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Billy Wirth

Billy Wirth has built the kind of career that refuses to stay in one lane. Born in New York City on June 23, 1962, he began in fashion before moving to Los Angeles in the mid-1980s to pursue acting. His first feature-film role came in 1985 with Seven Minutes in Heaven, followed by the part that remains central to his screen identity: Dwayne in The Lost Boys. A starring role in 1988’s War Party soon followed. Wirth continued to balance modeling and acting until the early 1990s, when he left the fashion industry to concentrate on acting full time. His work during that decade moved between film and television, including Abel Ferrara’s 1993 Body Snatchers and appearances in Sex and the City and CSI. He also played the warlock Matthew Tate in Charmed, adding another supernatural role to a career that has often found room for characters with a darker edge. There are some less expected turns in Wirth’s résumé as well. In 1989, he competed during the first season of American Gladiators and advanced to the first-half semi-finals. Three years later, he appeared in Testament’s official music video for “Electric Crown.” Together, those appearances reflect a screen career that has extended beyond conventional film and television roles. Since 1999, Wirth has also worked behind the camera, writing, directing and producing independent films. His directing work includes MacArthur Park, released in 2001. That expansion into filmmaking gives his career a broader shape: he began as a model, established himself as a film and television actor, and then took on the work of creating projects as well as performing in them. Across those different roles, Wirth’s path has remained closely tied to independent-minded screen work and a willingness to move between forms.