River Phoenix

River Phoenix (born August 23, 1970, Madras, Oregon, U.S.—died October 31, 1993, Los Angeles, California) was an American actor best known for his starring roles in the films Stand by Me (1986), Running on Empty (1988), and My Own Private Idaho (1991). Despite his relatively short career, many of his peers consider him to be one of the best actors of his generation. His younger brother, Joaquin Phoenix, is an Academy Award-winning actor.

Early life

Phoenix was born River Jude Bottom to Arlyn Bottom (née Dunetz; now known as Heart Phoenix), who worked as a secretary, and John Bottom, who was a carpenter. John Bottom and Arlyn Dunetz met in 1968 while Arlyn was hitchhiking in northern California. The couple married within a year. River Jude Bottom’s first name was inspired by the holy river in Herman Hesse’s novel Siddhartha (1922), and his middle name was derived from the Beatles’ song “Hey Jude” (1968). In 1973 the Bottom family joined the religious communal group the Children of God (which is now known as The Family International) as itinerant missionaries and moved to Caracas. The Bottoms supported themselves by picking fruit and working other odd jobs. In a handful of interviews throughout his life, Phoenix claimed that he suffered sexual abuse, beginning at age four, by members of the Children of God. By 1977 Arlyn Bottom and John Bottom had become disgruntled with the group’s extreme practices and left, moving to Arlyn’s family property in Micanopy, Florida. In 1979 the family adopted Phoenix as its surname. By this point, the family had five children: River, Rain, Joaquin, Summer, and Liberty.

Career

The Phoenix family moved to Los Angeles after River landed an audition with a casting agent from Paramount Pictures. They were homeless for a time upon their arrival in California and slept in their car. The children played music on street corners to earn money while Arlyn Phoenix found work as a secretary at the NBC television network. River and his younger siblings Joaquin, Summer, and Rain were discovered by talent agent Iris Burton in 1981 while busking at the Century City mall in Los Angeles, and Burton later represented them. At age 11, River Phoenix was cast as Guthrie McFadden, the youngest brother in the musical television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1982–83). He went on to land television roles on the sitcom It’s Your Move (1984), the miniseries Robert Kennedy and His Times (1985), and the television movie Surviving (1985).

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Phoenix made his film debut playing young scientist Wolfgang Müller in the science-fiction movie Explorers (1985). In 1986 he landed his breakout role in the critically acclaimed coming-of-age film Stand by Me, which was directed by Rob Reiner and based on the novella The Body by Stephen King. Phoenix played troubled 12-year-old Chris Chambers, who, alongside three friends, embarks on an ill-advised mission to find a dead body. Later that year, he starred in the adventure film The Mosquito Coast (1986) with Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren. In 1988 he played the titular role in the teen comedy-drama A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, and he starred in the thriller Little Nikita opposite Sidney Poitier. Later that year Phoenix played Danny Pope, the teenage son of a fugitive family, in the drama Running on Empty. His sensitive performance in Running on Empty drew praise from critics, and he was nominated for an Academy Award for best actor in a supporting role.

In 1989 Phoenix reunited with Ford and played a young version of adventurer Indiana Jones in director Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In 1990 he performed alongside Kevin Kline, Tracey Ullman, and Keanu Reeves in the comedy I Love You to Death. He teamed up with Reeves again in 1991, playing teenage hustler Mikey Waters in director Gus Van Sant’s independent film drama My Own Private Idaho. Later that year, Phoenix starred as U.S. Marine corporal Eddie Birdlace in the coming-of-age drama Dogfight. He went on to appear with Poitier, Robert Redford, and Dan Aykroyd in the espionage thriller Sneakers (1992). In 1993 he portrayed grieving husband Talbot Roe in the Western horror film Silent Tongue, which was written and directed by playwright and actor Sam Shepard. That same year, Phoenix starred with Samantha Mathis in director Peter Bogdanovich’s comedy-drama The Thing Called Love. Phoenix and Mathis started a romantic relationship while working on the film.

In October 1993 Phoenix was in Los Angeles after performing in the film Dark Blood (which was eventually released in 2012). He had been on a days-long drug binge with John Frusciante, guitarist for the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. On October 31 Phoenix and Mathis were at Johnny Depp’s Viper Room nightclub in West Hollywood with Phoenix’s siblings Joaquin and Rain. Phoenix was involved in a scuffle inside the club and was ejected by a bouncer. Outside the club, he collapsed as a result of overdosing on a mixture of heroin and cocaine and died shortly thereafter. In a 2018 interview with The Guardian, Mathis recalled: “I knew something was wrong that night, something I didn’t understand. I didn’t see anyone doing drugs but he was high in a way that made me feel uncomfortable.…Forty-five minutes later, he was dead.”

Beyond acting, Phoenix was a guitarist and vocalist in the folk rock band Aleka’s Attic (1989–93) with his sister Rain. He was also an environmentalist and an animal rights activist.

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