River Phoenix

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River Phoenix
Phoenix at the 61st Academy Awards Governor's House, March 29, 1989
Born	River Jude Bottom August 23, 1970 (1970-08-23) Metolius, Oregon, USA
Died	October 31, 1993 (aged 23) Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Years active	1982 — 1993
Awards won Other Awards NBR Award for Best Supporting Actor 1988 Running on Empty NSFC Award for Best Actor 1991 My Own Private Idaho

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's 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 (also known as a speedball) on Halloween morning 1993 at age 23. He was the older brother of actor Joaquin Phoenix.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 1.3 Music 1.4 Activism 1.5 Downfall 1.6 Death 1.7 Tributes and references in music and pop culture 2 Filmography 3 Television work 4 Further reading 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Phoenix was born River Jude Bottom in Metolius, Oregon, five miles (8 km) south of Madras, Oregon. His mother, Arlyn Sharon (née Dunetz), was born in the Bronx, New York to Jewish parents from Hungary and Russia.^[1][2][3][4] His father, John Lee Bottom, was a lapsed Catholic from Fontana, California.^[1] 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. He also had an older half sister from his father's previous relationship, Jodene (who later changed her name to 'Trust').

In an interview with Details magazine in November 1991, Phoenix stated that he lost his virginity at age four while in the Children of God. The magazine quotes him as saying "But I've blocked it out... I was completely celibate from 10 to 14".^[5] His representatives reportedly pressured him to later recant the comment, claiming it was "a joke". In March 1994, Esquire magazine quoted River as speaking angrily of the group: "They're disgusting... they're ruining people's lives".^[6] After the family left the group and returned to the United States in 1977, they officially adopted the surname "Phoenix" on April 2, 1979 to reflect their rebirth to a new life.

Phoenix grew up in abject poverty; he and his sister provided income for the family singing on the streets of Caracas, Venezuela whilst his parents were missionaries. Upon their return to the U.S.A in 1978, he and his family lived for a time with Phoenix's maternal grandparents in Florida before moving to California and eventually settling back in Florida in 1987.

[edit] Career

Phoenix pursued a career in show business, encouraged by his parents. He had significant juvenile roles in Joe Dante's Explorers (1985); Rob Reiner's coming of age picture Stand By Me (1986) which first brought Phoenix to public prominence; Peter Weir's The Mosquito Coast (1986) where Phoenix played the son of Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren; A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988); and Little Nikita (1988) with Sidney Poitier.

Phoenix was nominated in 1989, at the age of 18, for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor (as well as for a Golden Globe) and received the Best Supporting Actor honor from the National Board of Review for his role in Sidney Lumet's Running on Empty (1988), considered by critics to be one of River Phoenix's finest films.

At the suggestion of 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 (along with Kevin Kline and Tracy Ullman) in 1990's I Love You To Death and again in Gus Van Sant's avant-garde film My Own Private Idaho for which Phoenix won Best Actor honors at the Venice Film Festival, the National Society of Film Critics and the Independent Spirit Awards; the film solidifying Phoenix's image as an actor with edgy, leading man potential. At a press screening for My Own Private Idaho at the New York Film Festival Phoenix correctly predicted a large number of gay-themed films were "on the horizon".^[7] (His friendship with both Reeves and Van Sant continued until his death). Just prior to My Own Private Idaho, he filmed an acclaimed independent picture called Dogfight co-starring Lili Taylor and directed by Nancy Savoca, in which Phoenix portrayed a young U.S. Marine on the night prior to his being shipped off to Vietnam in November 1963.

After losing out on the Brad Pitt role in Robert Redford's film A River Runs Through It, Phoenix teamed up with Redford and again with Sidney Poitier for the heist thriller Sneakers (1992). He then appeared in Peter Bogdanovich's country music-themed film, The Thing Called Love (1993); it was his last completed picture before his death. Phoenix's co-star in the film, Samantha Mathis, became his girlfriend in real life.

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 The 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.

Phoenix was being considered for the role of Jim Carroll, the drug addicted teen in the 1995 drama The Basketball Diaries and Arthur Rimbaud in Total Eclipse. After his death, Leonardo DiCaprio was cast in both roles. Author Anne Rice had also wanted Phoenix cast in the role of Lestat in the film version of Interview with the Vampire and Phoenix became attached to the project; however, when the producer wanted a more consistently bankable actor for the part, Tom Cruise was hired (against Rice's initial outrage). Phoenix remained with the picture and was to appear as the interviewer, Daniel Malloy, a role that ultimately ended up going to Christian Slater following Phoenix's death. The film was dedicated to him and Slater donated his salary from the film to Phoenix's favorite charities.

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 be nominated for an Oscar in the acting categories.

[edit] Music

Although Phoenix's movie career was generating most of the income for his family, many believe that his true passion was music. Phoenix was a singer, song writer and an accomplished guitarist. He formed his own band, Aleka's Attic, which included his sister Rain, and, on occasion, Michael "Flea" Balzary of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1988. Phoenix's first released track was 'Across the Way', co-written with bandmate Josh McKay, which was released in 1989 on a benefit album for PETA entitled "Tame Yourself". Whilst working on A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon in 1986 Phoenix had written and recorded a song, "Heart To Get", specifically for the end credits of the movie. 20th Century Fox cut it from the completed film, but director William Richert put it back into place for his director's cut some years later. In 1991 River wrote and recorded a spoken word piece called "Curi Curi" for Milton Nascimento's album TXAI. Also in 1991 the Aleka's Attic track "Too Many Colors" was lent to the soundtrack of Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho a film which included Phoenix in a starring role. In 1992 River worked with producer and friend T-Bone Burnett on some songs for his final completed film The Thing Called Love. Phoenix performed all his character's songs himself and wrote the song "Lone Star State Of Mine" especially for the movie. In 1996 a second Aleka's Attic track was released, "Note To A Friend" was included on a PETA compilation album In Defense Of Animals Volume II. He appeared on Red Hot Chili Peppers' guitarist and close friend 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.. At the time of his death Phoenix had been working on an album with Aleka's Attic (then consisting of a different line-up). The album, although close to completion, was shelved after Phoenix's death due to three of the musicians declining to sign artistic release forms to this day.

[edit] Activism

Phoenix was a vegan from the age of 7 and a dedicated animal rights activist. He campaigned for PETA and won their Humanitarian of the Year award in 1990 for his fund-raising efforts. He also supported various environmental charities and bought 800 acres (3.2 km²) of endangered rainforest in Costa Rica. Phoenix was well known for using his power within the media to voice his beliefs. For Earth Day 1990, Phoenix wrote an environmental awareness essay entitled "We Are the World" that was printed in Seventeen magazine. Phoenix also denounced the use of all animal by-products and refused to wear leather or fur in any of his films or television work throughout his career. He and his band often played environmental benefits for well known charities and also that of local ones around Gainesville, Florida. His brother Joaquin is now a prominent spokesperson for PETA and follows the Phoenix family tradition of boycotting all animal products in his film work.

[edit] Downfall

Phoenix once said in an interview, "I wish sometimes that I wasn't as conscious as I am."^[8]

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 suggested that the experience played a key role in his descent into substance abuse towards the end of his life.

Prior to his death, River Phoenix's image — one he bemoaned in interviews — had been squeaky-clean, due in part to the public discussion of his various social, political, humanitarian and dietary interests not always popular in the '80s; as a result, his death was considered one of show-business's most shocking and tragic, and elicited a vast amount of coverage from the media at the time. Friends and family were silent for many years on the subject of their fallen loved-one, and most remain silent even to this day.

Shortly before his 1993 demise, Phoenix, whose extracurricular activities were still unknown to the public, said in an interview, "...drugs aren't just done by bad guys and sleaze-bags; it's a universal disease".^{[9] [10]}

Fans and film critics alike have often noted the uncanny parallels to his highly unusual life story — and moments seemingly prophetic of his death — reflected in his motion pictures.

[edit] Death

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 partially owned by actor Johnny Depp until 2004. On the night of Phoenix's death, following a last minute refusal to perform music on stage, he was in the bathroom taking drugs with various friends and dealers.^[11] It is reported that an acquaintance offered him some Persian Brown (a powerful form of methamphetamine mixed with opiates, which is then snorted) and soon after consuming the drug he became ill.^[11] Upon leaving The Viper Room, he collapsed onto the sidewalk and began convulsing for eight minutes. His brother Joaquin, sister Rain and actress Samantha Mathis were at the scene. Joaquin dialed 911; during the call Joaquin was unable to determine whether River was breathing. Phoenix had, in fact, already stopped breathing. Paramedics arrived on the scene and found Phoenix in asystole (flat line), when they administered drugs in an attempt to restart his heart. He was rushed to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center via an ambulance. Further attempts to resuscitate Phoenix (including the insertion of a pacemaker) were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at 1:51 a.m. PST on the morning of October 31, 1993.^[12]

[edit] Tributes and references in music and pop culture

River Phoenix first gained references in music with Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento writing the song "River Phoenix: Letter to a Young Actor" about him after having seen Phoenix in The Mosquito Coast. The song appears on the 1989 release Miltons. Phoenix's friends the Red Hot Chili Peppers wrote a few lines for him in the song "Give It Away" from the 1991 album Blood Sugar Sex Magik: "There's a River born to be a giver, keep you warm won't let you shiver, his heart is never gonna wither..." They also wrote the song "Transcending" from the album One Hot Minute partially as a tribute to him.

Due to his untimely death, Phoenix has been the subject of numerous tributes in song and other media. The band R.E.M. dedicated their album Monster to Phoenix, and their song "E-Bow the Letter" from 1996's New Adventures in Hi-Fi is said to have been written from a letter Michael Stipe wrote to Phoenix but never sent because of the actor's death. Musician Sam Phillips has the dedication "For River" on her album Martinis & Bikinis. Again, Red Hot Chili Peppers, paid tribute with the song "Transcending" on 1995's One Hot Minute being written about him. Other songs inspired by Phoenix include Dana Lyons' "Song For River Phoenix (If I Had Known)," Grant Lee Buffalo's "Halloween," Natalie Merchant's "River" for her 1995 album Tigerlily, Ellis Paul's song "River," found on his 1994 release Stories,^[13], Rufus Wainwright's "Matinee Idol", Nada Surf's "River Phoenix" and Stereophonics's "Chris Chambers". In her 1996 album Woman & A Man, Belinda Carlisle referenced River in the song "California". The song opens and closes with the line "I remember I was in a tanning salon, when I heard that River Phoenix was gone". In Beyonce's album, B'day, the lyrics of "Welcome to Hollywood" list him as one of the many fatalities of the pressures of Hollywood. In 2004 Chrys Chambers realised a song called "River" over the internet. New York band Japanther featured a song on their album Skuffed up my Huffy (2008) entitled "River Phoenix," which is about certain events in his life and delivers the chorus "River Phoenix didn't mean it"

Gus Van Sant, with whom Phoenix worked in the film My Own Private Idaho, dedicated his 1994 movie Even Cowgirls Get The Blues as well as his 1998 novel Pink to him. The film Phoenix was due to start shooting shortly after his death, Interview With The Vampire, features the dedication "In memory of River Phoenix, 1970-1993" at the end. Experimental Santa Cruz filmmaker Cam Archer also produced a documentary called Drowning River Phoenix as part of his USA Fame series.

During performances on November 13^[14] and November 15, 1993^[15], February 12, 1994,^[16] and one of Nirvana's last USA shows in Seattle on January 7, 1994.^[17] Kurt Cobain of Nirvana dedicated the song "Jesus Don't Want Me For a Sunbeam" to Phoenix (among other celebrities who died young), just a few months before Cobain died himself. Tom Petty dedicated "Ballad of Easy Rider" to Phoenix when he played he and Phoenix's hometown of Gainesville, Florida in November 1993.

Phoenix was also the subject of a controversial song by Australian group TISM. Titled "(He'll Never Be An) Ol' Man River" the single originally featured a mock-up of River Phoenix' tombstone as its cover art in 1995. The chorus features the line, "I'm on the drug that killed River Phoenix".

In the 1997 musical, The Fix, Phoenix is alluded to in the song "Mistress of Deception" in the lines, "Hot young actor died last night at an L.A. club./ecstasy and booze/and too much nyquil./had the sweetest face,/warm and shy and innocent; sexy in that careless kinda way./the newsman said his heart just stopped like that...."

The scene of River Phoenix's death merits several mentions in William Gibsons book Spook Country.

Phoenix was more recently voted number 69 in a poll of the 100 greatest movie stars of all time. The poll, by channel 4 television in the UK, was wholly voted for by prominent figures of the acting and directing communities.

[edit] Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Awards & Nominations
1985	Explorers	Wolfgang Müller	Won: Young Artist Award: Exceptional performance by a young actor
1986	Stand by Me	Chris Chambers	Won: Young Artist Award: Jackie Coogan Award ( shared with Corey Feldman, Wil Wheaton and Jerry O'Connell)
	The Mosquito Coast	Charlie Fox	Won: Young Artist Award: Best Young Male in a motion picture
1988	A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon	Jimmy Reardon
	Little Nikita	Jeff Grant
	Running on Empty	Danny Pope/Michael Manfield	Nominated: Academy Award: Best Supporting Actor Nominated: Golden Globe: Best Supporting Actor Won: National Board of Review, Best Supporting Actor
1989	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade	Young Indy
1990	I Love You to Death	Devo Nod
1991	My Own Private Idaho	Mike Waters	Won: Venice Film Festival: Volpi Cup, Best Actor Won: National Society of Film Critics: Best Actor Won: Independent Spirit Award: Best Actor
	Dogfight	Eddie Birdlace
1992	Sneakers	Carl Arbegast
1993	The Thing Called Love	James Wright
	Even Cowgirls Get the Blues	Pilgrim (uncredited cameo)
	Dark Blood (incomplete & unreleased)	Boy
1994	Silent Tongue (filmed in 1992)	Talbot Roe

[edit] Television work

Year	Title	Awards & Nominations
1982-83	Seven Brides for Seven Brothers	Nominated: 1982 Young Artist Award: Best performance (TV series) Won: 1983 Young Artist Award: Best performance (TV series)
1984	Celebrity (miniseries)
1984	Backwards: The Riddle Of Dyslexia (drama)	Nominated: Young Artist Award: Best Young Actor in a film made for television (shared with Joaquin Phoenix)
1985	Robert Kennedy & His Times (miniseries)
1985	Surviving	Won: Young Artist Award: Best Young Actor (Television special)
1986	Circle of Violence: A Family Drama

[edit] Further reading

• "River Phoenix: a short life" by Brian J. Robb. ISBN 0-06-095132-X
• "Lost in Hollywood : The Fast Times and Short Life of River Phoenix" by John Glatt. ISBN 1-55611-440-0
• "In Search of River Phoenix: the Truth Behind the Myth" by Barry C. Lawrence. ISBN 0-9672491-9-8

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• River Phoenix at the Internet Movie Database
• River Phoenix at TV.com
• Website
• The Lost Boy: The Legacy of River Phoenix
• River Phoenix at Find A Grave

Persondata
NAME	Phoenix, River
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Bottom, River Jude
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Actor
DATE OF BIRTH	August 23, 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH	Metolius, Oregon, USA
DATE OF DEATH	October 31, 1993
PLACE OF DEATH	Hollywood, Los Angeles, California