Alexis Arquette

Alexis Ann Arquette (July 28, 1969 – September 11, 2016) was an American actress renowned for her chameleon-like talent and a pioneering voice for transgender rights. Born in Los Angeles, California to actor-director Lewis Arquette and actress-activist Brenda Olivia “Mardi” Nowak, she grew up in the fourth of five children surrounded by future Hollywood stars such as Rosanna, Patricia, and David Arquette. From the moment she stepped onto a set at age twelve in The Tubes’ music video “She’s a Beauty,” she demonstrated a fearless willingness to blur gender boundaries, later adopting the flamboyant drag persona “Eva Destruction” for club and film work. Her screen debut arrived in 1986 with an uncredited role in Down and Out in Beverly Hills, and she quickly built a cult-favorite résumé that spanned independent gems like Jumpin’ at the Boneyard (1992) and mainstream hits such as Pulp Fiction, The Wedding Singer, and Bride of Chucky. In 1994 she portrayed the trans sex worker Georgette in Last Exit to Brooklyn, a role that foreshadowed her own public journey toward gender affirmation that began in 2004. Arquette’s transition was documented in the 2007 documentary Alexis Arquette: She’s My Brother, which highlighted her advocacy for peers like Chaz Bono and her candid discussion of living with HIV, a diagnosis she received in 1987. Despite battling health complications, she remained a visible cultural figure, appearing on reality shows such as The Surreal Life and lending her voice to music videos, most memorably Robbie Williams’ “She’s Madonna.” Her death on September 11 2016, caused by cardiac arrest linked to HIV-related myocarditis, was mourned by a community that remembered her for both her groundbreaking performances and her unwavering commitment to transgender visibility.