Alexis Arquette died from cardiac arrest

21 September 2016

Alexis Arquette died from a heart attack.

Alexis Arquette

The transgender actress tragically passed away on September 11 at the age of 47 and it has now been revealed that Alexis was battling HIV for 29 years.

Whilst the death certificate listed a cardiac arrest as the cause of death, it also noted Alexis had suffered a bacterial infection just three weeks before she passed away, TMZ reports.

The news of the actress' tragic passing was announced by her brother Richmond on Facebook.

He wrote at the time: "Our brother Robert, who became our brother Alexis, who became our sister Alexis, who became our brother Alexis, passed this morning September 11, at 12:32 am. He was surrounded by all of his brothers and sisters, one of his nieces and several other loved ones. We were playing music for him and he passed during David Bowie's Starman. As per his wishes, we cheered at the moment that he transitioned to another dimension.

"I am feeling immense gratitude to have been afforded the luxury of sharing life with him/her, for learning from Alexis, for being given the gift of being able to love her/him and to be loved by him/her. He was a force. He died as he lived, on his own terms. I am immensely grateful that it was fast and painless. It was an incredible moving experience and I am humbled and grateful to have been able to have been with him as he began his journey onward. Thank you, Alexis, I love you and will always love you (sic)."

In a further statement, her siblings, Patricia, David, Rosanna and Richmond, remembered Alexis as "a vanguard in the fight for understanding and acceptance for all trans people".