Alex Winter

Alex Winter found early fame as one half of "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" (1989) before later finding acclaim as a documentary filmmaker. Born in London, the son of professional dancers, he moved with his mother to the United States as a child. After his family relocated to the New York area while he was in his early teens, he began acting in stage productions both on and off Broadway. He attended New York University's famed film school and then relocated to Los Angeles to continue his acting career. He made his screen debut in the Charles Bronson action film "Death Wish 3" (1985). A role as one of Kiefer Sutherland's gang of vampires in "The Lost Boys" (1987) brought Winter to the attention of a larger audience. He stepped up to a starring role when he teamed with Keanu Reeves for "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure." The dimwitted pairs' time-traveling romp connected with audiences and was a hit. The film spawned a sequel, "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" (1991), as well as an animated series, "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" (CBS, 1990), that saw Winter reprising his role as Bill S. Preston. Outside of the franchise, he also starred in the comedy "Rosalie Goes Shopping" (1989). As his acting career slowed, he turned increasingly towards directing. He had directed the music video for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' song "Taste the Pain" in 1989, and made his feature debut with "Freaked" (1993). He continued directing music videos throughout the '90s, before writing and directing the drama "Fever" (1999), starring Henry Thomas. He moved into directing television, including the TV movies "Ben 10: Race Against Time" (2007) and "Ben 10: Alien Swarm" (2009). He started down a different path when he directed the documentary "Downloaded" (VH1, 2013) about the music file-sharing software Napster. His next effort "Deep Web" (Epix, 2015), exploring the Internet's so-called "Dark Web," earned him critical praise. A pair of short-form documentaries followed; "Relatively Free" (20