The famous acting family, the Arquettes, are in mourning following the death of their transgender sister, Alexis, over the weekend.
The transgender actress, whose role in The Wedding Singer as a Boy George impersonator shot her to fame, died surrounded by family and friends and listening to David Bowie’s hit Starman, says gossip site TMZ.
Arquette, who was born Robert, was the sibling of Hollywood stars Patricia, Rosanna and David Arquette.
Her brother Richmond posted an emotional tribute to his sister, written by Patricia, on Facebook: “She fiercely lived her reality in a world where it is dangerous to be a trans person — a world largely unready to accept differences among human beings, and where there is still the ugliness of violence and hostility towards people that we may not understand.”
David Arquette has taken to Twitter to post thanks for the outpouring of condolences.
Her cause of death has not been revealed but TMZ reported that she had been battling an illness. Another gossip site, Radar Online, quoted a sourced that she’d been in a coma for four days at LA’s Cedars-Sinai hospital and “no one was allowed to see her except for family”.
Arquette made her film debut in 1989’s Last Exit to Brooklyn. She went on to have supporting roles in Pulp Fiction and The Wedding Singer where she sang the Boy George classic Karma Chameleon over and over. Boy George has also paid tribute to her on Twitter.
She transitioned from male to female in 2006 and made a documentary called Alexis Arquette: She’s My Brother about her journey. The 47-year-old was also an outspoken advocate of transgender rights.
