Arquette was born in New York City to actor Lewis Arquette and Brenda "Mardi" Nowak, a psychiatrist; her paternal grandfather was actor and comedian Cliff Arquette and her siblings are actors Patricia, David, Richmond and Alexis Arquette. Her mother was Jewish, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor from Poland, and her father was a Christian of French ancestry who converted to Islam; the family celebrated holidays associated with both religions.

In 1963, Arquette's family moved to Chicago, where her father managed The Second City theater for several years. When she was 11 years old, her parents moved to a commune in Front Royal, Virginia. Arquette did not do well at school. In 1974, she hitchhiked across the country with three older teenagers, eventually going to San Francisco, where she worked at Renaissance and Dickens fairs. Her professional theater debut was May 27, 1977, appearing in the Story Theatre Musical Ovid's The Metamorphoses at the Callboard Theatre on Melrose Place in Los Angeles.

Public life

In Hollywood, she had her first roles playing teens with troubles. A few years later she started to act in mature roles. Besides cinema movies, Arquette appeared from the beginning of her career in television films. In 1982, she earned an Emmy Award nomination for the TV film The Executioner's Song. Thereafter, she played in many cinema movies and TV films and has worked with many of the most acclaimed film directors of the last twenty years.

Arquette's first starring role was in John Sayles's Baby It's You (film), a highly regarded but little seen film. She carried Desperately Seeking Susan but was eclipsed by her pop singer co-star Madonna. After Hours also played to her comedic talents but failed to find an audience while 8 Million Ways to Die was buried by the studio and for a time she quit Hollywood to work in Europe.

In 1989, Martin Scorsese offered her a part in New York Stories. Since then, Arquette has appeared, with few exceptions, in one or in several movies each year, some of them of notable interest, like Pulp Fiction and the David Cronenberg film, Crash.

In 1990, Rosanna appeared nude in Playboy's September issue, although without her prior knowledge or approval.

Known for most of her career as an actress, in recent years, Arquette has also been expanding into film direction. Recent films which she has directed include the documentaries Searching for Debra Winger (2002) and All We Are Saying (2005); she served for both projects in the role of producer, as well as director.

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Private life

Arquette was married when she was 19 to director/composer Tony Greco; they divorced in October 1980. (Some sources suggest that she might have been briefly married to an unknown individual once before, as well. [[4]]) She dated Steve Porcaro, member of the rock band Toto. Her 1986 marriage to composer James Newton Howard ended in the same way. The reconciliation with an old love of Arquette, English pop and rock star Peter Gabriel, proved also to be impossible.

Her relationships with musicians were the inspiration for two popular hits of the 1980s:

"Rosanna," a Top-40 hit in 1982 (although the songwriter was not Parcaro, but another Toto band member);

"In Your Eyes," from Gabriel's album So, a Top-40 hit in 1987.

Arquette married restaurateur Jon Sidel in 1993. One year later their daughter, Zoe Blue Sidel, was born. Arquette went on working intensively, which meant she was often away from home. The tensions this created, as well as the death of her mother from breast cancer, led the couple to divorce.

More recently, Arquette found energies to spend time with her daughter and promote awareness of breast cancer, while continuing with her work, now also as a director. In 2002 her critically acclaimed documentary Searching For Debra Winger was released. In the film Arquette interviews prominent and respected actresses (mostly between the ages of 30 and 60) in an attempt to find out whether it was practical for a working actress to successfully maintain a family.

Filmography

What About Brian (2006)

All We Are Saying (2005) (as director and producer)

Searching For Debra Winger (2002) (as director and producer)

Diary of a Sex Addict (2001)

Good Advice (2001)

Big Bad Love (2001)

Joe Dirt (2001)

Things Behind the Sun (2001)

Too Much Flesh (2000)

The Whole Nine Yards (2000)

Interview with a Dead Man (1999)

Pigeonholed (1999)

Palmer's Pick Up (1999)

Sugar Town (1999)

Homeslice (1998)

Fait Accompli (1998)

I'm Losing You (1998)

Hell's Kitchen (1998)

Floating Away (1998)

Hope Floats (1998)

Buffalo '66 (1998)

Gun (1997)

Do Me a Favor (1997)

Deceiver (1997)

Gone Fishin (1997)

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