Biography

	Alexis Denisof was born February 25,1966, in Salisbury, Maryland. His mother hailed from Philadelphia, while his father's family were Russian immigrants. He was raised in Seattle, Washington, where he performed for a time with A Contemporary Theater (ACT), then attended the exclusive St. Paul's boarding school in New Hampshire. He spent three years studying at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, as well as the Royal Shakespearean Company. In England, he was cast in such shows as Hamlet, working opposite Ian McKellan. He lived in London for thirteen years before moving back to the US.
In his own words: "I thought that I would probably be there for a year or two - or maybe three - but I fell in love with London and England and I stayed... I still have a house there, lots of good friends and lots of funny accents as a result." (bbc.co.uk) In spite of having fairly steady work in England, when he returned to America, he met the usual obstacle of no job, no money, and no place to live. Luckily, Mary Steenburgen, whom he had befriended while making "Noah's Ark," took him in, and he lived with Mary and her husband, Ted Danson, for a year. "Ted and Mary are my saviors," he has said. "I definitely wouldn't have made it without their psychological and emotional support." (imdb.com) Alexis finally landed in the universe of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" with the Season 3 episode, "Bad Girls," in which his character, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, arrived to take the place of fired Watcher Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head). Wes was originally presented as a bumbling, arrogant twot, but in "Choices," we saw the seeds of the character he would later become when Wes joined Angel in Los Angeles in the spinoff series, "Angel." Over the course of four and two-thirds seasons on "Angel," Wes evolved from annoying prat to leather-clad Rogue Demon Hunter, to a sexy, tragic, wounded hero who finally gave his life (until further notice) in the pursuit of the good fight.
	The Buffyverse was not only a major career move for Alexis, but also affected his personal life. On October 11, 2003, he married former co-star Alyson Hannigan, who played Willow on "Buffy." From IMDB: His relationship with Alyson Hannigan was beset with many false starts at first. She asked him out when they first met on the Buffy set, but he declined, citing a personal rule against dating coworkers. By the time he left the show, she was already dating someone else, but Alexis and Aly became friends regardless, eventually becoming so close that other people assumed they were dating. They finally decided to take the plunge and enter into a genuine romantic relationship, but not without fears that, if it didn't work out, they might wreck their friendship. Obviously, it was a successful gamble.

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