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 Joaquin Phoenix.

Biography

Early life

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.[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.
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 cult: "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 adopted the surname "Phoenix" to reflect their rebirth to a new life.
Phoenix grew up in poverty; he and his sister often had to work as street performers to make money for the family. The family lived for a time with Phoenix's maternal grandparents in Florida.

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) (this film deviated considerably from the original director's cut, which is now available under the title Aren't You Even Gonna Kiss Me Goodbye?); and Little Nikita (1988) with Sidney Poitier; and 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.
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."
After losing out on the Brad Pitt role in Robert Redford's film A River Runs Through It, Phoenix teamed up with Redford and 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.
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.
Phoenix was being considered for the role of Jim Carroll, the drug addicted teen in the 1995 drama the The Basketball Diaries. After his death, Leonardo DiCaprio was cast in the role. Anne Rice also wanted him to be cast in the role of Lestat in the film version of Interview with the Vampire and Phoenix became attached to the project; however, the producer wanted a more bankable actor for the part, and Tom Cruise was hired. 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 both be nominated for an Oscar in the acting categories.

Downfall

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 oft-investigated cult to which he had belonged as a small child.[citation needed] 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).[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
Shortly before his Halloween 1993 demise, River, whose extra-curricular activities were not yet publicly known, stated that, "addiction is not just for bad people or scum-bags; it's a universal disease".[citation needed]
Fans and film critics alike have often noted the uncanny parallels to his highly unusual life — and moments seemingly prophetic of his death — reflected in his motion pictures.[citation needed]

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 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.[7] 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.[7] 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 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.[citation needed].

Tributes and references in music and pop culture

Because of his untimely death, River Phoenix has been the subject of numerous tributes in song and other media. The band R.E.M. dedicated their album Monster to Phoenix, as did musician Sam Phillips for her album Martinis & Bikinis, which is dedicated with "FOR RIVER." Another band that he was close with during his lifetime, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, wrote the song "Transcending" about him and the last verse in "Give It Away" is also dedicated to him. John Frusciante wrote and dedicated the song "Smile from the streets you hold" to River Phoenix. The second part of the song was added after River's tragic death. Other songs inspired by Phoenix include 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,[8] and Rufus Wainwright's "Matinee Idol." Gus Van Sant, with whom Phoenix worked in the film My Own Private Idaho, dedicated his 1998 novel Pink to him. Experimental Santa Cruz filmmaker Cam Archer also produced a documentary/tribute called "Drowning River Phoenix" as part of his USA Fame series. Australian band TISM wrote a song about him, called (He'll Never Be An) Ol' Man River. The lyrics I'm on the drug that killed River Phoenix caused controversy and have angered many fans of Phoenix.
During three performances on November 13[9] and November 15, 1993[10] and on February 12, 1994,[11] Kurt Cobain of Nirvana dedicated the song "Jesus Don't Want Me For a Sunbeam" to River (among other celebrities who died young) during one of Nirvana's last USA shows in Seattle on January 7, 1994.[12]
Phoenix has also served as the inspiration for several fictional characters. Final Fantasy VIII character designer Tetsuya Nomura has stated that River Phoenix was the influence for Squall Leonhart; both share the same birthday and physical appearance. Akimi Yoshida, the author of Banana Fish, modeled the manga's protagonist (Ash Lynx) after him, as well.