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Alexis Arquette | |
|---|---|
 Arquette in 2009 | |
| Born | (1969-07-28)July 28, 1969 Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
| Died | September 11, 2016(2016-09-11) (aged 47) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Eva Destruction |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1982–2014 |
| Father | Lewis Arquette |
| Relatives |
|
Alexis Arquette (/ɑːrˈkɛt/; July 28, 1969 – September 11, 2016) was an Americanactress and transgender activist.
Born inLos Angeles, she was the fourth of five children toLewis Arquette, an actor and director, and Brenda Olivia "Mardi" (née Nowak), an actress. Coming from a family deeply entrenched in the entertainment industry, Alexis was the sibling of actorsRosanna, Richmond,Patricia, andDavid Arquette. Her career began in her youth, appearing aged 12 in the music video "She's a Beauty" byThe Tubes and making her screen debut inDown and Out in Beverly Hills (1986). Known for her versatility, Arquette often performed as a female impersonator under the name "Eva Destruction", before publicly sharing her transition process towardsgender-affirming surgery. Her filmography includes a range of roles, from starring roles in small productions likeJumpin' at the Boneyard (1992),Things I Never Told You (1996) andI Think I Do (1997) to appearances in mainstream hits likeThreesome,Pulp Fiction (both 1994),The Wedding Singer,Bride of Chucky (both 1998),She's All That (1999) andBlended (2014).
Arquette's personal life was marked by her vocal support for thetransgender community and candor about her own transition journey, which was documented in the filmAlexis Arquette: She's My Brother. Despite facing health challenges, including contractingHIV in 1987 and later health complications, Arquette continued to be an active figure in entertainment and advocacy, until her death in 2016 aged 47.
Arquette was born inLos Angeles,[1] the fourth of five children ofLewis Arquette, an actor and director,[2][3][4] and Brenda Olivia "Mardi" (née Nowak), a Jewish[5] actress, poet, theater operator, activist, acting teacher, and therapist. Lewis's family's surname was originally "Arcouet";[6] Lewis's father was comedianCliff Arquette, who went by the stage name of Charley Weaver. Arquette was distantly related to American explorerMeriwether Lewis.[7][3] ActorsRosanna, Richmond,Patricia, andDavid Arquette are her siblings.
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" byThe Tubes.[8] In 1986, Arquette made her big screen debut in an uncredited role as Alexis, theandrogynous friend and bandmate of sexually ambivalent teenager Max Whiteman (Evan Richards) inDown and Out in Beverly Hills.[9]
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 tosex reassignment surgery.[10] To this end, Arquette had publicly declared that she considered hergender to be female.
At 19, Arquette playedtranssex worker Georgette in the screen adaptation ofLast Exit to Brooklyn.[11] The majority of Arquette's film work was in low-budget orindependent films. In total, Arquette starred in more than 40 movies, includingI Think I Do,Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror, andSometimes They Come Back... Again. Arquette also starred as acrack addict oppositeTim Roth inJumpin' at the Boneyard, as a teenage boy seeking revenge for a horrible childhood in the New Zealand-shot horror fantasyJack Be Nimble, and as a murderous drag queen in the low budget comedyKiller Drag Queens on Dope.[12][13]
Arquette also had supporting roles inPulp Fiction,Threesome andBride of Chucky,[14] and she played aBoy George fanatic, George Stitzer, in theAdam Sandler–Drew Barrymore filmThe 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 playRoman emperorCaligula in two episodes ofXena: Warrior Princess.[citation needed] That same year, Arquette guest starred in theFriends 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 inSon of the Beach.[citation needed]
In September 2005,VH1 announced Arquette as one of the celebrity house-guests on the 6th season ofThe Surreal Life. On January 31, 2007, Arquette was a featured celebrity client and guest judge on the première episode ofBravo's reality showTop Design.[15] Arquette also made a cameo appearance in the music video forRobbie Williams' song "She's Madonna".[16]
In 2004, Arquette expressed an interest in undergoinggender-transitioning medical treatment. She decided against undergoinghormone therapy and kept her choice of whether she underwentgender-affirming surgery private from the media by the time she completed her transition in 2006.[17][18] Her experience was documented in the filmAlexis Arquette: She's My Brother, which debuted at the 2007Tribeca Film Festival.[19] Arquette was a vocal supporter of other transgender people, includingChaz Bono, who transitioned shortly after Arquette.[18]
Arquette contractedHIV in 1987.[20] In later life, Arquette suffered from ill health as a result of being HIV-positive.[20][21][22] Amid these increasing complications, Alexis began presenting again as a man in 2013.[21] BrotherDavid Arquette said that Alexis was "gender suspicious" and alternately felt like a man or a woman at different times.[23][24][25]
Arquette was placed in amedically-induced coma and died on September 11, 2016 at 12:32 (00:32) AM., surrounded by close family, at the age of 47. Arquette was serenaded withDavid Bowie's "Starman".[26][27][28] The official cause of death wascardiac arrest caused bymyocarditis stemming fromHIV.[20][29]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Last Exit to Brooklyn | Georgette | |
| 1990 | High Score | Yago / Freddie | |
| Terminal Bliss | Craig Murphy | ||
| Death of a Schoolboy [de] | Milan | ||
| 1992 | Jumpin' at the Boneyard | Dan | |
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Vampire DJ | ||
| Of Mice and Men | Whitt | ||
| Miracle Beach | Lars | ||
| 1993 | Ghost Brigade | Cpl. Dawson | |
| Grief | Bill | ||
| Jack Be Nimble | Jack | ||
| 1994 | Threesome | Dick | |
| Pulp Fiction | Fourth Man | ||
| Don't Do It | David | ||
| 1995 | Frisk | Punk (victim #3) | |
| White Man's Burden | Panhandler | ||
| Paradise Framed | |||
| Frank & Jesse | Charlie Ford | ||
| Days of the Pentecost | Mechanic | ||
| 1996 | Things I Never Told You | Paul | |
| Sometimes They Come Back... Again | Tony Reno | Video | |
| Never Met Picasso | Andrew Magnus | ||
| Scream, Teen, Scream | Lisa Marie | Short film | |
| Wigstock: The Movie | Herself | ||
| 1997 | Inside Out | Adam | Short film |
| Goodbye America | Paul Bladon | ||
| I Think I Do | Bob | ||
| Close To | Deaf Mute | Short film | |
| Kiss & Tell | Amerod Burkowitz | ||
| 1998 | The Wedding Singer | George Stitzer | |
| Cleopatra's Second Husband | Alex | ||
| Love Kills | James | ||
| Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror | Greg | Video | |
| Bride of Chucky | Damien | ||
| Fool's Gold | Mark | ||
| The Thin Pink Line | Mr. Ed | ||
| 1999 | She's All That | Mitch | |
| Out in Fifty | Kim | ||
| Clubland | Steven | ||
| 2000 | Piccadilly Pickups | Henri de la Plus Ooh Arrgh | |
| The Price of Air | Willy | ||
| Boys Life 3 | Adam | (segment "Inside Out") | |
| 2001 | Perfect Lover | Onix | |
| Audit | Richard | Short film | |
| Tomorrow by Midnight | Sidney | ||
| 2002 | The Trip | Michael | |
| Spun | Moustache Cop | ||
| 2003 | Killer Drag Queens on Dope | Ginger | credited as Eva Destruction |
| The Movie Hero | Strange, Yet Attractive Woman | ||
| Wasabi Tuna | Champagne Anna | ||
| 2005 | Lords of Dogtown | Tranny[30] | |
| 2006 | Husky 2: Together Again | Gloria Robinson | |
| 2010 | Hard Breakers | Ms. Independence | |
| Here & Now | Ramona | ||
| 2011 | Getting Back to Zero | Judy | |
| 2013 | Tranzloco | Alexis | |
| 2014 | Blended | Georgina | |
| Playing the Straight Man | Alexis | Short Film |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Alien Nation | John Barrymore | Episode: "Contact" |
| 1991 | American Playhouse | Werner Hauser | Episode: "The Hollow Boy" |
| 1994 | Lies of the Heart: The Story of Laurie Kellogg | Denver McDowell | TV film |
| 1995 | Dead Weekend | McHacker | TV film |
| 1995 | Roseanne | Episode: "December Bride" | |
| 1999 | The Strip | Cleo | Episodes: "Games Without Frontiers", "Send Me an Angel", "Even Better Than the Real Thing" |
| 1999–2000 | Beggars and Choosers | Larry / Lola | TV series |
| 2000 | Felicity | Jim | Episode: "Docuventary II" |
| 2000 | Friends | The Customer | Episode: "The One with Rachel's Sister" |
| 2001 | Friends | Waiter in Drag | Episode: "The One with Chandler's Dad" |
| 2001 | Xena: Warrior Princess | Caligula | Episodes: "The God You Know", "You Are There" |
| 2001 | Son of the Beach | Beverly | Episode: "B.J. Blue Hawaii" |
| 2005 | Wanted | Paula | Episode: "Lips Are Lips" |
| 2008 | Californication | Lady in Jail | Episode: "The Great Ashby" |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | Best Actor | Nominated | |
| 1997 | L.A. Outfest | Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film | Never Met Picasso | Won |
Due to her concern about side effects, [Arquette] procured a therapist's letter for the right to vaginoplasty that precluded the usually compulsory course of hormone treatment. Yet Arquette denied the viewer a spectacle of surgical transition, ... and she insisted on her claim to female identity while keeping private whether she has undergone, is undergoing, or will undergo surgery.
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