Adam Baldwin Bio - Biography

Name Adam Baldwin
Height 6' 4"
Naionality American
Date of Birth 27 February 1962
Place of Birth Chicago, Illinois, USA
Famous for
Adam Baldwin once worked as a truck driver before director Tony Bill discovered him. The director handed him the costarring role of Ricky Linderman, the school's most feared kid and Chris Makepeace’s bodyguard, in the drama film My Bodyguard (1980). He followed it up with a small part in Robert Redford’s adaptation of Judith Guest’s novel Ordinary People (1980, starring Donald Sutherland) and got a leading role in Joel Schumacher’s action comedy D.C. Cab (1983, costarring Mr. T), playing a young Southerner who works as a cabbie at a Washington rundown taxi company.

After appearing in the 1984’s Hadley's Rebellion and Reckless, Baldwin went to the small screen, playing roles in the TV movies Pigs Vs. Freaks (1984), Out of Time (1985), Poison Ivy (1985) and Welcome Home, Bobby (1986). He also performed on stage, in a Chicago production of “Album.” In 1986, Baldwin starred as the most feared member of a vicious street gang in Larry Gross’ 3:15 and as a young cop turned wrestler in Bad Guys.

In the film version of Gustav Hasford's novel, “The Short Timers,” Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987, with Matthew Modine and Arliss Howard), Baldwin won his first notable role of the psychopathic war-loving soldier Animal Mother. In the subsequent years, he landed casts in such films as The Chocolate War (1988), Cohen and Tate (1989), Next of Kin (1989), Predator 2 (1990), Guilty by Suspicion (1991), Radio Flyer (1992, as a drunken and abusive stepfather) and Where the Day Takes You (1992).

Jules Verne's Eight Hundred Leagues Down the Amazon (1993), Cold Sweat (1993), Bitter Harvest (1993), Treacherous (1994), Blind Justice (1994), Wyatt Earp (1994) and Digital Man (1995) were Baldwin’s film works during the early 1990s. On television, he acted in the telemovies Murder in High Places (1991), Cruel Doubt (1992), The Last Shot (1993), Deadbolt (1993), Sawbones (1995), Shadow-Ops (1995), Smoke Jumpers (1996) and Trade Off (1996). He also played the reoccurring role of Michael O'Ryan in the series "The Visitor."

Baldwin became Winona Ryder's father in Jocelyn Moorhouse’s romantic comedy film adopted from Whitney Otto’s novel, How to Make an American Quilt, in 1995. He then appeared in Roland Emmerich’s blockbuster sci-fi thriller Independence Day and costarred with Jennifer Grey, Billy Campbell and Tim Curry in Pete Shaner’s low budget comedy Lover's Knot (both in 1996).

TV audiences watched Baldwin played Col. Jack Riles in the NASA telemovie The Cape and reprised his role in its brief-running series version in 1996 until 1997. The rest of the 1990s saw Baldwin played roles in Starquest II (1997), "From the Earth to the Moon" (1998, miniseries), Gargantua (1998, TV), Indiscreet (1998, TV) and portrayed the title role in Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1999, TV).

The new millennium brought Baldwin in films like Roland Emmerich’s war drama The Patriot (starring Mel Gibson), Lyndon Chubbuck’s romantic thriller The Right Temptation (with Kiefer Sutherland, Rebecca De Mornay and Dana Delany), John Putch’s romantic Pursuit of Happiness and Stuart Alexander’s romantic drama Above and Beyond. He also appeared in the 2001’s Jackpot, Farewell, My Love, Double Bang and starred in the 2002 film, Daniel Millican’s The Keyman. TV watchers could watch him playing reoccurring role in the series "Jackie Chan Adventures" (as Finn) and "The X Files" (as Knowle Rohrer, final two seasons).

Baldwin was cast to play character Jayne Cobb in the Fox’s lamented sci-fi cult TV series "Firefly" (2002-2003) and later reprised his role in its wide screen version, Joss Whedon-directed Serenity (2005, starring Nathan Fillion). After starring in the 2003 telefilms Control Factor and Monster Makers, he portrayed the son of the most prolific serial killer in American history, John Wayne Gacy (played by Mark Holton), in Clive Saunders’ true-story based film, Gacy. He also appeared in Mark L. Lester’s thriller Betrayal, shared the screen with Erika Eleniak and Julie Du Page.

More recent, Baldwin starred in Mark Atkins’ creepy, yet inventive shocker Evil Eyes (with Udo Kier and Mark Sheppard) and costarred Camilla Rutherford in Alki David’s real-life based The Freediver (both in 2004). On the small screen, Baldwin recently played a tough, seasoned FBI agent Special Agent Danny Love, in the Fox’s psychological thriller "The Inside" (starring Rachel Nichols) and in the western drama miniseries "Into the West." He also played reoccurring roles in "Angel" (as Marcus Hamilton, final six episodes), "Stargate SG-1" (as Colonel Dave Dixon) and in the animated series "Justice League" (as Rick Flagg). He is currently completing his upcoming miniseries, playing the leading role in an adaptation of Paul Gallico’s novel, "The Poseidon Adventure," which tells about a cruise ship yields to a terrorist act and turns over on New Year's eve.

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