Rosanna Arquette Biography

Rosanna Lisa Arquette (born August 10, 1959) is an American actress, film director, and producer.

Early life

Arquette was born in New York City, the daughter of Brenda Olivia "Mardi" (née Nowak), an actress, poet, theater operator, activist, acting teacher, and therapist, and Lewis Arquette, an actor and director. Her paternal grandfather was comedian Cliff Arquette. Her mother was Jewish, the daughter of a Holocaust refugee from Poland. Her father was a convert to Islam from Catholicism, and was related to explorer Meriwether Lewis. Her siblings Patricia, Alexis, Richmond, and David Arquette are also actors.

In 1963, Arquette and her family moved to Chicago, where her father managed The Second City theater for several years. When she was eleven 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 production of Ovid's The Metamorphoses at the Callboard Theatre on Melrose Place in Los Angeles.

The song "Rosanna" by Toto was not written about Rosanna Arquette by her then boyfriend and Toto band member Steve Porcaro. It was a joke band members used to make, regarding the coincidence.

Career

Arquette has appeared in both television and screen films. In 1982, she earned an Emmy Award nomination for the TV film The Executioner's Song. Arquette's first starring role was in John Sayles's Baby It's You, a highly regarded but little seen film. She starred in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) alongside pop singer Madonna, for which she won a British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) for her "supporting" role despite her clearly being the lead. Madonna was breaking out at the time and many feel that while Rosanna's performance was key to the movie's success, Madonna made the movie into a mainstream hit. She had negotiated a deal where she would provide a song for the movie. "Into The Groove" became a huge hit for Madonna as did the movie itself. Following the commercial and critical success of Lawrence Kasdan's Silverado in 1985, and the failure of both After Hours and 8 Million Ways to Die, she quit Hollywood to work in Europe where she acted in Luc Besson's The Big Blue (1988).

In 1989, director Martin Scorsese offered her a part in New York Stories. Other movies of note are Pulp Fiction and the David Cronenberg film, Crash and the Australian film Wendy Cracked a Walnut (1990) (also known as ?Almost). In 1990, Arquette appeared on the cover and in a nude pictorial in Playboy's September issue, although she claimed it was without her prior knowledge or consent.

In recent years, Arquette has expanded into directing, including the documentaries Searching for Debra Winger (2002) and All We Are Saying (2005); she also produced both projects.

Arquette appeared in the short running What About Brian as Nicole Varsi and on Showtime's The L Word as Cherie Jaffe. She also guest starred on Malcolm in the Middle as a healer named Anita that takes Malcolm's virginity.

In 2009, she joined Fit Parent Magazine, founded by Craig Knight, as Editor at Large. Arquette stars in the French thriller The Divide, directed by Xavier Gens.

Personal life

In August 2013, Arquette married her fourth husband, investment banker Todd Morgan, following a two-year engagement. Her previous marriages, to director Tony Greco, musical composer James Newton Howard, and restauranteur John Sidel, all ended in divorce. She has one daughter, Zoe Blue (born 1995), with Sidel.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	More American Graffiti	Girl in Commune
1980	Gorp	Judy
1981	S.O.B.	Babs
1983	Baby It's You	Jill Rosen
1985	'	Tillie Hansen
1985	Desperately Seeking Susan	Roberta Glass / 'Susan'
1985	Silverado	Hannah
1985	After Hours	Marcy Franklin
1986	8 Million Ways to Die	Sarah
1986	Nobody's Fool	Cassie
1987	Amazon Women on the Moon	Karen	Segment: "Two I.D.'s"
1988	'	Johana Baker
1989	New York Stories	Paulette	Segment: "Life Lessons"
1989	Black Rainbow	Martha Travis
1991	Flight of the Intruder	Callie Joy
1991	'	Lucy
1992	Fathers & Sons	Miss Athena
1993	Nowhere to Run	Clydie Anderson
1993	The Wrong Man	Missy Mills
1994	Pulp Fiction	Jody
1994	La Cité de la peur	Rosanna Arquette
1995	Search and Destroy	Lauren Mirkheim
1996	Crash	Gabrielle
1997	Gone Fishin'	Rita
1997	Deceiver	Mrs. Kennesaw
1998	Buffalo '66	Wendy Balsam
1998	Hope Floats	Connie Phillips
1998	Hell's Kitchen	Liz McNeary
1998	I'm Losing You	Rachel Krohn
1999	Sugar Town	Eva
2000	'	Sophie Oseransky
2001	Things Behind the Sun	Pete
2001	Joe Dirt	Charlene the Gator Farmer
2001	Big Bad Love	Velma
2001	Good Advice	Cathy Sherman
2001	Diary of a Sex Addict	Grace Horn	Video
2004	Dead Cool	Deirdre
2005	My Suicidal Sweetheart	Vera	AKA, Crazy for Love
2005	Kids in America	Abby Pratt
2007	Battle for Terra	Professor Lina (voice)
2008	Ball Don't Lie	Francine
2009	Repo Chick	Lola
2009	American Pie Presents: The Book of Love	Rob's Mom	Video
2010	Inhale	Dr. Rubin
2011	Convincing Clooney	JC
2011	'	Marilyn
2011	Peace, Love & Misunderstanding	Darcy
2012	Hardflip	Bethany Jones
2014	Draft Day		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	'	Kate Constantine	TV miniseries
1978	What Really Happened to the Class of '65?	Nancy	Episode: "Mr. Potential"
1978	James at 16	Karen Waller	Episode: "An Hour Before Midnight"
1978	ABC Afterschool Special	Charlie Meredith	Episode: "Mom and Dad Can't Hear Me"
1979	Eight Is Enough	Lori West	Episode: "Best of Friends"
1979-1980	Shirley	Debra Miller	Main role (13 episodes)
1981	Here's Boomer	Ginny	Episode: "Good Looking"
1982	'	Nicole Baker	TV film
1982	Johnny Belinda	Belinda McAdam	TV film
1983	Insight	Jo	Episode: "Butterfly"
1984	'	Tilda Kirby	TV film
1991	Son of the Morning Star	Libby Custer	TV film
1993	'	Missy Mills	TV film
1996	Homicide: Life on the Street	Caroline Widmer	Episode: "The Heart of a Saturday Night"
1997	Gun	Lilly Difideli	Episode: "Columbus Day"
2001	'	Arlene Potts	Episode: "Black Widow"
2002	Going to California	Helen	Episode: "Home Games"
2003	'	Brenda Miller	Episode: "Character Evidence"
2003	Will & Grace	Julie	Episodes: "Fagmalion Part 1: Gay It Forward", "Women and Children First"
2004	Summerland	Ronnie	Episode: "Skipping School"
2004	'	Cherie Jaffe	Episodes: "Luck, Next Time", "Liberally", "Limb from Limb"
2005	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Kay Connelly	Episode: "Sex Club"
2005	Malcolm in the Middle	Anita	Episode: "Burning Man"
2005	Grey's Anatomy	Constance Ferguson	Episode: "Owner of a Lonely Heart"
2006	'	Cherie Jaffe	Episode: "Lifeline"
2006-2007	What About Brian	Nicole Varzi	Main role (24 episodes)
2007	'	Cherie Jaffe	Episode: "Legend in the Making"
2008	Dirt	Mia	Episode: "And the Winner Is"
2008	Medium	Michelle Todd	Episode: "Lady Killer"
2008	Lipstick Jungle	Tina Atwood	Episode: "Let the Games Begin"
2009	Northern Lights	Charlene Galligan	TV film
2009	Eastwick	Greta Noa	Episodes: "Paint and Pleasure", "Tasers and Mind Erasers"
2010	Private Practice	Corinne	Episodes: "Shotgun", "'Til Death Do Us Part"
2012	Royal Pains	Louise 'Lou' Hunter	Episodes: "Something Fishy This Way Comes", "Sand Legs"
2013	Girls	Petula	Episode: "Video Games"
2013	Ray Donovan	Linda	Episodes: "Bridget", "Fite Nite"

Awards/Nominations

Year	Award	Category	Production	Result
1983	Primetime Emmy	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special	The Executioner's Song
1984	Boston Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Actress	Baby It's You
1986	BAFTA Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role	Desperately Seeking Susan
1986	Golden Globe	Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical	Desperately Seeking Susan
1986	Independent Spirit Awards	Best Female Lead	After Hours
1987	BAFTA Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role	After Hours
1989	Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival	Best Actress	Black Rainbow
1990	Australian Film Institute	Best Actress in a Lead Role	...Almost
1990	Fantasporto	International Fantasy Film Award	Black Rainbow
1991	Mystfest	Best Actress	Black Rainbow
2000	Teen Choice Awards	Film - Choice Hissy Fit	The Whole Nine Yards
2007	Fantasporto	Special Career Award