Lewis Arquette

Lewis Michael Arquette (December 14, 1935 – February 10, 2001) was an American film actor, writer and producer. Arquette was known for playing J.D. Pickett on the television series, The Waltons, where he worked from 1978 to 1981.

Life and career

Arquette was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Mildred Nesbitt Le May and actor Cliff Arquette. He was related to explorer Meriwether Lewis, for whom he was named. His family's surname was originally "Arcouet", coming from his partial French-Canadian ancestry. He was a part of the famous Arquette family, as son of Cliff Arquette and the father of actors Patricia, Alexis, Rosanna, David and Richmond Arquette. He is the former father-in-law of actress Courteney Cox, film composer James Newton Howard, and actors Thomas Jane and Nicolas Cage. Arquette frequently appeared in movies with his sons.

While living in Chicago, Arquette managed The Second City theater for several years. In 1970, the family moved to a Subud commune (described by Patricia as a "hippie commune") in Front Royal, Virginia. His wife, Brenda Olivia "Mardi" (née Nowak), died in 1997 from breast cancer. She was Jewish and the daughter of a Holocaust refugee from Poland, while Lewis Arquette, raised a Catholic, was a convert to Islam.

Arquette died in Los Angeles, California, in 2001 at age 65, due to congestive heart failure.