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Transgender Actress Alexis Arquette Dies At 47
Alexis Arquette in 2010. (Kevin Winter/ Getty Images)
Alexis Arquette, the actress known for her roles in The Wedding Singer and Pulp Fiction, passed away early Sunday morning, TMZ reports. Her brother Richmond said that she died at 12:32 AM while listening to "Starman" by David Bowie.
A cause of death has yet to be revealed, but as the New York Daily News notes, Arquette had reportedly been suffering from an undisclosed illness.
Arquette was perhaps best known for her portrayal of a Boy George impersonator in The Wedding Singer. How could you forget this scene?
R.I.P my sister Alexis Arquette. Another bright light gone out far too soon. Love to the family and all that loved Alexis.
— Boy George (@BoyGeorge) September 11, 2016
You also might remember Alexis as "Man #4" in Pulp Fiction as the poor schmuck who shoots (and definitely misses) at Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent (John Travolta) at the end of the infamous Ezekiel 25:17 speech:
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Alexis was the sibling of actors David and Patricia Arquette. Patricia tweeted this morning:
Breaking through the veil singing StarMan https://t.co/A3way5S3Lb
— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) September 11, 2016
Roseanne Barr shared this gem of a photo from 1999:
Arquette, who transitioned from male to female in 2006, was the subject of the documentary Alexis Arquette: She's My Brother, and went on Larry King (guest-hosted by Dr. Drew Pinski) and spoke about her experience and other issues affecting the trans community:
She played coy with TMZ last year when asked about her thoughts on Caitlyn Jenner's conservative politics saying, "Those of us that need to come out come out at our own time. Stop bullying Caitlyn Jenner."
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Earlier this year, her brother David said on Khloe Kardashian's show Kocktails With Khloe that Alexis declared that she was no longer transgender, saying, "She was like, 'Yeah, sometimes I'll be a man, sometimes I'll be a woman. I like to refer to myself as gender suspicious.'"
In the Facebook post confirming Alexis' death (per US Weekly), brother Richmond wrote:
I am feeling immense gratitude to have been afforded the luxury of sharing life with him/her, for learning from Alexis, for being given the gift of being able to love her/him and to be loved by him/her. He was a force. He died as he lived, on his own terms. I am immensely grateful that it was fast and painless. It was an incredible moving experience and I am humbled and grateful to have been able to have been with him as he began his journey onward. Thank you, Alexis, I love you and will always love you.
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