Transgender actress Alexis Arquette died on Sunday September 11, at age 47, reportedly from complications related to AIDS.

Although there is no cure for the disease, the majority of people stricken with HIV/AIDS generally succumb to so-called “opportunistic infections,” which take advantage of a weak immune system, rather than the virus, itself, according to experts at the University of California, San Francisco. For instance, AIDS patients may become ill from tuberculosis, fungal infections such as cryptococcosis Pneumocystis jiroveci (which can cause pneumonia in people with compromised immune systems), as well as yeast infections and, various forms of cancer. caused by viruses, such as Kaposi sarcoma (which forms from the cells that line lymph or blood vessels). Cervical cancer is another cause for major concern.

Arquette was born Robert Arquette; July 28, 1969, and was a member of the famous Arquette family, which included grandfather Cliff Arquette (aka Charlie Weaver), and acting siblings. Rosanna, Patricia, Richmond, and David Arquette who posted tributes on Facebook, calling “Alexis a brilliant artist and painter, a singer, an entertainer and an actor, who despite the fact that there are few parts for trans actors, she refused to play roles that were demeaning or stereotypical. She was a vanguard in the fight for understanding and acceptance for all trans people.”

It was also reported that she was surrounded by her family and serenaded with David Bowie’s “Starman” as she died.

While mother, Mardi (nee Nowak) was Jewish of Russian and Polish descent, father Lewis Arquette, who is of French Canadian descent, was a convert to Islam from Catholicism. The family is also distantly related to American explorer Meriwether Lewis.

Although two of her first acting roles included an uncredited part as Alexis, the androgynous friend and band mate of sexually ambivalent teenager Max Whiteman (Evan Richards) in “Down and Out in Beverly Hills,” as well as transvestite Georgette in the big screen adaptation of “Last Exit to Brooklyn,” when she was just 19. Other roles included appearances in ” I Think I Do,” ” Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror,” and “Sometimes They Come Back… Again.” “Jack Be Nimble,” and as a murderous drag queen in the comedy “Killer Drag Queens on Dope,” to name a few. She also played Roman emperor Caligula in two episodes of “Xena: Warrior Princess.”

Alexis first came out public ally as transgender in 2006. Her transition from male to female, which was documented in the 2007 film “Alexis Arquette: She’s My Brother,” which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. She was also known for being an active supporter for other transgender people, including Chaz Bono, who made the transition from female to male not long after Alexis’s own metamorphosis.

The post Alexis Arquette dead from AIDS related-complications appeared first on Diets USA Magazine.