Alec Baldwin Reflects on 'Painful' Loss of His Dad 41 Years After His Death: He 'Was an Important Part of My Life'

Alec Baldwin is paying tribute to his late father, Alexander Rae Baldwin Jr., on his 97th birthday.

The actor (born Alexander Rae Baldwin III) posted a video to Instagram on Saturday, Oct. 26, where he recalled his father dying just 12 days after his own 25th birthday back in 1983.

"I always feel inept, 'cause I can't think of things to say ... and that's not true, I can think of things to say, but I guess it's kind of too painful to say them. But my dad was an important part of my life, even though I was young when he died," said Baldwin.

"Now I'm 66 years old," he went on. "I outlived my dad, which is just horrifying to me. I always wonder the same thing, which is what life would've been if my dad had been around longer. If he was alive today, he would be 96 years old. That would be a lot to ask, I guess, 96."

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Alec said that "even with so much time" where "it's all so blurry now" since his father died, he still thinks back on the lessons the late former high-school-football coach taught him.

"Fathers are always standing in the wings for so much of your life when you're a kid, and then they become more ... the things that they have to say or the things that they offer you as a parent are more relevant and more interesting as they get older," he said.

"So anyway, happy birthday to my dad. Happy birthday to my dad, wherever you are," he concluded.

Alec is the second-oldest of six children born to Alexander Jr. and his wife Carol, who died in May 2022 at age 92. His siblings are actor brothers Daniel, Billy and Stephen Baldwin, plus sisters Elizabeth and Jane Baldwin.

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Back on the 36th anniversary of Alexander Jr.'s death in 2019, Alec shared a photo of his late father and wrote that he "was a uniquely caring, dedicated, stern, smart and, at times, funny man who served as a public school teacher and coach for 28 years until his death at age 55."

“Beyond missing those who are no longer with us, beyond wondering where they have gone and how life might have been if they had lived longer, the loss of a parent sets in motion the 'orphan clock,' " the Beetlejuice star continued. "The time when, after both parents are gone, one is an orphan in the world. With no one alive to parent you, which is a wondrous and vital calling.”

“My mother is still alive, but the death of my father effected [sic] me tremendously and set me on a course of seeking other men to advise me. To care for me. Mentor me,” Alec continued at the time. “No one has quite filled that position.”

He concluded, “A mother, a father, under the best of circumstances, though never perfect ones, are irreplaceable. I miss you, Dad.”