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Actor:

Alexis Arquette

  • Born: 1969
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '90s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Comedy, Drama
  • Career Highlights: Bride of Chucky, Threesome, The Trip
  • First Major Screen Credit: Jumpin' at the Boneyard (1992)

Biography

Perhaps the most enigmatic -- and unpredictable -- member of the Arquette acting dynasty, Alexis Arquette has appeared in a huge variety of colorful supporting roles that have highlighted both his range and eccentricity as a performer. The grandson of vaudevillians, son of veteran character actor Lewis Arquette and poet Mardi Arquette, and brother of Rosanna, Patricia, David, and Richmond Arquette, he was born in L.A. in 1969. Like his siblings, Arquette broke into film at a young age, making his screen debut with a minor role in Down and out in Beverly Hills in 1986. He had his first breakthrough as Georgette, a sensitive young man with a crush on a neighborhood thug in Last Exit to Brooklyn (1990).

Arquette went on to portray characters ranging from a gay university student in Threesome (1994) to an unfortunate gunman summarily dispatched by John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction (1994) to a Boy George-esque musician in The Wedding Singer (1998). He also did a memorable turn as himself in Wigstock: The Movie (1995), a documentary about New York's famed Outfest in which the actor flaunted plenty of glorious plumage, to say nothing of attitude. His role in the film was particularly appropriate, considering his well-known second job as a drag performer by the name of Eva Destruction. Although Arquette's offscreen image (fostered by his work as a drag performer and by appearances in a number of gay magazines) has tended to win him a greater reputation than his onscreen work, he remains one of the cinema's more engaging and underrated actors. ~ Rebecca Flint, All Movie Guide

 
 
Wikipedia: Alexis Arquette
Alexis Arquette
Alexis_Arquette.jpg
Birth name Robert Arquette
Born July 28 1969 (1969--) (age 38)
Flag of the United States Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other name(s) Eva Destruction
Parents Lewis Arquette

Alexis Arquette (born July 28, 1969) is an American male-to-female transgender actress, musician, and cabaret drag performer.

Biography

Early life

Arquette was born Robert Arquette in Los Angeles, California, to Mardi Olivia (Nowak), an actress, poet, political activist, teacher and therapist, and Lewis Arquette, an actor and director.[1] Arquette's paternal grandfather was comedian Cliff Arquette. Arquette's mother was Jewish, the daughter of a Holocaust refugee from Poland,[2] and Arquette's father was a convert to Islam and a descendant of explorer Meriwether Lewis.[3][4][5][6] Arquette's siblings are actors Patricia, Rosanna, Richmond and David Arquette. Arquette is also the sister-in-law of Courteney Cox, who is married to her brother David.

Her first job in 1982 at age 12, was in the music video She's a Beauty for the San-Francisco-based rock band The Tubes, cast as a young boy, "this little kid who's on a ride with all these women and whatnot."[7]

Career

At 17, Arquette landed her first significant acting role, playing a transgender character in Last Exit to Brooklyn. Eighteen years later, she went through her own transition from male to female, an experience that was documented in the film, Alexis Arquette: She's My Brother, which debuted at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.[8]

Arquette, in the earlier years of her career, primarily performed as a female impersonator, frequently under the name "Eva Destruction". Later in her career, she made public that she had begun the process leading to sex reassignment surgery.[9] To this end, Arquette has publicly declared that she considers her gender to be female.

Lesser known than her siblings, the majority of her film work has been limited to low-budget or independent films. These have included her critically acclaimed debut performance as male-to-female transsexual Georgette in Last Exit to Brooklyn. She also appeared in I Think I Do, Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror, and Killer Drag Queens on Dope, among 40 other independent pictures.

Arquette has appeared in supporting roles in mainstream films, including Pulp Fiction, Threesome, Bride of Chucky and a memorable appearance as a Boy George fanatic in The Wedding Singer, singing "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" over and over. In 2001, Arquette played the Roman emperor Caligula in two episodes of the cult television show Xena: Warrior Princess. Also in 2001, Arquette guest starred in the Friends episode The One with Chandler's Dad as a waiter in drag, in the show's 7th season. In September 2005, VH1 announced her casting in an upcoming season of the reality show The Surreal Life.

On January 31, 2007, Arquette was a featured celebrity client and guest judge on the premiere episode of Bravo Channel's television show Top Design where she was described by one of the contestants as "Iggy Pop in drag". Arquette also made a cameo appearance in Robbie Williams's "She's Madonna" video. On February 26, 2007, Arquette was a guest on The Adam Carolla Show. Danny Bonaduce, a co-host, asked Alexis if she had a penis. The question, and Alexis' refusal to answer sparked an argument between Carolla, Bonaduce, and Arquette, ending in Arquette storming out of the studio and violently pushing sound equipment at them as she was leaving.[10]

Filmography

References

  1. ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/93/Rosanna-Arquette.html
  2. ^ Pfefferman, Naomi. "Arquette Reconnects", The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, 2002-10-08. Retrieved on 2006-12-13. 
  3. ^ Vallance, Tom. "Obituary: Lewis Arquette", The Independent, 2001-02-16. Retrieved on 2006-12-13. 
  4. ^ http://www.crankycritic.com/qa/pf_articles/patriciaarquette.html
  5. ^ http://www.usaweekend.com/05_issues/050508/050508arquettes.html
  6. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/arts/film/features/article1219872.ece
  7. ^ Chris Lee (1998). Interview with Alexis Arquette. indexmagazine. Retrieved on 2007-04-05.
  8. ^ Lorraine Ali". http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18615747/site/newsweek/ None of Us Are Safe]" Newsweek, May 13, 2007.
  9. ^ Alexis Arquette's Sex Change Documentary to Air on A&E. Queer Day (14 Oct 2007). Retrieved on 2007-04-05.
  10. ^ The Official Adam Carolla Show Blog (2007-02-26). Retrieved on 2007-04-09.

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Actor. Copyright © 2006 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
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