November was born April 8, 1968, in Chicago, Illinois. The senior Arquettes were performers and artists of one sort or another. Grandfather Cliff was a humorist, known for his persona of Charley Weaver, who frequently appeared on TV's Hollywood Squares and talk shows during the 1960s and '70s. Father Lewis (a.k.a. Mursulin Arquette) was also an actor and humorist, while mother Mardi (a.k.a. Olivia/Brenda/Mardiningshi) was a poet and political activist.

The family, which also included older siblings Rosanna and Richmond, and younger brothers Alexis and David, moved to an artists' commune near Arlington, Virginia when Patricia was still a child.

a born artist

Not surprisingly, the Arquette children grew up in an environment that fostered creativity and freedom of expression. When Patricia was 15, she ran away to live with Rosanna, who had moved to L.A. to pursue an acting career. After several years on the commune, the rest of the family relocated to Southern California, and soon all the children became interested in acting.

Patricia studied acting with Milton Katselas, and landed roles in films such as Pretty Smart (1986) and Daddy (1987), a made-for-TV movie in which she played a teenage mother. She gained attention following her appearance in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (also 1987), and guest starred in such TV series as thirtysomething, The Outsiders and Tales from the Crypt. In 1989, Patricia had a son, Enzo, with musician Paul Rossi.

In 1990, Patricia starred in The Boy with the Crazy Brother, a CBS Schoolbreak Special directed by Diane Keaton. The following year, she played Viggo Mortensen's girlfriend in Sean Penn's directorial debut, The Indian Runner. For her second made-for-TV movie directed by Keaton, Wildflower (1991), Patricia won the CableAce Award for Best Actress in a Movie or Miniseries.

true romance indeed

Patricia's career was now on a roll, and 1993 proved to be a breakthrough year for the 25-year-old actress. She appeared in Trouble Bound, Inside Monkey Zetterland, and earned critical praise for her performance in Ethan Frome, opposite Liam Neeson She also held her own against such acting talents as Christopher Walken, Gary Oldmanand Dennis Hopper in True Romance (written by Quentin Tarantino, where she played Alabama Whitman, a high-strung, inexperienced call girl. She also began a brief romance with co-star Christian Slater during this time.

More roles followed in 1994, including parts in the TV movie Betrayed by Love, Holy Matrimony and Tim Burton's bio-comedy Ed Wood, in which she portrayed Kathy O'Hara, the tolerant wife of the world's worst director. In 1995, Patricia turned in another fine performance, appearing as an American doctor caught up in the political turmoil of Burma, in John Boorman's Beyond Rangoon. On her 27th birthday that April, she married actor Nicolas Cage (apparently she's the one who popped the question).

patricia's padding her resume

Patricia returned to the silver screen in 1996's Flirting with Disaster, a comedy in which she played Ben Stiller's moody wife. She rounded out the year playing the wife of a Victorian-era anarchist/terrorist in The Secret Agent, and of nuclear physicist Richard Feynman in Infinity, directed by Matthew Broderick In 1997, Patricia earned praise for her dual role of a murdered wife/femme fatale in David Lynch's twisted Lost Highway, and appeared with Ewan McGregor in the thriller Nightwatch.

She portrayed the unhappily married wife of a ranch hand in The Hi-Lo Country (1998), and starred opposite Gabriel Byrnein the horror flick Stigmata (1999). In Martin Scorsese's Bringing Out the Dead, she co-starred with husband Cage (1999). In November 2000, Arquette filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences." While the pair had been seen together in public during their marriage, it was rumored that they had lived separately nine months after they wed. The star couple divorced in May 2001.

acting is her nature

Patricia returned to comedy, appearing in the Adam Sandler vehicle Little Nicky (2000), which also featured her father Lewis. In 2001, she played a hirsute woman involved in a love triangle with an ape-like man in Human Nature, co-starring Tim Robbins. She starred in The Badge along with Billy Bob Thornton a crime thriller that premiered on the STARZ! network in September 2002.

In August, Patricia became engaged to actor Thomas Jane The couple is expecting Patricia's second child in February 2003. 2003 will also see her in Tiptoes, alongside Gary Oldmanand Matthew McConaughey, and Holes, based on a best-selling children's book, which co-stars Sigourney Weaver and