Early life

Baldwin was born in Massapequa, New York, the son of Carolyn Newcomb (née Martineau) and Alexander Rae Baldwin, Jr., a high school history/social studies teacher and football coach.Baldwin was raised in a Catholic family of Irish and French descent. He attended Alfred G. Berner High School in Massapequa, Long Island, and played football there under Coach Bob Reifsnyder, who is in the College Football Hall of Fame. Baldwin used to work as a busboy at the famous New York City disco Studio 54. He attended George Washington University from 1976 to 1979, where he was known as "Alex." After losing a student body president election, he transferred to New York University to study acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute under Elaine Aiken and Geoffrey Horne. He then returned to NYU in 1994 and graduated with a BFA that year.

The other Baldwin brothers, Daniel (Homicide: Life on the street), William (Backdraft), and Stephen (The Usual Suspects) all followed him in becoming actors.