William E. Wirth (born June 23, 1962) is an American actor, film producer, and artist, perhaps best known for his role as Dwayne in the 1987 film, ''

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

''.

Life and career

Wirth was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to a lawyer father and an artist mother. His paternal grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants. His mother, who was born in Iowa, had Native American, English, Scottish and Irish ancestry. He was a student at Collegiate School, where he was a classmate of musician

John Hermann John "JoJo" Hermann 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 classmate of actor Billy W ...

, and attended

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, where he was discovered by photographer Karen Michele, while they were both in their teens. Karen Michele went on to have a career in photography and Billy used the first headshots Karen took to begin a modeling career in New York. He moved to California in the 1980s to pursue an acting career, which began with a role in the 1985 feature, ''

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. The game Two people are selected to go into a closet or other dark enclos ...

''. His performance as Dwayne in ''The Lost Boys'' followed, and he landed a starring role in the 1988 film '' War Party''. JoJo Hermann & Billy Wirth, 1975

Wirth continued acting, working in both film and television, appearing for example in

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

'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 ...

'' 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. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City (newspaper column), newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the ...

'' and '' CSI''. He took part in the television series '' American Gladiators'', competing during the series' first season in 1989 and advancing to the first-half semifinals before falling. 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 broadcast ...

'' as Matthew Tate. Since 1999, he has been writing, directing, and producing independent films. His work on directing, writing, and producing his 2001 film ''MacArthur Park'' has earned him several award nominations. In addition to his work in the film industry, Wirth is a musician and artist.

Filmography

Film and TV credits

Awards

;

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

: ;Taos Talking Picture Festival:

References

External links

* 1962 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors American Gladiators contestants Male actors from New York City Collegiate School (New York) alumni {{US-screen-actor-1960s-stub