Patricia Arquette will appear in a recurring role throughout the upcoming season four of HBO's successful Prohibition Era series Boardwalk Empire, during which she will play a booze-pedling character named Sally Wheet. The character Arquette will be portraying has been described by a HBO statement as being 'a tough-as-nails Tampa speakeasy owner with connections to local gangsters,' Deadline first reported.

Arquette has been absent from television for some time, having last appeared on television on NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit last year, a one-off appearance that was her first television role since her CBS vehicle Medium was cancelled in 2011. As well as Arquette, HBO have also announced that four more new faces will be appearing in the upcoming season of the gangster drama, including Band of Brothers' Ron Livingston and Casino Royale's CIA operative Jeffrey Wright, meanwhile True Blood star Brian Geraghty and Mad Men's Eric Ladin will be given recurring roles in the upcoming series of the hit show.

Patricia Arquette
Patricia Arquette will make her triumphant return to television acting on the next series Boardwalk Empire

Boardwalk Empire is due to begin filming for the new series later on this year, with the fourth instalment of episodes expected to air before 2013 is over. The critically acclaimed series has so far scooped up twelve Emmy Awards and has received 30 nominations in total, including nods for Outstanding Drama Series. The series also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama and will hope to add to it's tally during next year's awards season with what will hopefully be another successful series.