Alec Baldwin

A strong script on a subject matter close to his heart, a starring role and an affiliation as an executive producer is all it took to land Alec Baldwin in the lead role of the two-hour miniseries "Nuremberg" (Sun., July 16 and Mon., July 17, 8-10 p.m., TNT) - his first television role since "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1995).

"I`m no different than anybody else in that I often avoid television because of the pace," Baldwin, 42, explains. "In TV, they shoot too quickly and you normally don`t have a chance to the work as lovingly as you might want to. But `Nuremberg` is a special opportunity to reintroduce an element of history to an audience that hasn`t seen anything like it in a long time.

"It goes way back to Stanley Kramer`s `Judgment At Nuremberg` (1961), a great film (which earned Oscars for best film and best director) build around several fictional characters," says the strapping 6-footer in his trademark voice, suggesting a load of shifting gravel wrapped in velvet.

"When it became clear that our version was more than a remake of `Judgment,` one that`s based on real people and actual court transcripts, I wanted to be a part of it."

Using Joseph E. Persico`s highly acclaimed book, "Nuremberg: Infamy On Trial," as a guide, the miniseries chronicles the unimaginable atrocities perpetrated by the Third Reich during World War II - the most cataclysmic event of the 20th century. The story focuses on the trial of 22 of Nazi Germany`s leaders at the International Military Tribunal convened in Nuremberg for 11 months stretching from 1945 to 1946.

Baldwin portrays U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, the chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials. The defendants, include Hermann Goering (Brian Cox), Rudolph Hess (Roc LaFortune), Albert Speer (Herbert Knaup) and Alfred Rosenberg (Alain Fournier). Once the paperwork was cleared, Baldwin went to work researching his character with customary meticulousness. He soon discovered that Robert Jackson (1892-1954) - appointed to the Supreme Court in 1941 by Franklin Delanor Roosevelt and who once had present-day Chief Justice William Rehnquist as a law clerk - had a mixed judicial record. Jackson was a virulent anti-Communist, favored the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, but helped pave the way for racial integration in the Brown vs. the Board of Education decision in the early 1950s.

History notes that Jackson was an energetic and logical justice, but a totally inexperienced prosecutor generally considered "undistinguished" in his efforts to cross-examine the arrogant Hermann Goering.

"Goering, Hitler`s second in command, was a crafty guy who caused Jackson to stumble for a few months," says Baldwin. "He started the trial by pursuing a (boring) paper trail, then found his feet when persuaded to also play up the Nazi`s atrocities against humanity.

"By the end of the trial, Jackson clearly understands that the Germans did something different from other `conventional wars` in history," Baldwin continues. "This was not some rogue operation, or a renegade outfit, that committed crimes against humanity. This was administered by the government of the German people; the people themselves. They systematically committed these heinous crimes, including exterminating 6 million Jews - many of them citizens of their own country. Yet most Germans claimed they didn`t know what was going on."

For a change of pace, he portrays Mr. Conductor in the summer film release, "Thomas and the Magic Railroad," the famous children`s story of a young girl experiencing a series of delightful adventures on her way from the big city to visit her grandfather in the country. Also slated for release later this year is David Mamet`s "State and Main," portraying a Hollywood star who - along with the film`s rowdy crew - take over a small New England town while shooting a movie.

In high gear, Baldwin is currently in Hawaii filming "Pearl Harbor," producer Jerry Bruckheimer`s reported $200 million blockbuster World War II flick revolving around two soldiers who fall in love with the same woman shortly before the Japanese attack. He portrays Jimmy Doolittle, the Army Air corps legend chosen to bomb Tokyo in the wake of the assault on Pearl Harbor.

The family that plays together, stays together, and Baldwin is seldom on location without the company of his wife of seven years, Kim Basinger (the 1997 Academy Award winner for "L.A. Confidential") and their 5-year-old daughter, Ireland Eliesse. When Basinger shot "I Dreamed of Africa" a couple of years ago, her husband and baby stayed with her in the South African bush for three months.

Extremely protective of his family and fiercely guarding his privacy, Baldwin has been known to go to extreme on occasion. As in 1995, when an annoying paparazzo appeared in his driveway as he was bringing his wife and newborn home from the hospital. The actor was accused of shoving a camera back in photographer Alan Zanger`s face, breaking his glasses and coating his truck windows with shaving cream. Finding both to blame three years later in a civil case, a jury awarded Zanger $4,500 to cover lost wages and medical expenses, but recently denied the tabloid photographer`s request for $18,000 in legal expenses.

The second oldest of six children (including three brothers who are working actors) in an Irish Catholic family, Baldwin was born in Amityville, N.Y., to a steel-willed homemaker and a very popular high school teacher.

"By the way, most of us don`t believe in the haunted house thing in the `Amityville Horror` movie," he says, laughing. "We think it`s a lot of b.s. that only became an issue after somebody decided to make a lousy movie out of it."

Upon graduation from Massapequa High School in Long Island, Baldwin enrolled for a couple of years as a political science major at George Washington University, then switched his major to drama and transferred to New York University. In 1980, before he had a chance to obtain a bachelor`s degree, he made his professional acting debut in a daytime soap, "The Doctors" - a short-term gig that stretched to two years of valuable experience. The high-profile role of TV evangelist Joshua Rush (1984-85) on "Knots Landing" opened many doors for the intense actor, including starring roles in such motion pictures as "The Edge," "The Getaway," "Glengarry Glen Ross," "The Hunt For Red October," "Miami Blues," "Married To The Mob" and "Beetlejuice."

"I`ve thought about other professions, including politics, but I don`t think I could do anything else for a living," says Baldwin, "because it`s a unique endeavor that allows you lots of freedom in terms of time."

(c) Copley News Service

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Author: Eirik Knutzen