Alexis Arquette

Early life

Arquette was born in Los Angeles, the fourth of five children of Lewis Arquette, an actor and director, and Brenda Olivia "Mardi" (née Nowak), a Jewish actress, poet, theater operator, activist, acting teacher, and therapist. Lewis's family's surname was originally "Arcouet"; Lewis's father was comedian Cliff Arquette, who went by the stage name of Charley Weaver. Arquette was distantly related to American explorer Meriwether Lewis. Actors Rosanna, Richmond, Patricia, and David Arquette are her siblings.

Career

In 1982, at the age of 12, Arquette's first acting gig was as "this little kid who's on a ride with all these women and whatnot" in the music video "She's a Beauty" by The Tubes. In 1986, Arquette made her big screen debut in an uncredited role as Alexis, the androgynous friend and bandmate of sexually ambivalent teenager Max Whiteman (Evan Richards) in Down and Out in Beverly Hills.

Arquette, in the earlier years of her career, primarily performed as a female impersonator, frequently under the name "Eva Destruction". Later in her career, Arquette made public that she had begun the process leading to sex reassignment surgery. To this end, Arquette had publicly declared that she considered her gender to be female.

At 19, Arquette played trans sex worker Georgette in the screen adaptation of Last Exit to Brooklyn. The majority of Arquette's film work was in low-budget or independent films. In total, Arquette starred in more than 40 movies, including I Think I Do, Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror, and Sometimes They Come Back... Again. Arquette also starred as a crack addict opposite Tim Roth in Jumpin' at the Boneyard, as a teenage boy seeking revenge for a horrible childhood in the New Zealand-shot horror fantasy Jack Be Nimble, and as a murderous drag queen in the low budget comedy Killer Drag Queens on Dope.

Arquette also had supporting roles in Pulp Fiction, Threesome and Bride of Chucky, and she played a Boy George fanatic, George Stitzer, in the Adam Sandler–Drew Barrymore film The Wedding Singer, singing "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" over and over. Her role as Georgina, a Boy George impersonator, in another Sandler–Barrymore film, Blended, was a reference to that role. In 2001, Arquette returned to New Zealand to play Roman emperor Caligula in two episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess. That same year, Arquette guest starred in the Friends episode "The One with Chandler's Dad", in which she directly interacted with her sister-in-law, Courteney Cox. Also in the same year, she cameoed in Son of the Beach.

In September 2005, VH1 announced Arquette as one of the celebrity house-guests on the 6th season of The Surreal Life. On January 31, 2007, Arquette was a featured celebrity client and guest judge on the première episode of Bravo's reality show Top Design. Arquette also made a cameo appearance in the music video for Robbie Williams' song "She's Madonna".

Personal life

In 2004, Arquette expressed an interest in undergoing gender-transitioning medical treatment. She decided against undergoing hormone therapy and kept her choice of whether she underwent gender-affirming surgery private from the media by the time she completed her transition in 2006. Her experience was documented in the film Alexis Arquette: She's My Brother, which debuted at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. Arquette was a vocal supporter of other transgender people, including Chaz Bono, who transitioned shortly after Arquette.

Arquette contracted HIV in 1987. In later life, Arquette suffered from ill health as a result of being HIV-positive. Amid these increasing complications, Alexis began presenting again as a man in 2013.

Death

Arquette was placed in a medically-induced coma and died on September 11, 2016, at 12:32 AM. (00:32), surrounded by close family, at the age of 47. Arquette was serenaded with David Bowie's "Starman". The official cause of death was cardiac arrest caused by myocarditis stemming from HIV.

Filmography

Television

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. Bussmann, Kate. (February 9, 2015). "Patricia Arquette interview: on Boyhood, Nicolas Cage and growing up". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
2. Hoggard, Liz. (August 18, 2006). "Patricia Arquette: The not-so-dippy hippie". [[The Independent]].
3. (September 12, 2016). "Alexis Arquette, Jewish transgender actress and advocate, dies at 47".
4. (2010-02-17). "David Arquette: The Females of My Life".
5. ''[[Finding Your Roots]]'', February 9, 2016, PBS
6. Myrna Oliver. (February 13, 2001). "Lewis Arquette Obituary Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times.
7. Lee, Chris. (1998). "Interview with Alexis Arquette". indexmagazine.
8. (September 11, 2016). "Alexis Arquette's 5 Most Memorable Roles".
9. (October 14, 2005). "Alexis Arquette's Sex Change Documentary to Air on A&E". Queer Day.
10. (September 12, 2016). "Alexis Arquette: actor and activist dies aged 47". [[The Guardian]].
11. (September 12, 2016). "Alexis Arquette's Kiwi role".
12. "VUDU - Watch Movies".
13. Greenwood, Carl. (2016-09-11). "Wedding Singer actress Alexis Arquette dies aged 47 listening to Bowie's Starman".
14. McGeorge, Alistair. (September 12, 2016). "Who is Alexis Arquette? Profile of the Wedding Singer actress who has died at 47".
15. "She's Madonna: Music Video".
16. George, Doran. (1 May 2014). "Negotiating the Spectacle in Transgender Performances of Alexis Arquette, Zackary Drucker, DavEnd, Niv Acosta, and Tobaron Waxman". [[Transgender Studies Quarterly]].
17. (2013-10-03). "BEFORE & AFTER Alexis Arquette's experiences as a transgender woman in Hollywood".
18. Ali, Lorraine. (May 13, 2007). "None of Us Are Safe".
19. Oppenhim, Maya. (September 21, 2016). "Alexis Arquette's death certificate shows she lived with HIV for 29 years". [[The Independent]].
20. Abramovitch, Seth. (September 13, 2016). "A Tear in the Ocean: The Final Days of Alexis Arquette".
21. (September 18, 2016). "Alexis Arquette, actor and transgender campaigner – obituary". [[The Daily Telegraph.
22. Izadi, Elahe. (September 11, 2016). "Alexis Arquette, actress and transgender advocate, dies at 47". [[The Washington Post]].
23. Mallenbaum, Carly. (September 11, 2016). "Transgender actress Alexis Arquette, of the Arquette acting family, is dead". [[USA Today]].
24. Gilbey, Ryan. (September 12, 2016). "Alexis Arquette obituary". [[The Guardian]].
25. Hautman, Nicholas. (September 11, 2016). "Alexis Arquette Dead: Transgender Actress Dies at 47". Usmagazine.com.
26. (September 11, 2016). "Alexis Arquette, Sister to David, Rosanna and Patricia, Has Died".
27. Arquette, Richmond. (September 11, 2016). "Press release from Patricia on behalf of all of us".
28. (2005). "[[Lords of Dogtown]]".