Arquette's personal life was marked by her vocal support for the transgender community and candidness 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 Robert Arquette in Los Angeles,[1] the fourth of five children of Lewis 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 comedian Cliff Arquette, who went by the stage name of Charley Weaver. Arquette was distantly related to American explorer Meriwether Lewis.[7][3] 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.[8] 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.[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 to sex reassignment surgery.[10] To this end, Arquette had publicly declared that she considered her gender to be female.
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.[15] Arquette also made a cameo appearance in the music video for Robbie Williams' song "She's Madonna".[16]
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.[17][18] Her experience was documented in the film Alexis Arquette: She's My Brother, which debuted at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.[19] Arquette was a vocal supporter of other transgender people, including Chaz Bono, who transitioned shortly after Arquette.[18]
Arquette contracted HIV 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] Brother David Arquette said that Alexis was "gender suspicious" and alternately felt like a man or a woman at different times.[23][24][25]
