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River Jude Phoenix 1970 - 1993

River Jude Phoenix of West Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California United States was born on August 23, 1970 in Madras, Jefferson County, OR to John Lee Bottom and Arlyn Sharon Dunetz. He had siblings Summer Joy Phoenix, Rain Joan Of Arc Phoenix, Joaquin Rafael Phoenix, and Liberty Mariposa Phoenix. River Phoenix died at age 23 years old on October 31, 1993 in West Hollywood, Los Angeles County, CA, and was buried at Cremated.

River Jude Phoenix

Rio

West Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California United States

August 23, 1970

Madras, Jefferson County, Oregon, 97741, United States

October 31, 1993

West Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, United States

Male

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River Jude Phoenix River Phoenix (1970 - 1993)

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River Jude Phoenix's History: 1970 - 1993

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Introduction

Wonderful actor and if he wasn't into drugs, he would still be alive. He died at 23. He had all those friends and coworkers and relatives. But I am the one to take the time and give him a tribute because he was so talented. Born River Jude Bottom on August 23rd, 1970 om Madras, Oregon, and died October 31, 1993 (aged 23) in West Hollywood, California, he was cremated and his remains scattered in Montezuma, Costa Rica. Phoenix grew up in an itinerant family, as older brother of Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Liberty Phoenix, and Summer Phoenix. He had no formal schooling, but showed an instinctive talent for the guitar. He began his acting career at age 10 in television commercials. He starred in the science fiction adventure film Explorers (1985) and had his first notable role in 1986's Stand by Me, a coming-of-age film based on the novella The Body by Stephen King. Phoenix made a transition into more adult-oriented roles with Running on Empty (1988), playing Danny Pope, the son of fugitive parents in a well-received performance that earned him a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and My Own Private Idaho (1991), playing a gay hustler Michael Waters in search of his estranged mother. For his performance in the latter, Phoenix garnered enormous praise and won a Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival, along with Best Actor from the National Society of Film Critics. Phoenix died of a drug overdose in West Hollywood in the early hours of October 31, 1993 at age 23. At the time of his death, he was filming Dark Blood, which was released incomplete 19 years later, in 2012. Early life Phoenix was born on August 23, 1970 in Madras, Oregon, the first child of Arlyn Dunetz and John Lee Bottom. Phoenix's parents named him after the river of life from the Hermann Hesse novel Siddhartha, and he received his middle name from the Beatles' song "Hey Jude". In an interview with People, Phoenix described his parents as "hippieish". His mother was born in New York to Jewish parents whose families had emigrated from Russia and Hungary. His father was a lapsed Catholic from Fontana, California, of English, German, and French ancestry. In 1968, Phoenix's mother travelled across the United States. While hitchhiking in California she met John Lee Bottom. They married on September 13, 1969, less than a year after meeting. Phoenix's family moved cross country when he was very young. Phoenix has stated that they lived in a "desperate situation." Phoenix often played guitar while he and his sister sang on street corners for money and food to support their ever-growing family. Phoenix never attended formal school. Screenwriter Naomi Foner later commented, "He was totally, totally without education. I mean, he could read and write, and he had an appetite for it, but he had no deep roots into any kind of sense of history or literature." George Sluizer claimed Phoenix was dyslexic. Acting career 1980–1985: Early work Back in the United States, Arlyn began working as a secretary for an NBC broadcaster and John as an exteriors architect. Talent agent Iris Burton spotted River, Joaquin, and their sisters Summer and Rain singing for spare change in Westwood, Los Angeles, and was so charmed by the family that she soon represented the four siblings. Phoenix started doing commercials for Mitsubishi, Ocean Spray, and Saks Fifth Avenue, and soon afterward he and the other children were signed by casting director Penny Marshall from Paramount Pictures. River and Rain were assigned immediately to a show called Real Kids as warm up performers for the audience. In 1980, Phoenix began to fully pursue his work as an actor, making his first appearance on a TV show called Fantasy singing with his sister Rain. In 1982, Phoenix was cast in the short-lived CBS television series, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, in which he starred as the youngest brother, Guthrie McFadden. Phoenix arrived at the auditions with his guitar and promptly burst into a convincing Elvis Presley impersonation, charming the show producer. By this age, Phoenix was also an accomplished tap dancer. Almost a year after Seven Brides ended in 1983, Phoenix found a new role in the 1984 television movie Celebrity, where he played the part of young Jeffie Crawford. Although he was only onscreen for about ten minutes, his character was central. Less than a month after Celebrity came the ABC Afterschool Special: Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia. Phoenix starred as a young boy who discovers he has dyslexia. Joaquin starred in a small role alongside his brother. In September, the pilot episode of the short-lived TV series It's Your Move aired. Phoenix was cast as Brian and only had one line of dialogue. He also starred as Robert Kennedy's son, Robert Kennedy, Jr., in the TV movie Robert Kennedy and His Times. After his role in Dyslexia was critically acclaimed, Phoenix was almost immediately cast as a major role in his next made-for-TV movie, Surviving: A Family in Crisis. He starred as Philip Brogan alongside Molly Ringwald and Heather O'Rourke. Halfway during the filming of Surviving, Iris Burton contacted him about a possible role in the film Explorers. In October 1984, Phoenix secured the role of geeky boy-scientist Wolfgang Müller in Joe Dante's large-budget science-fiction film Explorers alongside Ethan Hawke, and production began soon after. Released in the summer of 1985, this was Phoenix's first major motion picture role. In October 1986, Phoenix co-starred alongside Tuesday Weld and Geraldine Fitzgerald in the acclaimed CBS television movie Circle of Violence: A Family Drama, which told a story of domestic elder abuse. This was Phoenix's last television role before achieving film stardom. 1986–1993: Critical success in Stand by Me, Running on Empty, My Own Private Idaho At 14, Phoenix had a significant role in Rob Reiner's popular coming-of-age film Stand by Me (1986), which made him a household name. Filming started on June 17, 1985, and ended in late August 1985, making River 14 for most (if not all) of the movie. The Washington Post opined that Phoenix gave the film its "centre of gravity". Phoenix commented: "The truth is, I identified so much with the role of Chris Chambers that if I hadn't had my family to go back to after the shoot, I'd have probably had to see a psychiatrist." Later that year Phoenix completed Peter Weir's The Mosquito Coast (1986), playing the son of Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren's characters. "He was obviously going to be a movie star," observed Weir. "It's something apart from acting ability. Laurence Olivier never had what River had." During the five-month shoot in Belize, Phoenix began a romance with his co-star Martha Plimpton, a relationship which continued in some form for many years. Phoenix was surprised by the poor reception for the film, feeling more secure about his work in it than he had in Stand by Me. Phoenix was next cast as the lead in the teen comedy-drama A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988), but was disappointed with his performance: "It didn't turn out the way I thought it would, and I put the blame on myself. I wanted to do a comedy, and it was definitely a stretch, but I'm not sure I was even the right person for the role." In 1988, Phoenix starred in Little Nikita (1988) alongside Sidney Poitier. During this time, the Phoenix family continued to move on a regular basis, moving over forty times by the time Phoenix was 18. Phoenix purchased his family a ranch in Micanopy, Florida, near Gainesville in 1987, in addition to a spread in Costa Rica. His sixth feature film was Sidney Lumet's Running on Empty (1988), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (as well as for a Golden Globe), and received the Best Supporting Actor honor from the National Board of Review. Phoenix jumped to his feet during the ceremony when Kevin Kline beat him to the Oscar. "I had to stop River from running to hug Kevin," recalled his mother Arlyn. "It never crossed his mind that he hadn't won." That year he also portrayed a young Indiana Jones in the box-office hit Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade directed by Steven Spielberg. In 1990, Phoenix was photographed by Bruce Weber for Vogue and was spokesperson for a campaign for Gap. In 1991, Phoenix filmed an acclaimed independent picture called Dogfight co-starring Lili Taylor and directed by Nancy Savoca. In the romantic coming-of-age drama set in San Francisco, Phoenix portrayed a young U.S. Marine on the night before he was shipped off to Vietnam in November 1963. Taylor remarked that Phoenix suffered because he could not distance himself from his character: "He also hadn't gotten into any [drugs] – he was just drinking then, too. It was different ... That was actually a hard part for him, because it was so radically different from who he was. He was such a hippie, and here he was playing this marine. It actually caused him a lot of discomfort. I don't think he enjoyed that, actually, getting into that psyche." Phoenix met actor Keanu Reeves while Reeves was filming Parenthood with Phoenix's brother, Joaquin; however, Phoenix had reportedly auditioned for Bill in Reeves' then-current film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure before the role was taken by Alex Winter.[ The two starred together for the first time (along with Kevin Kline, Tracey Ullman and Joan Plowright) in 1990's I Love You to Death and again in Gus Van Sant's avant-garde film My Own Private Idaho. In his review for Newsweek, David Ansen praised Phoenix's performance: "The campfire scene in which Mike awkwardly declares his unrequited love for Scott is a marvel of delicacy. In this, and every scene, Phoenix immerses himself so deeply inside his character you almost forget you've seen him before: it's a stunningly sensitive performance, poignant and comic at once". For his role in My Own Private Idaho, Phoenix won Best Actor honors at the Venice Film Festival, the National Society of Film Critics and the Independent Spirit Awards. The film and its success solidified Phoenix's image as an actor with edgy, leading man potential. In that period Phoenix was beginning to use marijuana, cocaine and heroin with some friends. In the book Gus Van Sant wrote about Phoenix, Pink, the director said clearly that Phoenix was not a regular drug user but only an occasional one, and that the actor had a more serious problem with alcohol. Phoenix had always tried to hide his addictions because he feared that they might ruin his career as they did his relationship with Martha Plimpton. Phoenix teamed up with Robert Redford and again with Sidney Poitier for the conspiracy/espionage thriller Sneakers (1992). A month later he began production on Sam Shepard's art-house ghost western Silent Tongue (which was released in 1994); he also was beaten out for the role of Paul by Brad Pitt in A River Runs Through It. He made a cameo appearance in Van Sant's Even Cowgirls get the Blues (1993), co-starring his sister Rain. Phoenix then starred in Peter Bogdanovich's country music-themed film, The Thing Called Love (1993), the last completed picture before his death. Phoenix began a relationship with co-star Samantha Mathis on the set.
08/23

1970

Birthday

August 23, 1970

Birthdate

Madras, Jefferson County, Oregon 97741, United States

Birthplace

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Ethnicity & Family History

His parents were Arlyn Sharon Dunetz and John Lee Bottom. River Phoenix had a mixed ethnicity, with his father having English, German, and French ancestry, and his mother being of Russian and Hungarian Jewish descent. River Phoenix had three siblings: Joaquin Phoenix, Rain Phoenix, and Liberty Phoenix. All of them are also actors, musicians, and activists.
Nationality & Locations

River Phoenix lived in various places throughout his life due to his family's nomadic lifestyle and his own career as an actor and musician. Born in Madras, Oregon, USA, River grew up in various locations in South and Central America with his family, who were part of the Children of God religious group. He eventually settled in Los Angeles with his family in the early 1980s, where he began his acting career. He lived in New York City for a brief period in the mid-1980s to pursue a music career, then moved back to Los Angeles to continue his acting career and became part of a group of young actors known as the "Brat Pack". River traveled to various locations around the world to film movies, including Italy, England, and the Philippines. He spent time in Costa Rica and Venezuela in the early 1990s to pursue his environmental and animal rights activism. He passed away in West Hollywood, California, on October 31, 1993, at the young age of 23.
Early Life & Education

River Phoenix's family moved frequently during his childhood due to their involvement with the Children of God group, which made it challenging for him to receive a formal education. As a result, he was mostly homeschooled by his mother and older sister. In the early 1980s, the family settled in Los Angeles, and River started to pursue his acting career. He did not attend traditional high school, but he did take some acting classes and participated in drama productions. Phoenix also continued to educate himself through reading and self-study. Despite not having a formal education, River Phoenix was known for his intelligence and intellectual curiosity. He was an avid reader and had a deep interest in philosophy, politics, and environmentalism. Phoenix also spoke several languages, including Spanish, German, and French.
Religious Beliefs

River Phoenix's parents were part of a religious group called the Children of God, and he and his siblings grew up in poverty, often traveling around the country to perform on the streets and in parks to earn money for the family. They changed their last name from Bottom to Phoenix to symbolize a new beginning.
Military Service

No military experience and no known record of his parents John or Arlyn having been involved in the military.
Professional Career

River Phoenix was a multi-talented performer who had a successful career as an actor and a musician. As an actor, Phoenix began his career in television commercials and made his film debut at the age of 14 in the movie "Explorers" (1985). He gained widespread recognition for his role as Chris Chambers in the coming-of-age drama "Stand by Me" (1986) and went on to star in several critically acclaimed movies, including "Running on Empty" (1988), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Phoenix was known for his intense, naturalistic acting style and his ability to convey a wide range of emotions on screen. He was also an outspoken activist and used his platform to raise awareness about various social and environmental issues. In addition to acting, Phoenix was also a talented musician and singer. He performed with his band, Aleka's Attic, which he formed with his sister, Rain Phoenix. The band released several recordings, but their debut album was not released until after River's death. River Phoenix was a highly respected and influential performer.
Personal Life & Family

River Phoenix had a complex personal life, marked by a mix of creativity, activism, and personal struggles. He was known for being a private person and did not often discuss his personal life in interviews. He had several high-profile relationships with fellow actors, including Martha Plimpton and Samantha Mathis. He was also linked to musician Lisa Bonet and actress Lili Taylor. At the time of his death, he was in a relationship with actress Samantha Mathis. River was known for his passion for animal rights, environmentalism, and social justice. He was a strict vegetarian from a young age and advocated for animal rights throughout his life. He was also deeply committed to environmentalism and was a member of Earth Save, a nonprofit organization that promotes plant-based diets and sustainable living. Phoenix was influenced by the writings of Henry David Thoreau, and he had a deep appreciation for nature and the natural world. In addition to his activism, Phoenix was known for his philosophical and spiritual interests. He was interested in Eastern religions and meditation and had a deep curiosity about the nature of existence and consciousness. Phoenix was known to be a thoughtful and introspective person who was always seeking to deepen his understanding of the world around him. Unfortunately, River Phoenix struggled with drug addiction throughout his adult life. He had experimented with drugs as a teenager, but his drug use became more frequent and intense as he became more successful in Hollywood. He was known to use cocaine and heroin, among other drugs. Tragically, he died of a drug overdose at the age of 23.
10/31

1993

Death

October 31, 1993

Death date

Drug overdose (Drug overdose.)

Cause of death

West Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California United States
Death location

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Gravesite & Burial

mm/dd/yyyy
Funeral date
Cremated
Burial location
Obituary

River Phoenix, whose natural intensity as a youthful actor in the 1986 film "Stand by Me" launched his career, collapsed outside a nightclub here early today and died, the authorities said. He was 23. Friends reported that Mr. Phoenix was "acting strange" as he left the nightclub, the Viper Room in West Hollywood, about 1 A.M., said Sheriff's Deputy Diane Hecht. After he collapsed, paramedics took him to Cedars Sinai Medical Center, and he was pronounced dead at 1:51 A.M. Deputy Hecht said the cause of death would be determined by an autopsy, probably to be performed on Monday. Screen Debut at 15 A year after his 1985 film debut in "Explorers," Mr. Phoenix showed his star potential in "Stand by Me," directed by Rob Reiner. Mr. Phoenix played Chris Chambers, the tough boy in a group of boyhood friends who learn about themselves on a hike in the woods, where they find a corpse. In his brief career, Mr. Phoenix played a male hustler in Gus Van Sant's 1991 film "My Own Private Idaho" and a computer hacker in the ensemble cast of "Sneakers," in 1992. His other films include "The Mosquito Coast" (1986) and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989), both with Harrison Ford; "Little Nikita" (1988), with Sidney Poitier; "A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon" (1988), and "Running on Empty" (1988). Mr. Phoenix, who also sang with the band Aleka's Attic, was in the midst of filming "Dark Blood," a Fine Line Features picture that was nearly complete, said his publicity agent, Sue Patricola. He was to have appeared in the film of Ann Rice's novel "Interview With the Vampire." A Peripatetic Childhood Mr. Phoenix came from an unusual family and spent much of his childhood on the move, living in Oregon, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South America and Florida. His parents had met while hitchhiking and named their son for the river of life in Herman Hesse's "Siddhartha." Mr. Phoenix was born in Madras, Ore., and spent most of his childhood in Venezuela with his brother, Leaf, and his sisters, Rain, Liberty and Summer, while his parents, John and Arlynn, became missionaries for the Children of God. The family legend has it that Mr. Phoenix began performing at the age of 5, singing with the 3-year-old Rain on street corners in Caracas, Venezuela. The family moved to Los Angeles when Mr. Phoenix was 10. He appeared in commercials before he was cast in the 1982 television series "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."

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