Alec Baldwin: Entertainer of the year

No. 4 – The CEO of comedy

Alec Baldwin keeps threatening to quit acting. But doing that would just be cruel to those of us who love him — especially after the rollicking year he’s had. In 2009, the 51-year-old actor won his second consecutive Emmy for playing 30 Rock‘s dependably hilarious network suit/microwave-oven maven Jack Donaghy. Now he’s earning Oscar buzz for his equally sidesplitting performance as Meryl Streep’s ex-husband-turned-lover in It’s Complicated. ”To do a movie with somebody who brings as much equity as Meryl was amazing,” Baldwin says. ”It was a great, great thing for me. But the first couple of days were weird. I’d be like, ‘Could you say that again because I wasn’t listening to a word you were saying. I was just kind of staring at you.”’ No doubt Baldwin will provide more of his deadpan humor at the March 7 Oscars ceremony, which he’s hosting with his It’s Complicated costar and longtime pal Steve Martin. Whether he gets that Supporting Actor nomination or not, it should be one helluva fun night at the Kodak.