David Arquette - Writers, Birthday and Facts

David was born on September 8, 1971, in a Subud commune in Bentonville, Virginia, US, to Lewis Arquette and Brenda Olivia "Mardi" (née Nowak) as their youngest child among five children.

His family is known for its association with show business for generations. His paternal grand-father Cliff Arquette was a comedian and his father was a film actor, writer and producer while his mother was an actress, acting teacher, poet, psychotherapist, theatre operator and activist.

He is distantly related to the famous American explorer, soldier, public administrator and statesman, Meriwether Lewis, through his father.

His father, who converted to Islam from Catholicism, had occasional issues related to substance abuse that in certain ways led him and his sibling to an unusual upbringing. All his elder four siblings - Rosanna, Patricia, Alexis and Richmond grew up to be actors. His mother succumbed to breast cancer.

Arquette developed a passion for art and acting at an early age.

After giving several auditions, he got his first big break in 1990 with the short-lived American teen drama series ‘The Outsiders’. He essayed the role of Keith "Two-Bit" Mathews in the series that premiered on Fox on March 25, 1990 and aired its final and 13th episode on July 22 that year.

He played Tod Hawks in 5 of 12 episodes of the American sitcom ‘Parenthood’ that aired on NBC from August 20, 1990 to August 11, 1991. The series featured other artists including Leonardo DiCaprio who later became famous celebrities.

His initial big-screen pursuits saw him playing a gay prostitute Rob in the Marc Rocco directed 1992 drama film ‘Where the Day Takes You’ that received positive reviews but failed to make a mark at the box-office.

His first significant film role was that of Benny Jacks in the 1992 American comedy horror film ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. The film was a decent hit at the box-office. He also featured in the short film ‘Halfway House’, the film ‘Cruel Doubt’ and in TV series ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ and ‘Blossom’ that year.

The ensuing years saw him performing in several other films, most notably in Airheads (1994) and ‘Johns’ (1996) among others.

His real breakthrough came with the 1996 released American slasher film ‘Scream’ where he played the leading role of Dewey Riley, the deputy sheriff of Woodsboro, starring opposite Neve Campbell, Drew Barrymore, Courteney Cox, Rose McGowan, Matthew Lillard, and Skeet Ulrich.

‘Scream’ not only received critical acclaim but also saw revitalisation of the horror genre with many more imitators to follow in the ensuing years. It was a smashing hit at the box office garnering a whooping $173 million compared to its budget of $14 million, marking it as the highest grossing slasher film in the US till present.

This stupendous success of ‘Scream’ brought Arquette into the spotlight, earning him worldwide fame and recognition. His remarkable performance in the film led him to reprise the role in the other flicks of the horror/slasher film franchise ‘Scream’ directed by Wes Craven.

His three other flicks of the ‘Scream’ series include ‘Scream 2’, released on December 12, 1997; ‘Scream 3’, released on February 4, 2000; and ‘Scream 4’, released on April 15, 2011. All the three films garnered commercial success with the series grossing more than $604 million in worldwide box-office collections.

Arquette bagged the ‘Favorite Actor – Horror’ award at the 1998 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards for ‘Scream 2’ and the ‘Film – Choice Chemistry’ award, shared with Courteney Cox, at the 2000 Teen Choice Awards for ‘Scream 3’.

Meanwhile in 1999 he played the role of Rob Geller in the 1999 blockbuster hit romantic comedy ‘Never Been Kissed’ starring opposite Drew Barrymore and Michael Vartan among others. The film earned him the Favorite Supporting Actor – Comedy/Romance award at the 2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards.

Following the filming of the 2000 American comedy film ‘Ready to Rumble’ -based on the presently defunct American pro wrestling promotion ‘World Championship Wrestling’ (WCW), where Arquette essayed the role of Gordie Boggs, he forayed into pro wrestling for a brief period.

On April 25, 2000, he along with Diamond Dallas Page, fought in a tag team match against Jeff Jarrett and Eric Bischoff where the wrestler scoring the decisive fall would become the champion. The match concluded with Arquette bagging the WCW World Heavyweight Champion title after he succeeded in pinning Bischoff.

The years that followed saw him featuring in several other films like ‘See Spot Run’ (2001), ‘Eight Legged Freaks’ (2002), ‘A Foreign Affair’ (2003), ‘Hamlet 2’ (2008) and ‘Field of Lost Shoes’ (2013) among many others; and short films Nosebleed (2008) and ‘The Legend of Hallowdega’ (2010).

He and his then wife, Courteney Cox, created their TV and film production company ‘Coquette Productions’. The name of the company is a portmanteau of the surnames of the couple. Based in West Hollywood, California, ‘Coquette Productions’ has produced many TV series and shows like ‘Mix It Up’(2003), ‘Talk Show Diaries’ (2005), ‘Daisy Does America’ (2005), ‘Dirt’ (2007) and ‘Celebrity Name Game’ (2014); and films like ‘Bigger Than the Sky’ (2005), ‘The Tripper’ (2007) and ‘Just Before I Go’ (2014). Among these ‘The Tripper’ marked his debut in direction.

Apart from films and TV series, he also appeared in the American action web series ‘Cleaners’ from October 3, 2013 to August 19, 2014 playing one of the main roles of Frank Barnes. He also worked in several video games including giving voiceover as Eddie Wachowski in SSX Tricky (2001) and as himself in ‘ESPN NFL 2K5’ (2004).

He first met Courteney Cox on the sets of ‘Scream’ and the two married on June 12, 1999. Their daughter, Coco Riley Arquette, was born on June 13, 2004. Famous American actress, producer and entrepreneur Jennifer Aniston, a close friend of Courteney, is the godmother of Coco.

Arquette and Courteney separated in 2010, which was announced on October 11 that year, and after almost two years of separation a divorce case was filed by Arquette in June 2012. They finally divorced on May 28, 2013.

Meanwhile from 2011, he on-and-off-dated Christina McLarty, a correspondent of ‘Entertainment Tonight’. The two welcomed their first son in 2014 and married on April 12, 2015. Their second son was born in 2017.