David Arquette

David Arquette (; born September 8, 1971) is an American actor, producer, and retired professional wrestler. Arquette's breakout came with his starring role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film '' Scream'' (1996), a role which he later reprised in four sequels from 1997 to 2022. On TV, he had main roles as Tod Hawks on the NBC sitcom '' Parenthood'' (1990–1991) and Hunter on the CBS sitcom '' Double Rush'' (1995). He made his directorial debut with '' The Tripper'' (2006). He was the subject of the documentary film '' You Cannot Kill David Arquette'' (2020).

As a professional wrestler, Arquette is best known for his panned 2000 stint in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) where he won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

Early life

Arquette was born in a Subud commune in Bentonville, Virginia. He is the youngest child of Brenda "Mardi" Olivia (née Nowak), an actress, burlesque dancer, poet, theater operator, activist, acting-teacher, and therapist, and Lewis Arquette, a puppeteer and actor. Arquette's paternal grandfather was comedian Cliff Arquette. Arquette's mother was Jewish (from a family that emigrated from Poland) while his father was a convert from Roman Catholicism to Islam; through him, David is distantly related to explorer Meriwether Lewis. His father, whose family's surname was originally Arcouet, was partly of French-Canadian descent. Arquette's four siblings, Rosanna, Richmond, Patricia, and Alexis, all became actors as well. The Arquettes had an unusual upbringing, with a father who occasionally had issues with substance abuse. Their mother died of breast cancer.

Career

Acting

Arquette appeared in a number of films in the 1990s, including ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1992), '' Airheads'' (1994) and '' Never Been Kissed'' (1999). He had guest spots on television shows like ''Blossom'' (1992), ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1992) and ''Friends'' (1996). Arquette achieved his biggest success in the horror/slasher film franchise '' Scream''. It was during the filming of the first film in 1996 that he first met his future wife, Courteney Cox. The couple married in 1999; together, they appeared in a 2003 advertisement for Coke and formed the production company Coquette (both a portmanteau of their last names and a word meaning a flirty woman), which has produced a number of films and television series, including '' Daisy Does America'', ''Dirt'' and ''Cougar Town''. Arquette guest starred alongside Cox on ''Cougar Town'' in 2012.

Arquette appeared in the Sega video game '' ESPN NFL 2K5'', voicing himself as a "celebrity adversary" and manager of his own team, the Los Angeles Locos, as well as appearing as an unlockable character in Season Mode. He also appeared in the 2001 EA video game '' SSX Tricky'', as the voice of lead character Eddie. He also starred in '' See Spot Run'' in 2001. Arquette starred in the 2007 ABC comedy series '' In Case of Emergency'', which was canceled after one season. Since then, he has appeared in the 2008 film '' Hamlet 2'' and reprised his role in '' Scream 4'', again acting alongside Cox. He appeared alongside his sister in the TV show ''Medium'' in January 2011.

He appeared in Rascal Flatts' music video for their song "Why Wait" in 2010. Arquette, a well known horror fan, made his directorial debut with 2007's '' The Tripper'' and has signed on to direct ''Glutton'', a 3D psychological thriller. The film began shooting in July 2011 in Canada. Arquette appeared on the 13th season of ''Dancing with the Stars'', partnered with two-time champion Kym Johnson. He was eliminated on November 1, 2011. On October 7, 2013, Arquette's new show ''Dream School'', in which he plays a mentor to high risk kids in L.A., premiered on the Sundance Channel. In 2017, he starred in the reboot of '' Sigmund and the Sea Monsters'' as Captain Barnabus. In May 2020, it was confirmed that Arquette would be reprising his role as Dewey Riley for the fifth ''Scream'' film, which was directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. The film was released on January 14, 2022.

Arquette has appeared on ''The Howard Stern Show'' many times, including multiple times as the show's celebrity intern. Arquette purchased the rights to Bozo the Clown in 2021 and has plans to revive the character.

Professional wrestling

In 2000, after filming the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) film '' Ready to Rumble'', Arquette was brought into WCW storylines. He made his first appearance on the April 12, 2000, episode of ''Thunder'', sitting in the crowd before leaping into the ring to take part in a worked confrontation with Eric Bischoff and his New Blood stable. Afterwards, he formed an alliance with Chris Kanyon and then reigning WCW World Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page, and with their help, he defeated Bischoff in a singles match on the April 24 episode of ''Nitro''. On the following episode of ''Thunder'', Arquette teamed with Page in a match against Bischoff and Jeff Jarrett, with the stipulation that whichever man got the pin would take the championship. Arquette pinned Bischoff again in the match's finish, winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in the process.
During his time as champion, Arquette was mostly used as comic relief. He only appeared on two shows as champion, the May 1 ''Nitro'' and May 7 Slamboree pay-per-view. During the former, a vignette was shown, filmed on the set of Arquette's film '' 3000 Miles to Graceland'', which also featured his wife Courteney Cox and their co-star Kurt Russell. In the vignette, Cox informs Russell that Arquette is the WCW World Heavyweight Champion, causing Russell to laugh and walk off and Arquette to chase after him with a steel chair. In another portion of the show, Arquette was seen backstage trembling in fear and attempting to "give back" the championship belt. However, he did successfully defend the title against Tank Abbott with help from Page.

Arquette held the title for 12 days until the Slamboree pay-per-view on May 7, 2000, when he was booked to defend the championship against Jarrett and Page in a Triple Cage match, the same match featured in the climax of ''Ready to Rumble''. In the end, he turned on Page and gave the victory to Jarrett. After Slamboree, Arquette cut a promo on the May 8 episode of ''Nitro'', explaining that his entire friendship with Page and title run was a " swerve". Page subsequently ran down to the ring and hit him with a '' Diamond Cutter''. Arquette made one final appearance with WCW at the New Blood Rising pay-per-view on August 13, when he interfered in a match between Buff Bagwell and Kanyon.

Arquette was against the idea of becoming the WCW World Heavyweight Champion, believing that fans like himself would detest a non-wrestler winning the title. Vince Russo, who was the head booker for WCW at the time, insisted that Arquette becoming the champion would be good for the company and for publicity, and Arquette reluctantly agreed to the angle. All the money he made during his WCW tenure was donated to the families of Owen Hart (who died in a freak accident), Brian Pillman (who died from an undiagnosed heart condition), and Darren Drozdov (who became a quadriplegic after an in-ring accident). After the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE) purchased WCW, Arquette's championship run was listed as the top reason for the "failure" of ''Nitro'' in a list published by ''WWE Magazine''. Gene Okerlund stated in a 2009 interview on WCW's history that "once Arquette won the title, it might as well been thrown in the trash" due to losing what little credibility it had left at that point, and Arquette's reign as champion has been criticized in other WWE media in the years since, despite the fact that the then-WWF itself briefly booked Vince McMahon as WWF Champion months before Arquette's title win.

On the December 13, 2010, episode of '' Raw'', Arquette made his WWE debut by teaming with Alex Riley in a handicap match against Randy Orton, which they lost.
In 2018, during an interview on ''The Wendy Williams Show'', Arquette said that, in the years following his controversial WCW title win, he had been trolled on the Internet and that he wanted people to have respect for his name in professional wrestling. He began training with professional wrestler Peter Avalon for his return. On July 15, 2018, Arquette made his return to professional wrestling making his debut for Championship Wrestling from Hollywood (CWFH) in a losing effort against RJ City.

On October 6, 2018, Arquette teamed with RJ City to defeat the team of Halal Beefcake (Idris Abraham and Joe Coleman) in a tag team match at Border City Wrestling's 25th Anniversary show in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The event was filmed by Impact Wrestling to air as a One Night Only pay-per-view in November 2018. On November 16, 2018, Arquette wrestled Nick Gage in a deathmatch at Joey Janela's LA Confidential event. During the match, he suffered a severe cut in the neck, causing him to bleed profusely. After the match, he went to a hospital and was operated on. Arquette later stated that he was done with deathmatches.

On May 23, 2019, Arquette made his debut on '' Being the Elite'', where he attempted to convince Nick and Matt Jackson to allow him to enter the Over the Budget Battle Royal at All Elite Wrestling's (AEW) Double or Nothing event. Neither of them recognized him at first, however they eventually recalled his WCW World Heavyweight Championship reign but still refused to let him compete, instead, giving him a double Superkick.

In June 2021, Arquette announced he was retiring as a wrestler. His last match was on 31 July 2021 as Rob Boss, teaming with A Little Angry Tree and defeating Whopper Texas Ranger for Wrestling Pro Wrestling in Burbank, California.

On April 23, 2023, Arquette appeared on AEW's internet television show ''Hey! (EW)''.

Other activities

In May 2007, Image Comics (in conjunction with Raw Studios) published ''David Arquette's the Tripper'', drawn by Nat Jones and co-writen by Joe Harris and Arquette.

He runs the clothing line Propr Collection together with Ben Harper. He is part owner of Bootsy Bellows, an exclusive nightclub in Los Angeles. The club is named for Arquette's mother, a burlesque dancer who performed by that name.

Arquette was briefly in a band by the name of Ear2000, who contributed a song to the ''Scream 2'' soundtrack and ''Scream 3'' soundtrack. The group, whose style blended hip hop and rock, has since broken up. Arquette has also been a part of Washington's Red Museum and recorded "Post Empire" with the band, which was released in 2011.

Championships and accomplishments

* ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated''
** Ranked No. 453 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''PWI 500'' in 2019
* World Championship Wrestling
** WCW World Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time)
* WrestleCrap
** Gooker Award (2000)
* ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter''
** Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic (2000)

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

Personal life

Arquette married his ''Scream'' co-star Courteney Cox on June 12, 1999. They have a daughter, Coco Arquette, born in June 2004. Jennifer Aniston is her godmother. On October 11, 2010, the media announced that Arquette and Cox were having a trial separation, but "still love each other deeply." In June 2012, Arquette filed for divorce after nearly two years of separation from Cox. The divorce became final in May 2013. He started dating ''Entertainment Tonight'' correspondent Christina McLarty in 2011. They announced they were expecting their first child together in November 2013. McLarty gave birth to the couple's son in 2014. The couple announced their engagement in July 2014. They were married on April 12, 2015. McLarty gave birth to their second son in 2017.

Arquette checked into a rehabilitation center for treatment of "alcohol and other issues" on January 1, 2011. On April 8, 2011, Arquette announced on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' that he had reached the 100-day sober milestone. Later that year, Arquette said he has been sober for over nine months. In June 2012, while in Israel to film an episode of the travel show ''Trippin'', Arquette belatedly celebrated his Bar Mitzvah at the Western Wall. The presiding rabbi was Shmuel Rabinovitch.

Legacy

The band the Black Math Experiment released "You Cannot Kill David Arquette" in 2005, a tongue in cheek song about Arquette's acting and wrestling career. Arquette himself helped promote the band on MTV's ''Total Request Live'' and during his promotional tour for '' The Tripper''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web

Music videos

Video games

Awards and nominations

See also

* List of Jewish professional wrestlers

References

External links

*

David Arquette interview

The Mighty Vin interviews David Arquette
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arquette, David
1971 births
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American male writers
American Ashkenazi Jews
American male film actors
American male professional wrestlers
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American people of French-Canadian descent
American people of Polish-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American people of Swiss-German descent
David Arquette
Comedians from Virginia
Fairfax High School (Los Angeles) alumni
Film directors from Los Angeles
Film directors from Virginia
Film producers from California
Jewish American male actors
Jewish American screenwriters
Jewish professional wrestlers
Living people
Male actors from Virginia
Participants in American reality television series
Screenwriters from California
Television producers from California
WCW World Heavyweight Champions