Alex Winter on AllMovie

American actor Alex Winter is best known for playing Bill S. Preston, Esq. in the popular Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) and its sequel, Bill and Ted's Bogus Adventure (1991). After the success of those silly but funny films, it seemed that Winter, like his co-star Keanu "Ted" Reeves, was destined to be a star. But only Reeves hit the big time while Winter languished.

He was born the son of two modern dancers, what Winter also started out to be, having received dance training in London between ages four and seven. His older brother is a musician and composer. When his family relocated to St. Louis, MO, he was sent to an improvisation workshop. Winter launched his acting career in regional theater and spent six years on Broadway after making his debut in a production of The King and I. As a young man, he enrolled in a film production program at New York University where he studied writing and editing. Winter made an inauspicious film debut in Michael Winner's Death Wish II (1985). Choosing to finish college first, Winter did not appear in another film until 1987 when he was cast as one of Kiefer Sutherland's vampire gang in The Lost Boys. Winter went on to work in television commercials and as an occasional series guest star until landing a role in the forgettable Haunted Summer (1989). In 1993, Winter penned the screenplay, co-produced, and co-directed the offbeat film Freaked.