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River Phoenix Bio
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River Phoenix
The song Only the Good Die Young could have been written about River Phoenix, but it wasn’t. However, after he died at the age of 23, there were many other songs that were written about him, as he had touched many other artists throughout his short career.
River was born River Judge Bottom in the Bronx on August 23, 1970. His parents, John Lee Bottom and Arlyn Sharon Dunetz, met while working as itinerant fruit pickers, and moved the family to South America once they joined the Children of God, and John became their church’s Archbishop in Venezuela. Later, they moved to Los Angeles, changed the family name to Phoenix, and encouraged all their children to take up acting.
One of River’s very first roles was on the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Being that all members of the family were staunch vegans, River’s mother had him wear a rope for a belt for this role so that he wouldn’t be wearing leather. In his next role, River and his brother Joaquin appeared together as brothers in the after school special, Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia.
After a few more small parts in television, River made his first film, Explorers, a science fiction movie that had him starring alongside Ethan Hawke. River’s first big success came with the movie Stand By Me, directed by Rob Reiner, and based on a short story by Stephen King. He starred in this coming of age film with Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O’Connell.
In River’s next movie, Mosquito Coast, he starred with Harrison Ford and Martha Plimpton. Both would feature prominently later in his life, as he and Martha dated, and River played Ford’s son in this movie. Yet in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, River played the young Jones to Ford’s adult Jones. He became one of only three actors to play both the son and a younger version of the same actor.
Next up for River was a much lighter role than he was used to playing, that of the title role in A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon. He starred with Ann Magnuson, Ione Skye, and a young Matthew Perry. It was back to heavier roles for him as he starred with Sidney Poitier in Little Nikita, and with Christine Lahti, Judd Hirsch, and again Martha Plimpton in Running on Empty, about a boy who wants to abandon his family that has been on the run from the law throughout most of his life.
River starred with Keanu Reeves in Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho, as two hustlers who sell themselves to both women and men, do drugs, and live on the street. River’s character was openly gay, yet Reeves always insisted he was straight. After the movie, River, Reeves, and Van Sant continued their friendship off-screen. He followed this with the movies Dogfight, Sneakers, and The Thing Called Love which starred Samantha Manthis, Dermot Mulroney, and Sandra Bullock.
On October 31, 1993, River was found dying on the ground in front of the Viper Room. He died of an overdose of heroin and cocaine, though cough syrup, crystal meth, and cannabis were also found in his bloodstream. He had been in the company of the bassist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flea, and Joaquin. At the time of his death, River had been filming Dark Blood, and since it couldn’t be completed, his mother was sued. He had also already agreed to a part in Interview With a Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles. Christian Slater took over his part and gave his entire pay to River’s favorite charities.
River had always been into music, forming his own group Aleka’s Attic, with his sister Rain, Flea, and Sasa Raphael. It’s only fitting, then, that many of the tributes to him come in the way of music. Among others, he has been memorialized by Natalie Merchant in River, Rufus Wainwright in Matinee Idol, and Red Hot Chili Peppers with Give It Away and Transcending. Ironically, a year after Kurt Cobain of Nirvana dedicated his song Jesus Don’t Want Me for a Sunbeam to River and others who have died prematurely, he committed suicide himself. |
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River Phoenix - Appeared with Michael Byrne in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade |
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River Phoenix - Appeared with Kevork Malikyan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade |
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River Phoenix - Appeared with Robert Eddison in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade |
River Phoenix - Starred in TV Series 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' which also starred Donald Hogestyn .
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River Phoenix - Gus Van Sant worked on an unfinished movie which would have starred River Phoenix. |
River Phoenix - Brother of Summer Phoenix .
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River Phoenix - Starred in 'My Own Private Idaho' with Jim Caviezel .
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