Billy Wirth (born June 23, 1962) is an American

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

actor, film producer, and former fashion model, best known for his role as the vampire, Dwayne in the 1987 horror film, ''

The Lost Boys ''The Lost Boys'' is a 1987 American comedy horror film directed by Joel Schumacher, produced by Harvey Bernhard, and with the screenplay written by Jeffrey Boam, Janice Fischer, and James Jeremias, from a story by Fischer and Jeremias. The ...

''.

Life and career

Nicknamed "Billy", he was born William E. Wirth on June 23, 1962 in New York City, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He was the son of Morris A. Wirth an American who was of

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

background, who worked as a lawyer, while his mother Jean Wirth was a visual artist. His mother Jean, who was born in the state of

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, is of

Anglo-American Anglo-American can refer to: * the Anglosphere (the Anglo-American world) * Anglo-American, something of, from, or related to Anglo-America ** the Anglo-Americans demographic group in Anglo-America * Anglo American plc Anglo American plc is a ...

and Native American heritage. Wirth was a student at

Collegiate School (New York) Collegiate School is an all-boys private school on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. Founded by Dutch colonists in either 1628 or 1638, it is the nation's oldest private secondary school, and claims to be the nation's oldest scho ...

, where he was a classmate of musician

John Hermann John "JoJo" Hermann (born July 18, 1962) is an American singer, musician and songwriter, best known for his involvement in the band Widespread Panic. Early life He was born in New York City and attended Collegiate School, where he was a class ...

, and attended

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

where he was discovered by fashion model photographer Bruce Weber, and soon began a modeling career. He modeled for American and European fashion magazines such as Seventeen, GQ, Interview, Teen magazines and took part in

fashion show A fashion show is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the spring/summer and fall/winter seasons. This is wh ...

events in the 1980s. Wirth originally worked as a fashion model until he gave up on fashion and turned to Hollywood acting. Wirth moved to Los Angeles, California in the mid 1980s to pursue an acting career, which began with a role in the 1985 feature film, ''

Seven Minutes in Heaven Seven minutes in heaven (or seven minutes in the closet) is a kissing party game mostly played at teenage parties. The game may also be played with a different duration. Game Two people are selected to go into a closet or other dark enclosed space ...

''. His performance as Dwayne in ''The Lost Boys'' followed, and he landed a starring role in the 1988 film ''

War Party War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organize ...

''. Wirth continued modeling combining it with acting, until he walked away from the fashion industry in the early 1990s, to dedicate his time to full-time acting. In the 1990s he appeared in both film and television, appearing in

Abel Ferrara Abel Ferrara (; born July 19, 1951) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for the provocative and often controversial content in his movies and his use and redefinition of neo-noir imagery. A long-time independent filmmaker, some of his best ...

's 1993 film ''

Body Snatchers Body snatching is the illicit removal of corpses from graves, morgues, and other burial sites. Body snatching is distinct from the act of grave robbery as grave robbing does not explicitly involve the removal of the corpse, but rather theft from t ...

'' as well as ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

'' and '' CSI''. He took part in the global-hit television game show '' American Gladiators'', competing during the series' first season in 1989 and advancing to the first-half semi-finals before failing to win the title. He also appeared in the official ''Electric Crown'' music video by the American heavy metal band,

Testament A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true. In law it usually means last will and testament. Testament or The Testament can also refer to: Books * ''Testament'' (comic book), a 2005 comic book * ''Testament'', a thriller no ...

in 1992. He also starred in ''

Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadc ...

'' as the witch, Matthew Tate. Since 1999, besides acting in films, he has been writing, directing, and producing independent films. His most notable film directing was ''

MacArthur Park MacArthur Park (originally Westlake Park) is a park dating back to the late 19th century in the Westlake, Los Angeles, Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In the early 1940s, it was renamed after General Douglas MacArthur, and la ...

'' in 2001.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

;

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

: ;Taos Talking Picture Festival:

References

External links

Billy Wirth - Biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wirth, Billy Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors Male models from New York (state) American people of Russian descent American people of Jewish descent American people of British descent American people of Native American descent Contestants on American game shows Collegiate School (New York) alumni Year of birth missing (living people)