Baldwin to quit '30 Rock' after contract expires

Alec Baldwin is to quit '30 Rock' in 2012.

The 52-year-old star - who plays Jack Donaghy in hit NBC sitcom - has revealed he will not be returning to the show when his contract expires, as he would "rather do other things".

Speaking to CNN, he said: "As much as I like acting, I know that I would love to have a different life, a private life. I think doing this now for a living has become really hard. It's really hard.

"I would rather go do other things and have whatever amount of time I have left in my life, have more of a normal life. I want to find out if it's possible. How close can I get."

The 'Hunt For Red October' star - who has scooped two Emmy awards, three Golden Globes and four Screen Actors Guild accolades throughout his lengthy career - first sparked rumours he would be retiring at the end of his current contract in 2009 after saying he had no interest in acting anymore.

He explained: "I don't have any interest in acting anymore. I'm not young, but I have time to do something else.

"I consider my entire movie career a complete failure. 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."