He was a hot name in the 1980s after he starred in a hilarious movie with Keanu Reeves which spawned two sequels.
Though he never grabbed the spotlight as a movie star, this actor made a career for himself in Hollywood for many decades afterwards.
He popped up in movies alongside actors such as Brooke Shields, Laura Dern and Kiefer Sutherland. And he even played a vampire in one cult classic film.
But the star, who attended New York University, found his most brilliant moments behind the camera, creating, directing and producing several comedies.
One of his documentaries focused on Donald Trump.
Most surprising about this Hollywood success story is that he was not born in the United States; the multi-hyphenate spent his first five years of his life in London.
Deja vu: He was a hot name in the 1980s after he starred in a movie with Keanu Reeves. Though he never grabbed the spotlight as a movie star, this actor made a career for himself in Hollywood working with Brooke Shields, Laura Dern and Kiefer Sutherland. But he found his most brilliant moments behind the camera. Who is he?
The actor is Alex Winter.
The 57-year-old star worked with Keanu on the 1989 movie Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
In the film Alex played Bill S Preston, who attended high school with his best friend Ted, played by Reeves.
They want to start a rock band together but they are about to fail their history class, which means Ted would be sent to military school.
They receive help from Rufus (played by George Carlin), a traveler from a future where their band is the foundation for a perfect society.
With the use of Rufus’ time machine, Bill and Ted travel to various points in history, returning with important figures to help them complete their final history presentation.
The film was considered a big success because it made $40 million at the box office after costing only $10 million to make.
It subsequently did very well in rentals and DVD sales after Keanu took off as an action star with the movie Speed which also featured Sandra Bullock.
Bill & Ted then spawned sequels.
The big reveal: The actor is Alex Winter, seen here on Saturday at the MOCA Gala in Los Angeles with his wife Ramsey Ann Naito
Cult classic: Alex is seen here with his costar Keanu Reeves in the 1989 movie Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Sweet: Keanu put an arm around his girlfriend Alexandra Grant as they posed with Alex and Ramsey
In 1991 came Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey and in 2020 there was Bill & Ted Face The Music.
Winter made movies before his Bill & Ted’s fame: he acted in Haunted Summer with Dern and The Lost Boys with Sutherland.
Following the success of Bill & Ted, Winter and creative collaborators Tom Stern (his buddy from NYU) and Tim Burns were hired to develop a sketch comedy show for MTV.
In 1991 they came out with The Idiot Box, but it was canceled after six episodes due to its budget.
Next came the 1993 movie Freaked with Shields as well as William Shatner. It was never widely released, but eventually developed a cult following.
In 1999 he directed the film Fever that was shown at the Cannes Film Festival.
He has better luck with the Cartoon Network series Ben 10 which debuted in 2007.
The actor seen then and now: Winter is pictured left in 1989’s Bill & Ted’s and seen right on Saturday night at the MOCA Gala
Another one: Their 80s hit film spawned the sequel Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey from 1991
They just can’t stop the music: And the actors and close friends also made the 2020 sequel Bill And Ted Face The Music
In 2016, Winter released a short documentary entitled Relatively Free about journalist Barrett Brown’s release from prison.
This was followed in 2017 by another short documentary, Trump’s Lobby about Donald Trump. The film focused on the flow of high level visitors to the penthouse apartment in Trump Tower that turned into a media spectacle.
In 2018, Winter released two documentaries, The Panama Papers, about the Panama Papers, and Trust Machine: The Story Of Blockchain.
He then worked on the biographical documentary about Frank Zappa which was released in 2020.
Winter was married to Sonya Dawson, with whom he had a son, born in 1998. The couple later divorced.
In 2010, he married Ramsey Ann Naito and they welcomed two children.
A classic: Seen far right in The Lost Boys in (1987). Also pictured are Kiefer Sutherland and Jamie Gertz, center, with costars
Another film: In 1988 he starred in Haunted Summer. Authors Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, and Mary Shelley gather at an isolated villa for a legendary summer and compete to write the best horror story. Laura Dern costarred
His passion project: He also worked on the movie Freaked with Brooke Shields and William Shatner
Ramsey Ann was by Alex’s side at the MOCA event on Saturday as she looked fashionable in a gold and black patterned dress. Her raven-hued locks were parted down the middle as they fell over her chest in a straight style.
She donned a long gold chain necklace and wore a pair of square-shaped, black-framed eyeglasses.
Also at the MOCA event was Keanu who was seen kissing his girlfriend Alexandra Grant. The 58-year-old John Wick star shared a sweet kiss with the 50-year-old visual artist as they arrived at the event.
Reeves, who first went public with Grant in 2019, was dressed in a black suit with a white button-up shirt.
For her part, Alexandra looked ravishing in a bright red dress with a floral pattern throughout for the couple’s moment on the red carpet.
Keanu, who starred in 2022’s DC League of Super-Pets, wore his long, dark hair loose and slightly disheveled. He looked typically handsome with spots of white-gray hair in his fully-grown beard.
Trump is a part of his resume: Alex also worked on a documentary called Trump’s Lobby; seen on April 14 at the 152nd National Rifle Association (NRA) annual Convention at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana
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This actor made a hit movie with Keanu Reeves in the 1980s – can you guess who he is?
