This petite, quirky lead with a winsome sensuality and distinctive overbite first played adolescents in several high-profile TV-movies in the late 1970s before coming into her own as the star of offbeat, independent films of the 80s. Hailing from a bohemian showbiz clan (her grandfather was radio and TV humorist Cliff Arquette–Charley Weaver of “Hollywood Squares” fame; her father, actor Lewis Arquette; her younger siblings, actors Patricia, Alexis, and David Arquette), Rosanna Arquette became established in features playing slightly spacey women often torn between the desire for adventure and a concern for social convention.
Arquette was living with her family in an artists’ commune in Front Royal, VA, when, at age 15, she decided to hitchhike cross-country to San Francisco with three friends. There she worked at Renaissance and Dickens fairs before making her professional stage debut in “Metamorphosis” (1975) at the Story Theater in L.A. 1979 marked both her film debut, a walk-on as a ‘Commune Girl’ in “More American Graffiti”, and her first stint as a TV regular, playing the teenaged daughter of Shirley Jones on the comedy-drama “Shirley” (NBC, 1979-80). Arquette worked regularly in TV for a period, appearing in after school specials, PBS dramas, and several notable telefilms, notably “The Executioner’s Song” (NBC, 1982), for which she received enthusiastic notices as the wild girlfriend of convicted killer Gary Gilmore (Tommy Lee Jones).
Arquette shone in her film lead debut in John Sayles’ “Baby, It’s You” (1983), portraying a studious Jewish high school student who falls for a rebellious Italian boy (Vincent Spano). She turned in her most memorable performance in Susan Seidelman’s comedy “Desperately Seeking Susan” (1985), playing a bored suburban housewife who, after an accident, adopts the freewheeling lifestyle and persona of a woman (Madonna) whom she read about in the personal ads. While this part seemed a perfect springboard to major stardom for the young actress, the major beneficiary of this showcase was actually her co-star Madonna. Later that same year, Arquette was fine as the unstable fatalistic date of Griffin Dunne who acts as the catalyst for the nightmarish events of Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours” (1985). Many of her later roles, however, have failed to live up to her early promise.
The pattern for much of Arquette’s subsequent Hollywood career would soon be established: leads in small independent films–usually comedies–and foreign features (e.g., “The Big Blue” 1988); female leads in male-oriented action outings (i.e., “Silverado” 1985); and starring roles in films that were barely released or banished straight-to-video (for example, “The Linguini Incident” 1991). There were some bright spots including a co-starring role as a young artist opposite a shambling master painter (Nick Nolte) in Scorsese’s “Life Lessons” segment of “New York Stories” (1989) and an outstanding performance as a traveling clairvoyant in Mike Hodges’ stylish thriller “Black Rainbow” (1989).
One explanation for Arquette’s fall from prominence in the late 80s and early 90s was her decision to live and work in Europe for six years during what could have been her Hollywood prime. She returned to the hurly-burly with an unlikely role opposite action star Jean-Claude Van Damme in “Nowhere to Run” (1993). Arquette was in much better company as part of the high octane ensemble in Quentin Tarantino’s acclaimed “Pulp Fiction” (1994), as a tattooed and pierced druggie. She also fared well as Gabrielle, the crippled survivor of an automobile accident who wore her brace like kinky drag, in David Cronenberg’s controversial “Crash” and as a robber on the run with a much younger boyfriend in Sondra Locke’s little seen “Do Me a Favor” (both 1996). Arquette adopted a more conventional role as an uptight Southerner in “Liar” (1997) before returning to her usual offbeat types as a drug addicted blues singer in the low-budget “HK/Hell’s Kitchen” (lensed 1997). In November 1996, she also made a rare guest appearance as a woman whose life had been touched by violent crime on NBC’s “Homicide: Life on the Street”.
- Born:
on 08/10/59 in New York, New York
- Job Titles:
Actor, Restaurateur
Family
- Brother: Alexis Arquette. born in 1969
- Brother: David Arquette. born on September 8, 1971; married to actress Courteney Cox
- Brother: Richmond Arquette. born c. 1963
- Daughter: Zoe Bleu Sidel. born on October 23, 1994
- Father: Lewis Arquette. original member of the improvisational group, The Committee; member of the Paul Sills’ Story Theater; divorced from Arquette’s mother c. 1990; died on February 10, 2001 at age 65
- Grandfather: Cliff Arquette.
- Mother: Mardi Arquette. born in August 1939; divorced from Arquette’s father c. 1990; died of breast cancer in August 1997
- Sister: Patricia Arquette. born on April 8, 1968; formerly married to actor Nicolas Cage
Significant Others
- Husband: James Newton Howard. second husband; married on September 13, 1986 in California; divorced
- Husband: John Sidel. married in December 1993; separated; divorced
- Husband: . married when she was 17; divorced
- Companion: David Codikow. works for Immortal Entertainment
- Companion: Michael Des Barres. worked together in “Sugar Town” (1999)
- Companion: Paul Buchanan. member of band, Blue Nile
- Companion: Peter Gabriel. together for three years
- Companion: Steve Porcaro. with band Toto; wrote and recorded hit song “Rosanna”
Milestones
- 1963 At age four, moved with family to Chicago where her father managed the Second City for years
- 1974 Hitchhiked across the country to San Francisco at age 15 with three other teens
- 1975 Professional stage debut, “Metamorphosis”, at the Story Theatre, Los Angeles
- 1977 TV-movie debut in “Having Babies II” (ABC)
- 1978 Miniseries debut, starred opposite Bette Davis in “The Dark Secret of Harvest Home” (NBC)
- 1979 TV debut as a regular, playing a daughter of Shirley Jones on the NBC hour-long comedy-drama series, “Shirley”
- 1979 Screen acting debut with a bit part as a commune girl in “More American Graffiti”
- 1982 Had a popular song “Rosanna” written about her and recorded by the group Toto
- 1982 Received enthusuastic notices as Tommy Lee Jones’ girlfriend in NBC’s “The Executioner’s Song”; also released theatrically
- 1983 First starring role in a feature film, John Sayles’ “Baby, It’s You”
- 1985 Breakthrough performance as star of Susan Seidelman’s “Desperately Seeking Susan”
- 1989 Co-starred as young artist opposite shambling master painter Nick Nolte in Martin Scorsese’s “Life Lessons” segment of “New York Stories”
- 1994 Delivered a ‘piercing’ performance in Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction”
- 1996 Played kinky automobile accident victim Gabrielle in David Cronenberg’s controversial “Crash”
- 1997 Co-starred with Joe Pesci and Danny Glover in the comedy “Gone Fishin’”
- 1998 Cast in Vincent Gallo’s “Buffalo ’66″
- 1998 Had a small role in “Hope Floats” starring Sandra Bullock and directed by Forest Whitaker
- 1999 Starred opposite Melissa Gilbert in the TV movie “Switched at Birth”
- 2000 Played Matthew Perry’s hateful wife in “The Whole Nine Yards”
- 2001 Starred opposite Nastassja Kinski in “Diary of a Sex Addict”
- 2004 Guest starred on an episode of “Summerland,” playing the wayward mother of Taylor Cole’s Erika
- Lived with family on an artists’ commune in Front Royal, Virginia
- Worked at Renaissance and Dickens fairs in San Francisco
