Rosanna Arquette

Biography

Rosanna Lisa Arquette is an American actress, film director, and film producer. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in the TV film The Executioner’s Song, and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the film Desperately Seeking Susan.

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, a film actor, screenwriter, and producer. Her paternal grandfather was comedian Cliff Arquette. Her mother was Jewish, from a family that emigrated from Poland and Russia. Her father, whose family’s surname was originally “Arcouet”, was of part-French Canadian descent. Her siblings, Richmond, Patricia, Alexis, and David, all became actors as well.

Arquette has appeared in both television and screen films. 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 in Showtime’s The L Word as Cherie Jaffe.

In August 2013, Arquette married her fourth husband, investment banker Todd Morgan, following a two-year engagement.