Stephen Baldwin

Stephen Baldwin
Stephen Baldwin at CPAC in Washington, D.C.
Born	Stephen Andrew Baldwin May 12, 1966 (1966-05-12) (age 44) Massapequa, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, director, producer, author
Years active	1986–present
Spouse	Kennya Baldwin (1990–present)
Website
http://www.stephenbaldwin.com/

Stephen Baldwin (born May 12, 1966) is an American actor, director, producer, author and the youngest of the Baldwin brothers, best known for his roles as William F. Cody in the western show The Young Riders (1989–1992) and as Stuart in the movie Threesome (1994.) Other notable films Baldwin starred in were Posse (1993), 8 Seconds (1994), The Usual Suspects (1995), Fall Time (1995), Bio-Dome (1996), Fled (1996), One Tough Cop (1998), The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000), The Harpy (2007), and The Flyboys (2008).

Early life

Baldwin was born in Massapequa, New York. His mother is Carol Newcomb (née Martineau, born 1930), who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1990 and had a double mastectomy.^[1] His father was Alexander Rae Baldwin, Jr., (October 1927 - April 1983),^[2] who died of lung cancer. Stephen Baldwin is the brother of notable actors, Alec, Daniel and William, sometimes collectively known as the "Baldwin brothers". Baldwin was raised in a Catholic family of Irish, English and French descent.^[3][4] Baldwin has two sisters, Elizabeth Keuchler (born 1955) and Jane Sasso (born 1965).^[5]

Career

During his time at Berner High School, Baldwin was a successful opera singer.^[6] After high school, he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.^[7] He played small roles in shows like Kate and Allie and Family Ties, before landing his first feature film role as an adult, in the 1988 film The Beast. That role led to other parts, in the 1989 films Last Exit to Brooklyn and Born on the Fourth of July, as well as the television series The Young Riders. In 1994, he appeared in Threesome and in 1995 he landed a breakthrough role in The Usual Suspects. Baldwin's next role was in Bio-Dome, in 1996. In 2000, he was memorable as a buffed Barney Rubble in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas.

In 2002, Baldwin participated in Celebrity Mole Hawaii, the first celebrity edition of The Mole. ABC broadcast the program in early 2003. Later that year he returned for Celebrity Mole Yucatán, which ABC aired in early 2004.

In August 2007, Baldwin was back on television when CMT cast him in Ty Murray's Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge, one of nine celebrities cast.^[8] In the first episode, Baldwin was injured in a bad fall from a wooden pontoon, breaking his shoulder blade and cracking a rib. Under doctor's orders, he left the show in the second episode.

From January-March 2008, Baldwin appeared on Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice, Season 7, on NBC. Baldwin finished fifth out of the 14 celebrity contestants.

Baldwin and Trace Adkins became friends while competing on Celebrity Apprentice. In October 2008, Baldwin appeared in the Adkins' music video, "Muddy Water".

On October 18, 2008, Republican vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin joked with lifelong Democrat Alec Baldwin during a Saturday Night Live skit that Stephen is her "favorite Baldwin brother" because Stephen himself is a Republican.^[9][10]

He was a contestant on the 2009 NBC reality show, I'm a Celebrity…Get Me out of Here!.^[11] Baldwin quit the show mid-season. Lou Diamond Phillips won first place on the show. On the second episode, Baldwin baptised The Hills actor Spencer Pratt. His latest film project, Let The Game Begin, which he filmed with Adam Rodriguez in 2008, is set for an unconfirmed 2010 release date.

Ministry

In September 2006, Baldwin released his book titled The Unusual Suspect, which details highlights from his personal life, career, days of drug abuse, and ultimately, his turn to becoming a born-again Christian after the 9/11 attacks.^[12] In the same year, Baldwin, Mario D'Ortenzio and Bobby Brewer founded "Breakthrough Ministry", which was designed to utilize extreme sports as a ministry via arena tours, called "AsSalt Tours". The tours featured extreme sports celebrities, with Christian Hosoi being the most notable. In 2007, Daniel Southern joined Baldwin as President of his ministry.^[13] In late 2008, Baldwin formed a for-profit organization called, "Antioch Ministry", which exists "to facilitate the gifts and calling of Stephen Baldwin".^[14] In 2009, Baldwin and Southern launched a third ministry called "Now More Than Ever", designed to reach enlisted men and women in the military, around the world.

In 2008, Baldwin teamed up with conservative talk-radio host Kevin McCullough to put together a Saturday radio show called, "Baldwin/McCullough Radio". As of April 18, 2009, the show airs on more than 213 stations and in more than 400 cities across the country. And worldwide on Sirius 161 and XM 227^[15] Baldwin appears weekly on the show from the broadcast studios in New York City, as well as from various locations around the country when he is traveling for other business purposes.

Personal life

Baldwin reads to children at the White House Easter Egg Roll

Baldwin resides in the village of Nyack, New York, with his wife, the Brazilian graphic designer Kennya Baldwin (née Deodato), whom he met in 1987 and married in 1990. The couple have two children, Alaia (born 1993) and Hailey Rhode (born 1996).^[16] His father-in-law is the Grammy Award winning Brazilian musician Eumir Deodato.

In 2006, Baldwin launched a campaign to prevent an adult bookstore from opening in Nyack.^[17]

Baldwin has a tattoo on his left shoulder of the initials "HM" for Hannah Montana. He got the tattoo after making a pact with Miley Cyrus that he would be allowed to cameo on the show if he had the initials tattooed on him. He revealed the tattoo to Cyrus at a book signing in Nashville, on November 10, 2008.^[18] To date he has never appeared on the show. He has since gone on record as saying that he regrets getting the tattoo.^{[19] [20]}

Stephen and his wife, Kennya, defaulted on paying $824,488.36 on their mortgage. Baldwin's home in Upper Grandview, (Rockland County) N.Y. was being auctioned at the County Court House steps on June 12, 2009 after Bankers Trust Co. foreclosed on the home. Gannett News also reported that: "Additionally, county filings show the Baldwins owe National City Bank money for a separate mortgage and may owe tens of thousands in unpaid state and federal taxes on the property."^[21]

He filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in New York, on July 21, 2009, according to a court document that says he is millions in debt. He claimed he owes more than $2.3 million and owns a New York property valued at only $1.1 million. His wife, Kennya Baldwin, also is named in the document.^[22][23]

Since the fall of 2009,^[24] a website has been soliciting donations on Baldwin's behalf, stating that "because of this convictions [sic] it has caused him the loss of many jobs" ^[25] and that "he deserves hundreds of millions for his Job-like faithfulness in the face of relentless loss and persecution." ^[26] According to the site, Baldwin himself is not involved with it, but it has received written permission from Daniel Southern, Baldwin’s spiritual advisor and the President of Stephen’s ministries.^[26]

Upon looking up the website www.restorestephenbaldwin.org in WhoIs, the website is registered to Louis Podesta of SPX Studios who is directly related to Baldwin and Baldwin's brother Billy. Louis was the person that launched the actors online presence and even helped promote Baldwin's book "The Usual Suspect".

In an exclusive interview with the website www.popeater.com the actor denied having anything to do with the sites creation and he said that he would accept any money "donated".

Political commentary

Baldwin was a strong supporter of the McCain/Palin presidential ticket after Mike Huckabee dropped out of the 2008 presidential race. That same year, Baldwin threatened to move to Canada if Barack Obama was elected, and challenged the candidate to box for charity.^[27]

Celebrity Big Brother 2010

Baldwin was the first person to enter the Celebrity Big Brother House on January 3, 2010. The theme for this series was 'Hell', with a devil head on the front door, he frequently taunted the head by saying 'you're a loser'. During his stay in the house he frequently read passages from the Bible to his fellow housemates,^[28][29] and claimed that he would rather see his daughter get shot than have her denounce her faith, he tried to convert eventual winner Alex Reid. He failed to win many fans and was evicted on January 22, 2010, becoming the 4th housemate to be evicted. In a 3-way vote - against Ivana Trump and Sisqo - he received 50% of the public vote.^[30] He was booed by the crowd, who had earlier chanted 'Get Stephen Out'. After his eviction, the website restorestephenbaldwin.org began soliciting cash donations to improve Baldwin's career, which has supposedly been damaged by his outspoken Christian views.^[31] The website claims no direct affiliation with the actor.

Filmography

References

External links

• Stephen Baldwin at the Internet Movie Database
• Stephen Baldwin at Allmovie
• Stephen Baldwin's official website
• The Breakthrough Ministry
• Livin' It (Action Sports Ministry that Baldwin co-founded)
• Article about Baldwin's quest to close a porn store in Nyack, from Rockland Magazine
• Baldwin McCullough Radio
• Stephen Baldwin and America's Culture War An article by Alexander Osang featured in Der Spiegel, August 4, 2006
• AOL Books interview on his book The Unusual Suspect (2006)
• Video of Stephen Baldwin talking about his conversion
• Premier Christian TV interview with Stephen Baldwin about his experiences in Celebrity Big Brother house