Early Life
Arquette was born Robert Arquette in Los Angeles, California to Brenda Olivia "Mardi" (née Nowak), an actor, poet, theater operator, activist, acting teacher, and therapist, and Lewis Arquette, an actor and director. Her paternal grandfather was comedian Cliff Arquette. Her mother was Jewish, the daughter of a Holocaust refugee from Poland. Her father was a convert to Islam from Catholicism, and was related to explorer Meriwether Lewis. Arquette's siblings are actors Rosanna, Patricia, Richmond, and David.
In 1982, at the age of twelve, Arquette's first job 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 debuted on the big screen in an uncredited role as Alexis, the androgynous friend and bandmate of the sexually ambivalent, angst-filled teenager Max Whiteman (Evan Richards) in the comedy film Down and Out in Beverly Hills. Twenty years later, she transitioned 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.
Read more about this topic: Alexis Arquette
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