Background and career
William E. “Billy” Wirth (born June 23, 1962) is an American actor, film producer, and former fashion model, best known for his role as the vampire Dwayne in the 1987 horror film The Lost Boys.
Wirth was born on June 23, 1962 in New York City, in the United States. He was the son of Morris A. Wirth an American who was of Russian and Jewish 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, is of Anglo-American and Native American heritage. Wirth was a student at Collegiate School (New York), where he was a classmate of musician John Hermann, and attended Brown University 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 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. His performance as Dwayne in The Lost Boys followed, and he landed a starring role in the 1988 film War Party.
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's 1993 film Body Snatchers as well as Sex and the City 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 in 1992. He also starred in Charmed as the warlock, 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 in 2001.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
