Siblings ROSANNA and Patricia Arquette have opened up about their violent upbringing during a hard-hitting TV special about the family.
The two actresses agreed to appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show as part of brother David's first indepth TV chat since completing a 28-day rehab stint in January (11).
The taped special aired in America on Thursday (24Feb11) and shattered myths the five Arquette kids grew up on an idyllic commune their actor father, Louis, and poet mother helped found in Virginia.
The sisters revealed there was a dark side to their creative parents - their mother was violent and dad had addiction problems.
Rosanna said, "There was a lot of drama in the house... there was a lot of hole punching in the walls.
"She (mother) stabbed me in the arm with a knife, concussions. Terrible physical abuse."
Sister Patricia recalled, "She choked me to the point once where I started blacking out."
And dad also had his issues. Patricia adds, "When he was using substance, which was usually marijuana, he would also drink whiskey..."
Rosanna added, "... So, when you grow up in that kind of family, it is a family disease and it effects everybody."
Patricia stated, "It's like a minefield and you never knew which one you were gonna get... which dad, which part of your mom."
Both mum and dad finally beat their demons and became loving parents, but the sisters fear brother David was left deeply scarred by their actions when he was a kid - but you'd never know at the time.
Patricia explained, "He never got in trouble. He was on every baseball team, every basketball team. (He was an) all-American, good boy, great son... (He was) the best kid in the whole world."
Speaking to Oprah, David Arquette insisted he had nothing but admiration for his parents because they "healed themselves throughout their lives," adding, "My father got sober and my mother became a marriage (and) family counsellor."