Alec Baldwin caps off the 36th season of Saturday Night Live by hosting the show’s season finale this weekend. The appearance — Baldwin’s 15th — will tie the 30 Rock star with SNL alum Steve Martin for the title of star with the most hosting stints on the long-running comedy.

Maybe he’ll drop in for a surprise appearance?

Alec Baldwin braved heavy rain in the Big Apple to deliver the commencement address for the 2010 graduating class at his alma mater New York University on Wednesday. The spirited 30 Rock star — who graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts more than 30 years ago — was handed an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree during the NYU Class of 2010 ceremony at the Yankee Stadium and made a heartfelt speech for the graduates – despite the pouring rain.

“Today ends the successful fulfilment of one commitment you’ve made and begins the consideration of others you will be asked to make. In my life I have learned that when you do not commit, you do not risk and you discover you should have, that’s even more consequential. I am deeply, deeply honoured to accept this degree from my alma mater (NYU) and I’m very happy and very touched to share this with you all today. Congratulations to you all!” Alec exclaimed.

“California and Florida may have the sunshine but they don’t have New York University, am I right? I’d rather get my degree in the rain in New York any day,” the Emmy winner told the students.

Alec Baldwin admires Leonardo DiCaprio. The Emmy winner has made no secret of his sometimes displeasure with the course of his own acting career, and he wishes his fortunes were as successful as the Titanic star’s.

Baldwin, who appeared alongside DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, was left in awe of DiCaprio on the set – because the younger actor had “everything.”

“I just feel like the kind of work I would love to have done would have been more like when Leo did The Aviator. I love Leo. I adore him and envy him. I remember being there with him and thinking that he has youth, he has talent, he has opportunity, he has everything in the business. I thought, ‘What a great gift – to have that convergence of all your abilities and the opportunity to work with Marty Scorsese, and the scripts and the budgets and everything.’”

Emmy-winning actor Alec Baldwin will address the graduating class of New York University during the Class of 2012 commencement address on May 12.

He’s no Betty White, but we’ll take it!

The 30 Rock actor — who made his debut as host of the Academy Awards on Sunday — will also receive an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree at the Spring ceremony.

“We expect that the honorees will be received by the graduates and guests at commencement not merely with the respect and courtesy they deserve for their accomplishments, but with real enthusiasm,” NYU spokesman John Beckman said of Alec, a grad of the university’s acclaimed Tisch School of the Arts. “The choice of Mr. Baldwin as the host of this year’s Academy Awards and his selection as the recipient of an honorary degree from NYU are not related, other than that both are recognitions of his talent as an actor.”

In December, Baldwin donated $1 million to establish a drama scholarship for aspiring entertainers studying at The Tisch School.

Alec Baldwin’s had a tough day and he’s in no mood for tomfoolery from the shutterbugs.

Baldwin lost his shit in an incident with a photographer outside a New York City restaurant earlier today. The NYPD tells The Insider that a photographer grabbed the arm of the 30 Rock star which prompted a fired-up Alec to run outside and grab the pap’s arm right back. (Sticks out tongue….)

Alec don’t play that…No arrests were made.

The actor’s strained relationship with his 14-year-old daughter Ireland was in the news again on Thursday. The actor allegedly threatened to take sleeping pills after the two argued in Baldwin’s Central Park West apartment, prompting the frightened teen to call the authorities. Alec was temporarily hospitalized and later released.

Alec Baldwin was taken to a Manhattan hospital early Thursday morning, but the actor’s rep insists the 30 Rock star is doing fine.

WNBC News reports that a caller believed to be Baldwin’s 14-year-old daughter with ex-wife Kim Basinger, Ireland, dialed 911 saying the 51-year-old actor was unresponsive. An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, told The Associated Press that Baldwin and his daughter had argued and the teen retaliated by telling authorities that her father threatened to take pills.

Alec’s publicist issued a statement calling it “a misunderstanding on one person’s part,” adding that “Alec was quickly released from the hospital. He’s completely fine and [he] will be at work today.”

Baldwin spoke with police when they arrived at his Central Park West apartment and he was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital where he was examined and released an hour later. Baldwin — who plays Jack Donaghy on the hit NBC sitcom — is slated to co-host the Academy Awards with Steve Martin on March 7.

Alec Baldwin was rushed to a New York City hospital overnight after his 14-year-old daughter called 911 in fear for the actor’s life.

Ireland Baldwin summoned an ambulance to the star’s Manhattan home late Wednesday by telling emergency dispatchers that her dad was “unresponsive” and needed medical attention, the Big Apple’s WNBC News reports. When police and medics arrived at Baldwin’s Central Park West apartment, he agreed to taken to the hospital.

The Emmy-winning star of NBC’s 30 Rock was examined at Lenox Hill Hospital, where he remained for about an hour before being released early Thursday. It is not known why Baldwin, 51, was taken to hospital. Baldwin is due to host the 2010 Academy Awards with Steve Martin on March 7.

For Hollywood’s elite, March 7 can’t come quickly enough: The gowns, the lights, and the comedic stylings of hosting duo Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.

The guys will be sharing duties as Masters of Ceremonies at this year’s Academy Awards, and both Martin and Baldwin and photographed perched highly atop the shoulders of an Oscar statuette on this newly-released poster promoting next month’s show.

Alec Baldwin has launced a $1 million scholarship fund at his alma mater.

The actor — who won an Primetime Emmy for his role on the NBC series 30 Rock earlier this year — is creating the Alec Baldwin Scholarship fund to benefit low income students who want to attend New York University’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts.

“The support I got from Tisch made it possible for me to become an actor and to have a career in this business. It’s important to give back to those institutions that give us such opportunities, and I encourage anyone to look into supporting their alma mater.”

The first scholarships will be given in September 2010. Recipients, dubbed Alec Baldwin Drama Scholars,
must have good academic standing and demonstrate the need for financial assistance.

While he’s keen to foster young thespians’ interests in the arts, Alec recently said he plans to quit acting in 2012 as he no longer has the passion for it.

“I don’t have any interest in acting anymore. I’m not young, but I have time to do something else.”

Alec Baldwin will hang up his acting shoes after his 30 Rock contract ends, calling his career a “complete failure.”

“I don’t have any interest in acting anymore,” Baldwin revealed in an interview wih Men’s Journal this week. “Movies are part of my past. It’s been 30 years. I’m not young, but I have time to do something else.”

He’s starred in flicks like The Hunt for Red October and Glengarry Glen Ross, but despite his success, his Baldwin characterizes his acting career as a “complete failure.”

“It’s a difficult thing to say, but I believe it,” Baldwin said. “The goal of moviemaking is to star in a film where your performance drives the film, and the film is either a soaring critical or commercial success, and I never had that.”

Baldwin, 51, is the star of 30 Rock, the critically acclaimed sitcom that’s earned multiple Emmys for him and the show. His latest project, It’s Complicated, stars Steve Martin and Meryl Streep and will open Christmas Day.