (qv) gave birth to 7 lb., 2 oz. daughter, Jamison Leon.
• A former wrestler, he was inducted in the Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame after receiving the 2003 Outstanding American Award. Past recipients included Sen. 'Paul Wellstone' (qv), 'Dan Dierdorf' (qv), astronaut 'Michael Collins (II)' (qv), actor 'Kirk Douglas (I)' (qv), writer 'John Irving (I)' (qv), 'Donald Rumsfeld' (qv), Gen 'Norman Schwarzkopf' (qv) and many former Presidents.