Member of Hollywood acting dynasty and transgender activist

ALEXIS Arquette, who has died at the age of 47, was an actor and then, from 2006, after identifying herself as “gender suspicious”, an actress who appeared in some 40 films.

Also an artist, cabaret performer, poet and campaigner for transgender people, she was part of the Hollywood Arquette acting dynasty.

She was best known for playing the transvestite Georgette in Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989), a brief appearance in Pulp Fiction (1994) and as the Boy George-inspired performer in The Wedding Singer (1998). The documentary Alexis Arquette: She’s My Brother (2007) traced her transition from male to female.

Petite and full-lipped with a fine aquiline nose and long blonde hair, Arquette found it difficult to find suitable roles and frequently turned down parts which she regarded as demeaning or stereotypical.

As a result, she worked in few mainstream Hollywood films, and opted instead to take roles in low-budget pictures that gave her few opportunities to demonstrate her real acting talents.

She was born Robert Arquette, the fourth child of the character actor Lewis Arquette and Mardiningsih Olivia Nowak (whose acting name was Brenda Denaut), in Los Angeles.

Both her brothers — Richmond and David — and sisters — Rosanna and Patricia — act.

Following a bit part as the androgynous Alexis in Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Arquette made a bigger impression in Last Exit to Brooklyn, based on Hubert Selby’s novel of working life in 1950s Brooklyn. Arquette played the transvestite object of desire of a closeted factory worker.

He was singled out by critics for his performance.

Arquette also featured in popular television hits such as Roseanne, Friends and Xena: Warrior Princess.

After her transition from male to female in 2006, Alexis Arquette devoted much of her time to raising awareness of transgender issues.

Arquette, who died of a heart attack, is survived by her brothers and sisters. —© The Daily Telegraph, London