# Alexis Arquette

Alexis Arquette (/ɑːrˈkɛt/; July 28, 1969 – September 11, 2016) was an American actress and transgender activist.
Born in Los Angeles, she was the fourth of five children to Lewis 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 actors Rosanna, Richmond, Patricia, and David Arquette. Her career began in her youth, appearing aged 12 in the music video "She's a Beauty" by The Tubes and making her screen debut in Down 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 towards gender-affirming surgery. Her filmography includes a range of roles, from starring roles in small productions like Jumpin' at the Boneyard (1992), Things I Never Told You (1996) and I Think I Do (1997) to appearances in mainstream hits like Threesome, Pulp Fiction (both 1994), The Wedding Singer, Bride of Chucky (both 1998), She's All That (1999) and Blended (2014).
Arquette's personal life was marked by her vocal support for the transgender community and candor about her own transition journey, which was documented in the film Alexis Arquette: She's My Brother. Despite facing health challenges, including contracting HIV in 1987 and later health complications, Arquette continued to be an active figure in entertainment and advocacy, until her death in 2016 aged 47.

## 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. Brother David Arquette said that Alexis was "gender suspicious" and alternately felt like a man or a woman at different times.

## Death

Arquette was placed in a medically-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 with David Bowie's "Starman". The official cause of death was cardiac arrest caused by myocarditis stemming from HIV.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1989 | Last Exit to Brooklyn | Georgette | |
| 1990 | High Score | Yago / Freddie | |
| 1990 | Terminal Bliss | Craig Murphy | |
| 1990 | Death of a Schoolboy [de] | Milan | |
| 1992 | Jumpin' at the Boneyard | Dan | |
| 1992 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Vampire DJ | |
| 1992 | Of Mice and Men | Whitt | |
| 1992 | Miracle Beach | Lars | |
| 1993 | Ghost Brigade | Cpl. Dawson | |
| 1993 | Grief | Bill | |
| 1993 | Jack Be Nimble | Jack | |
| 1994 | Threesome | Dick | |
| 1994 | Pulp Fiction | Fourth Man | |
| 1994 | Don't Do It | David | |
| 1995 | Frisk | Punk (victim #3) | |
| 1995 | White Man's Burden | Panhandler | |
| 1995 | Paradise Framed | | |
| 1995 | Frank & Jesse | Charlie Ford | |
| 1995 | Days of the Pentecost | Mechanic | |
| 1996 | Things I Never Told You | Paul | |
| 1996 | Sometimes They Come Back... Again | Tony Reno | Video |
| 1996 | Never Met Picasso | Andrew Magnus | |
| 1996 | Scream, Teen, Scream | Lisa Marie | Short film |
| 1996 | Wigstock: The Movie | Herself | |
| 1997 | Inside Out | Adam | Short film |
| 1997 | Goodbye America | Paul Bladon | |
| 1997 | I Think I Do | Bob | |
| 1997 | Close To | Deaf Mute | Short film |
| 1997 | Kiss & Tell | Amerod Burkowitz | |
| 1998 | The Wedding Singer | George Stitzer | |
| 1998 | Cleopatra's Second Husband | Alex | |
| 1998 | Love Kills | James | |
| 1998 | Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror | Greg | Video |
| 1998 | Bride of Chucky | Damien | |
| 1998 | Fool's Gold | Mark | |
| 1998 | The Thin Pink Line | Mr. Ed | |
| 1999 | She's All That | Mitch | |
| 1999 | Out in Fifty | Kim | |
| 1999 | Clubland | Steven | |
| 2000 | Piccadilly Pickups | Henri de la Plus Ooh Arrgh | |
| 2000 | The Price of Air | Willy | |
| 2000 | Boys Life 3 | Adam | (segment "Inside Out") |
| 2001 | Perfect Lover | Onix | |
| 2001 | Audit | Richard | Short film |
| 2001 | Tomorrow by Midnight | Sidney | |
| 2002 | The Trip | Michael | |
| 2002 | Spun | Moustache Cop | |
| 2003 | Killer Drag Queens on Dope | Ginger | credited as Eva Destruction |
| 2003 | The Movie Hero | Strange, Yet Attractive Woman | |
| 2003 | Wasabi Tuna | Champagne Anna | |
| 2005 | Lords of Dogtown | Tranny | |
| 2006 | Husky 2: Together Again | Gloria Robinson | |
| 2010 | Hard Breakers | Ms. Independence | |
| 2010 | Here & Now | Ramona | |
| 2011 | Getting Back to Zero | Judy | |
| 2013 | Tranzloco | Alexis | |
| 2014 | Blended | Georgina | |
| 2014 | Playing the Straight Man | Alexis | Short Film |

## Television

| 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" |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 1994 | Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | Best Actor | Jack Be Nimble | Nominated |
| 1997 | L.A. Outfest | Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film | Never Met Picasso | Won |