Billy Wirth

Jae-Ha Kim
September 1989
jaehakim.com

Casually dressed in worn Levi’s, black boots and a white turtleneck, actor Billy Wirth brushes back his trademark mane of dark, brown hair.

At 27, he exudes the unwitting confidence of the young, priviliged and very good looking. He talks with a rough, New York street smart accent, but he looks like the top male model he once was. There’s more to Wirth than meets the eye.

For instance, with his first lead role in Hemdale Picture’s “War Party” under his belt, Wirth could have bartered for more juicy roles. But instead, he chose to compete on the “American Gladiators,” a fun, but bizarre, TV show that combines the theatrics of pro wrestling with intense athletic competition.

“I’ve had people tell me I’ve got to be more focused with my career,” he says. “But that’s bull. I don’t want to be just one thing. I do what I want to do because I like it. And as long as I’ve got food on the table, my rent paid and a little spending money, that’s all I need right now.”

On the “American Gladiators,” he competed in such oddly named events as the Joust and the Human Cannonball. At 6 foot tall and 170 pounds, Wirth was about four inches shorter and 70 pounds lighter than his competition. But what he lacked in bulk, he more than made up in agility and athletic finesse. Wirth made it into the quarter finals of the competition, which will air in December.

“I loved doing that show,” Wirth says in his suite at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. “The competition was great, and I had so much fun. I’d do it again in a minute.”

Although it may have been fun, the TV show isn’t something that most young, rising stars would choose to have on their resume. But Wirth believes if people would just do their best and quit worrying about what other people think, they’d be a lot happier with their own lives.

“There are so many things in life that interest me,” he says. “It’s not fair to myself to limit myself to doing what people think is ‘right.’ Film actors are prejudiced against TV actors, writers don’t like actors and vice versa, and actors think musicians have it easy. That’s just silly. If it interests you, my theory is to do just it.”

If he had let prejudice against television projects stand in his way, Wirth probably would have lost the role that’s brought him his best reviews. Although he won notoriety as one of the teenage vampires in 1987’s Lost Boys, it wasn’t until Wirth portrayed rock star Eddie Tempest on CBS’ “Wise Guys” that people began asking who he was.

“That was a big break in my career because I was on for three episodes, and I got to play a lot of different emotions,” he says. “At first when you saw Eddie, he was just this belligerent punk. And you thought, God, what a stereotype. But through the course of the story, you saw that he was just this kid who wanted to play his music, and the business people were screwing around with him.” Tempest got his revenge by screwing around with the boss’ wife, but the tryst ended in tragedy when they accidentally plunged through a glass atrium to their deaths.

That’s show biz. Wirth, who enjoys doing his own stunts, was more disappointed the producers wouldn’t let him take the fall than at being “killed off.”

Although his uncommonly handsome features are his calling card, Wirth says he’d be just as happy behind the camera as in front of it. He enjoys writing, and has just finished working on a screenplay called “Street Urchins.” A kind of modern-day Oliver Twist, the treatment has already perked the interest of actor Lou Gossett Jr.

Wirth also is a songwriter-singer who’s penned an eclectic array of songs. While the thought of another actor-turned-singer may induce groans, it should be noted that Wirth actually has talent. He was shy about giving an a capella performance of some of his more romantic material, but Wirth exhibited a good rapping style with his street-influenced tunes.

He gives the illusion of coming from the streets, but Wirth actually was raised on New York’s Park Avenue and earned an Ivy League diploma from Brown University.

He got into acting during his junior year at college, but sports was his first “outlet for creativity.” Wirth still holds a track and field record at Brown for a 6-foot-10 high jump.

“I see a lot of common traits between sports and arts,” Wirth says.  “They both take a lot of preparation and care to do well. Sports always came fairly easy to me, but acting was something I had to work at more. When I get to combine the two by doing my own stunts in projects, that’s the ideal for me.”

Laughing, he adds, “I suppose I could kill myself doing some of the stuff I’ve done.” Like in “War Party,” I jump off a horse and tackle a guy. But I love physical challenges. I think when you do your own stunts, it brings more reality to part you play. I also like that adrenalin rush you get from doing stunts. I’m totally into it, but I know my limits. I don’t think I’ll ever seriously injure myself.”

Wirth has a similarly cavalier attitude about his acting career. Although he’d like all his projects to be hits, he realizes the law of probability bodes against it. “I take projects that excite me and make me want to go to work,” Wirth said. “I’d rather they didn’t bomb. But if they do, that’s OK, because part of success is failing.”