River Phoenix

Background

River Jude Phoenix was a global entertainer. He was appreciated for his skilled acting and passionate music. He was born on August 23, 1970, in Madras, Oregon. He was born to John Lee Bottom and Arlyn Dunetz. His father worked as an exterior architect and was a lapsed Catholic who had ancestral roots in English, German, and French. His mother, on the other hand, was a secretary for an NBC broadcaster as well as a New Yorker whose Jewish parents had migrated from Russia and Hungary.

Phoenix was the oldest of his three siblings, Joaquin, Summer, and Rain. On September 13, 1969, his parents got married after meeting less than a year before while hitchhiking. When Phoenix was young, they relocated a lot. Together with his sister, they would sing on street corners for money to get food and other amenities to assist their parents. He never received any formal education even though he had an affinity for reading and writing.

During one of their street performances in Westwood, Los Angeles, Iris Burton, a talent agent, noticed them and was charmed by their singing. She decided to take them on and represent them. She got Phoenix on national commercials for big brands such as Ocean Spray, Mitsubishi, and Saks Fifth Avenue before he signed with Paramount Pictures as a child actor. Shortly after, he featured in “Real Kids” together with his sister as audience warm-up performers. In 1980, he became intentional about pursuing a career as an actor with his first television show known, “Fantasy”. In 1982, he was cast as the youngest brother among seven, Guthrie McFadden, in “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” a CBS television series. In the middle of his audition, he did an Elvis Presley impersonation and this is what wowed the show producer. A year later in 1983, he featured in “Celebrity,” the television movie where he played young Jeffie Crawford. He was also featured in “Robert Kennedy and His Times,” as Robbert F. Kennedy Jr. and it didn’t take long before he was cast in “Surviving: A Family in Crisis.” He played Philip Brogan, which was a major role in the film. While he was still working on the movie, his then manager, Burton, talked to him about a potential role in the “Explorers.”

His acting career took off when he starred in “Explorers,” a science fiction adventure film, in 1985. It was his first major motion picture film. He followed that with “Stand By Me,” a coming-of-age film the following year as well as the CBS television movie, “Circle of Violence: A Family Drama,” which was about domestic elder abuse. In 1988, he transitioned into adult-oriented films like “Running on Empty” and “My Own Private Idaho.”

Phoenix starred in a number of successful movies including “The Mosquito Coast,” “Little Nikita,” “Dogfight,” “I Love You To Death,” “Sneakers,” and “The Thing Called Love,” to name a few. Tragically, Phoenix became disillusioned with Hollywood life and he turned to drugs as a way to escape. In the early hours of the morning on October 31, 1993, Phoenix collapsed outside Johnny Depp’s nightclub, the Viper Room. He was rushed to hospital but sadly, he passed away from an accidental drug overdose.