|
|
| Birth Name(s) : River Jude Phoenix |
Date of Birth: August 23, 1970 |
| Status:
N/A
|
Partner:
N/A |
| Profession:
Actor |
| << Add River Phoenix To Your Favorites |
|
Full River Phoenix Biography
River Phoenix was known as a dedicated animal rights activist and environmentalist as well as a talented actor. His film debut was in "Explorers" (1985) and can be seen in other hits such as "Stand By Me" (1986), "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989) and "My Own Private Idaho"(1991).
He died at age 23 outside Johnny Depp's Los Angeles club, the Viper Room of a drug-induced heart failure. River was in the middle of filming "Dark Blood" which was never released. |
|
|
Additional River Phoenix Biography
River Jude Phoenix (August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993) was an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated American film actor. He was listed on John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 38 as one of twelve "promising new actors of 1986", and was hailed as highly talented by such critics as Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. His career was cut short, however, when he died of an overdose of heroin and cocaine on Halloween morning at age 23. He was the older brother of actor Joaquin Phoenix.
Both Phoenix and his mother have stated that he was named after the River of Life in Hermann Hesse's novel Siddhartha, and that his middle name comes from The Beatles song "Hey Jude". Phoenix was born River Jude Bottom in Metolius, Oregon, five miles south of Madras, Oregon. His mother, Arlyn Sharon (née Dunetz), was born in the Bronx, New York to Jewish parents from Hungary and Russia. His father, John Lee Bottom, was a lapsed Catholic from Fontana, California. In 1968, Phoenix's mother left her family and moved to California, meeting Phoenix's father while hitch-hiking. They married in 1969 and joined the religious cult the Children of God, working as missionaries and fruit pickers in South America. Phoenix had four younger siblings: one brother, Joaquin, and three sisters, Rain, Summer, and Liberty.
Appearing again with Harrison Ford, Phoenix portrayed the teenage Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) and was offered the role of the young Indiana Jones in the upcoming TV series, which he turned down. Phoenix met actor Keanu Reeves while Reeves was filming Parenthood with his brother, Joaquin. Phoenix later went on to star opposite Reeves in Gus Van Sant's avant-garde film My Own Private Idaho for which Phoenix won Best Actor honors at the Venice Film Festival and from the National Society of Film Critics. His friendship with both Reeves and Van Sant continued until his death. At the press screening of My Own Private Idaho at the New York Film Festival, River accurately predicted that a large number of gay-themed films were "on the horizon." Right after this, he made an acclaimed independent film called Dogfight co-starring Lili Taylor and directed by Nancy Savoca.
Although Phoenix's movie career was generating most of the income for his family, many believe that his true passion was music. He had his own band called Aleka's Attic, which included his sister Rain, Sasa Raphael, and, on occasion, Michael "Flea" Balzary of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He appeared on Red Hot Chili Peppers' guitarist John Frusciante's second solo album Smile From the Streets You Hold on the songs "Height Down" and "Well, I've Been". Phoenix was also close friends with Michael Stipe of the band R.E.M..
After his death in 1993, his last picture, Sam Shepard's art-house, ghost western Silent Tongue (1994), was released; it had been filmed prior to A Thing Called Love. Phoenix was still working on George Sluizer's post-apocalyptic Dark Blood which was three weeks from completion at the time of his death. 90% completed, the film was never released, as Phoenix's death made it impossible for the filmmakers to film several key scenes.
Generally regarded by critics at the time as the most promising young actor on the cusp of the '80s and '90s, River and younger brother Joaquin would later go on to become the first brothers in Hollywood history to both be nominated for an Oscar in the acting categories.
Phoenix once said in an interview, "I wish sometimes that I wasn't as conscious as I am". Prone to spells of worsening depression and compulsivity, River hinted in interviews at having been abused by the members of the Children of God, an oft-investigated cult to which he had belonged as a small child. Although the details of the alleged mistreatment remain unclear, it has been strongly suggested that the experience played a key role in his descent into substance abuse towards the end of his life (statistically, a common problem among those who have undergone certain forms of childhood abuse trauma).
On October 31, 1993, Phoenix died at the age of 23 from a drug overdose of heroin and cocaine (known as a speedball) outside the Viper Room, a Hollywood night club partly owned by actor Johnny Depp until 2004. An autopsy revealed additional traces of cough syrup and cannabis in his blood. On the night of Phoenix's death, following a last minute refusal to perform music on stage, he was in the bathroom doing drugs with various friends and drug dealers. It is reported that an acquaintance offered him some Persian Brown (a powerful form of methamphetamine mixed with opiates, which is then insufflated) and soon after consuming the drug he became ill. Soon after leaving The Viper Room, he collapsed on the sidewalk and began seizing. His brother Joaquin was present at the scene, as was his sister, Rainbow (or just Rain), also present was his girlfriend, Samantha Mathis. Joaquin dialed 911 after he was unable to determine whether his brother was breathing or not; he had in fact already stopped breathing. He was rushed to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at 1:51 a.m. PST on the morning of October 31, 1993. Johnny Depp used to close The Viper Room every October 31 in memory of River's death. But since his relinquishment of his partial ownership in 2004, the club has abandoned this tradition. |
|
| Add River Phoenix Biography (SuperUSERS) + |
River Phoenix Quote(s)
| I would rather quit while I was ahead. There's no need in overstaying your welcome. |
|
| Add River Phoenix Review/Comment
|
HQ River Phoenix Pictures (78) | Random River Phoenix Picture
|
| << Back to the River Phoenix Homepage |
|
