River Phoenix

River Phoenix

Phoenix at the 61st Academy Awards, March 29, 1989
Born River Jude Bottom
August 23, 1970
Madras, Oregon, U.S.
Died October 31, 1993 (aged 23)
West Hollywood, California, U.S.
Cause of death
 Heart failure caused by Acute mixed drug intoxication
Resting place
 Cremated in Micanopy, Florida, U.S.
Occupation Actor, musician and activist
Years active 1982–1993
Parent(s) Arlyn Phoenix
John Lee Bottom
Relatives Joaquin Phoenix (brother)
Rain Phoenix (sister)
Summer Phoenix (sister)
Liberty Phoenix (sister)

River Jude Phoenix (August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993) was an American actor, musician, and activist. He was the older brother of Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Summer Phoenix, and Liberty Phoenix. Phoenix's work encompassed 24 films and television appearances, including the science fiction adventure film Explorers (1985), the coming-of-age film Stand by Me (1986), the action sequel Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) and the independent adult drama My Own Private Idaho (1991). Phoenix's rise to fame led to his status as a "teen sensation".[1]

Phoenix began acting at age 10 in television commercials. He appeared in diverse roles, making his first notable appearance in the 1986 film Stand by Me, a coming-of-age film based on a novella by Stephen King. Phoenix made a transition into more adult-oriented roles with Running on Empty (1988), playing the son of fugitive parents in a well-received performance that earned him a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and My Own Private Idaho (1991), playing a gay hustler in search of his estranged mother. For his performance in the latter, Phoenix garnered enormous praise and won a Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival, along with Best Actor from the National Society of Film Critics.

On October 31, 1993, Phoenix collapsed and died of drug-induced heart failure on the sidewalk outside the West Hollywood nightclub The Viper Room, at the age of 23.[2] At the time of his death, Phoenix had been in the middle of filming Dark Blood (1993).

Early life

Phoenix was born River Jude Bottom[3] on August 23, 1970, in Madras, Oregon, the first child of Arlyn Sharon Dunetz and John Lee Bottom.[4] Phoenix's parents named him after the river of life from the Hermann Hesse novel Siddhartha,[1] and he received his middle name from the Beatles' song "Hey Jude".

In an interview with People, Phoenix described his parents as "hippieish".[4] His mother was born in the Bronx, New York, to Jewish parents whose families had emigrated from Russia and Hungary.[5][6] His father was a lapsed Catholic from Fontana, California, of English, as well as German and French, ancestry.[5] In 1968, Phoenix's mother left her family in New York City and travelled across the United States, meeting John Lee Bottom while hitchhiking in northern California. They married on September 13, 1969, less than a year after meeting. While living in Crockett, Texas, their second child, Rain Joan of Arc Bottom, was born on November 21, 1972. In 1973, the family joined a controversial Christian new religious movement called the Children of God as missionaries. Their third child, Joaquin Rafael Bottom, was born on October 28, 1974, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[7]

The family had settled in Caracas, Venezuela, where the Children of God had stationed them to work as missionaries and fruit gatherers. Although John Bottom was later designated the group's "Archbishop of Venezuela and the Caribbean", his family received no financial support and lived in poverty. Phoenix reflected later in life that the missionary work was undertaken "not out of choice, but was more like a desperate situation".[8] On July 5, 1976, Phoenix's sister Libertad Mariposa Bottom was born. Phoenix often played guitar while he and Rain sang on street corners for money and food to support their ever-growing family. Arlyn and John eventually grew disillusioned with the Children of God; Arlyn would later tell a journalist that she and her husband were opposed to the group's practice of "Flirty Fishing", stating: "The group was being distorted by the leader, David Berg, who was getting powerful and wealthy. He sought to attract rich disciples through sex. No way."[9] Fearing the group was moving in a negative direction, the Bottom family left the group and stayed for a period with a church in Venezuela. It was during their last years in South America that the entire Phoenix family became vegans.

The family eventually made the trip back to the United States on a cargo ship. Upon their return, they moved in with Phoenix's maternal grandparents in Florida. On December 10, 1978, Summer Joy Bottom was born in Winter Park, Florida. On April 2, 1979, the family officially changed their name to Phoenix, after the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning.[10]

Phoenix never attended formal school.[8] Screenwriter Naomi Foner later commented, "He was totally, totally without education. I mean, he could read and write, and he had an appetite for it, but he had no deep roots into any kind of sense of history or literature."[8]

Acting career

Back in the United States, Arlyn began working as a secretary for an NBC broadcaster and John as an exteriors architect. Top kids agent Iris Burton spotted River, Joaquin, and their sisters Summer and Rain singing for spare change in Westwood, Los Angeles, and was so charmed by the family that she soon represented the four siblings.[11]

Phoenix as young Indiana Jones

River started doing some commercials for Mitsubishi, Ocean Spray, and Saks Fifth Avenue, and soon afterward he and the other children were signed by casting director Penny Marshall from Paramount Pictures. River and Rain were assigned immediately to a show called Real Kids as warm up performers for the audience. In 1980, Phoenix began to fully pursue his work as an actor, making his first appearance on a TV show called Fantasy singing with his sister Rain.[7] In 1982, River was cast in the short-lived CBS television series, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, in which he starred as the youngest brother, Guthrie McFadden. River, who arrived at the auditions with his guitar, promptly burst into a convincing Elvis Presley impersonation, charming the show producer.[12] By this age, Phoenix was also an accomplished tap dancer.[8]

Almost a year after Seven Brides ended in 1983, Phoenix found a new role in the 1984 television movie Celebrity, where he played the part of young Jeffie Crawford. Although he was only onscreen for about ten minutes, his character was central.[13] Less than a month after Celebrity came the ABC Afterschool Special: Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia. River starred as a young boy who discovers he has dyslexia. Joaquin starred in a small role alongside his brother. In September, the pilot episode of the short-lived TV series It's Your Move aired. Phoenix was cast as Brian and only had one line of dialogue. He also starred as Robert Kennedy's son, Robert Kennedy, Jr., in the TV movie Robert Kennedy and His Times. After his role in Dyslexia was critically acclaimed, Phoenix was almost immediately cast as a major role in his next made-for-TV movie, Surviving: A Family in Crisis. He starred as Philip Brogan alongside Molly Ringwald and Heather O'Rourke. Halfway during the filming of Surviving, Iris Burton contacted him about a possible role in the film Explorers.[14]

Phoenix and Martha Plimpton on the red carpet at the 61st Academy Awards, 1989

In October 1984, Phoenix secured the role of geeky boy-scientist Wolfgang Müller in Joe Dante's large-budget science-fiction film Explorers alongside Ethan Hawke, and production began soon after. Released in the summer of 1985, this was Phoenix's first major motion picture role. In October 1986, Phoenix co-starred alongside Tuesday Weld and Geraldine Fitzgerald in the acclaimed CBS television movie Circle of Violence: A Family Drama, which told the tragic story of domestic elder abuse. This was Phoenix's last television role before achieving film stardom.

At the age of 15, Phoenix had a significant role in Rob Reiner's popular coming-of-age film Stand By Me (1986), which made him a household name. The Washington Post opined that Phoenix gave the film its "centre of gravity".[8] Phoenix commented: "The truth is, I identified so much with the role of Chris Chambers that if I hadn't had my family to go back to after the shoot, I'd have probably had to see a psychiatrist."[15]

Later that year, Phoenix completed Peter Weir's The Mosquito Coast (1986), playing the son of Harrison Ford's character. "He was obviously going to be a movie star," observed Weir. "It's something apart from acting ability. Laurence Olivier never had what River had."[8] During the five-month shoot in Belize, Phoenix began a romance with his co-star Martha Plimpton, a relationship which continued in some form for many years.[8] Phoenix was surprised by the poor reception for the film, feeling more secure about his work in it than he had in Stand By Me.[15]

Phoenix was next cast as the lead in the teen comedy-drama A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988), but was disappointed with his performance: "It didn't turn out the way I thought it would, and I put the blame on myself. I wanted to do a comedy, and it was definitely a stretch, but I'm not sure I was even the right person for the role."[15] In 1988, Phoenix starred in Little Nikita (1988) alongside Sidney Poitier. During this time, the Phoenix family continued to move on a regular basis, moving over forty times by the time Phoenix was 18. After completing his sixth feature film, Sidney Lumet's Running on Empty (1988), Phoenix purchased his family a ranch in Micanopy, Florida, near Gainesville in 1987, in addition to a spread in Costa Rica.[16]

In early 1989, Phoenix was nominated for an Academy Award 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 Running on Empty. Phoenix jumped to his feet during the ceremony when Kevin Kline beat him for the Oscar. "I had to stop River from running to hug Kevin," recalled his mother Arlyn. "It never crossed his mind that he hadn't won."[16] That year he also portrayed a young Indiana Jones in the box-office hit Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade directed by Steven Spielberg. In 1990, Phoenix was photographed by Bruce Weber for Vogue and was spokesperson for a campaign for Gap.

In 1991, Phoenix filmed an acclaimed independent picture called Dogfight co-starring Lili Taylor and directed by Nancy Savoca. In the romantic coming-of-age drama set in San Francisco, Phoenix portrayed a young U.S. Marine on the night before he was shipped off to Vietnam in November 1963. Taylor remarked that Phoenix suffered because he could not distance himself from his character: "He also hadn’t gotten into any [drugs] – he was just drinking then, too. It was different... That was actually a hard part for him, because it was so radically different from who he was. He was such a hippie, and here he was playing this marine. It actually caused him a lot of discomfort. I don't think he enjoyed that, actually, getting into that psyche."[17]

Phoenix met actor Keanu Reeves while Reeves was filming Parenthood with Phoenix's brother, Joaquin. The two starred together for the first time (along with Kevin Kline, Tracey Ullman and Joan Plowright) in 1990's I Love You to Death and again in Gus Van Sant's avant-garde film My Own Private Idaho. In his review for Newsweek, David Ansen praised Phoenix's performance: "The campfire scene in which Mike awkwardly declares his unrequited love for Scott is a marvel of delicacy. In this, and every scene, Phoenix immerses himself so deeply inside his character you almost forget you've seen him before: it's a stunningly sensitive performance, poignant and comic at once". For his role in My Own Private Idaho, Phoenix won Best Actor honors at the Venice Film Festival, the National Society of Film Critics and the Independent Spirit Awards. The film and its success solidified Phoenix's image as an actor with edgy, leading man potential. In that period Phoenix was beginning to make use of drugs like marijuana, cocaine and heroin with some friends.[4][18] In the book Gus Van Sant wrote about Phoenix, "Pink", the director said clearly that Phoenix was not a regular drug user but only occasionally, and that the actor had a more serious problem with alcohol. Phoenix had always tried to hide his addictions because he feared that they might ruin his career as they did his relationship with Martha Plimpton.

Phoenix teamed up with Robert Redford and again with Sidney Poitier for the conspiracy/espionage thriller Sneakers (1992). A month later he began production on Sam Shepard's art-house ghost western Silent Tongue (which was released in 1994); he also was beaten out for the role of Paul by Brad Pitt in A River Runs Through It. He made a cameo appearance in Van Sant's Even Cowgirls get the Blues (1993), co-starring his sister Rain. Phoenix then starred in Peter Bogdanovich's country music-themed film, The Thing Called Love (1993), the last completed picture before his death. Phoenix began a relationship with co-star Samantha Mathis on the set.

Music

Although Phoenix's movie career was generating most of the income for his family, it has been stated by close friends and relatives that his true passion was music. Phoenix was a singer, songwriter, and an accomplished guitarist. He had begun teaching himself guitar at the age of five and had stated in an interview for E! in 1988 that his family's move to Los Angeles when he was nine was made so that he and his sister "... could become recording artists. I fell into commercials for financial reasons and acting became an attractive concept ..." Prior to securing an acting agent, Phoenix and his siblings tried to forge a career in music by playing cover versions on the streets of the Westwood district of LA, often being moved along by police because gathering crowds would obstruct the pavement. With the first fruits of his film success, Phoenix saved $650 for his prize possession, a guitar on which he wrote what he described as "progressive, ethereal folk-rock".[15]

While 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. It was during filming that Phoenix met Chris Blackwell of Island Records, this meeting would later secure Phoenix a two-year development deal with the label. Phoenix disliked the idea of being a solo artist and relished collaboration; therefore he focused on putting together a band. Aleka's Attic were formed in 1987 and the line up included his sister Rain.[19]

Phoenix was committed to gaining credibility by his own merit and maintained that the band would not use his name when securing performances that were not benefits for charitable organizations. Phoenix's first release was "Across the Way", co-written with band mate Josh McKay, which was released in 1989 on a benefit album for PETA titled Tame Yourself.[20] In 1991, Phoenix wrote and recorded a spoken word piece called "Curi Curi" for Milton Nascimento's album TXAI.[21] 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 which included Phoenix in a starring role. In 1996, the Aleka's Attic track "Note to a Friend" was released on the 1996 benefit album In Defense of Animals; Volume II and featured Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers on bass.

Phoenix had collaborated with friend John Frusciante after his first departure from Red Hot Chili Peppers and the songs "Height Down" and "Well I've Been" were released on Frusciante's second solo album Smile from the Streets You Hold in 1997.

Phoenix was an investor in the original House of Blues (founded by his good friend and Sneakers co-star Dan Aykroyd) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which opened its doors to the public after serving a group of homeless people on Thanksgiving Day 1992.[22]

Activism

Phoenix was a dedicated animal rights, environmental and political activist. He was a prominent spokesperson for PETA and won their Humanitarian Award in 1992 for his fund-raising efforts.[23] In 1990, Phoenix wrote an environmental awareness essay about Earth Day targeted at his young fanbase, which was printed in Seventeen magazine.

Phoenix was a lifelong vegan.[24] His first girlfriend Martha Plimpton recalled: "Once when we were fifteen, River and I went out for a fancy dinner in Manhattan, and I ordered soft-shell crabs. He left the restaurant and walked around on Park Avenue, crying. I went out and he said, 'I love you so much, why?...' He had such pain that I was eating an animal, that he hadn't impressed on me what was right."[16]

He financially aided a great many environmental and humanitarian organizations, and bought 800 acres (320 ha) of endangered rainforest in Costa Rica.[25] As well as giving speeches at rallies for various groups, Phoenix and his band often played environmental benefits for well-known charities as well as local ones in the Gainesville, Florida area.

Death

The Viper Room on Sunset Strip, where Phoenix collapsed on the sidewalk

On the evening of October 30, 1993, Phoenix was to perform with his close friend Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers onstage at The Viper Room, a Hollywood nightclub partly owned at the time by actor Johnny Depp.[18] Phoenix had returned to Los Angeles early that week from Utah to complete the three weeks of interior shots left on his last project Dark Blood,[26] a film that was finally completed in 2012.[27] His younger sister Rain and brother Joaquin had flown out to join him at the Hotel Nikko (now the SLS Hotel) on La Cienega Boulevard. Phoenix's girlfriend, Samantha Mathis, had also come to meet him. All were present at the scene of Phoenix's death.[4]

During the early morning hours of October 31, 1993, Phoenix collapsed outside and convulsed for over five minutes. When his brother Joaquin called 9–1–1, he was unable to determine whether Phoenix was breathing. His sister Rain proceeded to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.[28]

During the episode, Johnny Depp and his band P (featuring Flea and Phoenix's friend Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers) were onstage. According to Haynes, the band was in the middle of their song "Michael Stipe" while Phoenix was outside the venue having seizures on the sidewalk.[29] When the news filtered through the club, Flea left the stage and rushed outside. By that time, paramedics had arrived on the scene and found Phoenix turning dark blue, in full cardiac arrest and in a flatline state. They administered medication in an attempt to restart his heart. He was rushed to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, accompanied by Flea, via an ambulance. Further attempts to resuscitate Phoenix were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at 1:51 am. PST on the morning of October 31, 1993, at the age of 23.

The following day the club became a makeshift shrine with fans and mourners leaving flowers, pictures and candles on the sidewalk and graffiti messages on the walls of the venue.[30] A sign was placed in the window that read, "With much respect and love to River and his family, The Viper Room is temporarily closed. Our heartfelt condolences to all his family, friends and loved ones. He will be missed."[31] The club remained closed for a week. Depp continued to close the club every year on October 31 until selling his share in 2004.[32]

Prior to his death, Phoenix's image—one he bemoaned in interviews—had been squeaky-clean, owing in part to his public dedication to his various social, political, humanitarian, and dietary interests not always popular in the 1980s. As a result, his death elicited a vast amount of coverage from the media.[33] Phoenix was described by one writer as "the vegan James Dean," and comparisons were made regarding the youth and sudden deaths of both actors.[34]

Phoenix's autopsy, signed November 15, 1993, reads as follows in the section entitled "Opinion" by Christopher Rogers, MD: "Toxicology studies showed high concentrations of morphine and cocaine in the blood, as well as other substances in smaller concentrations." The cause of death was "acute multiple drug intoxication", including cocaine and morphine.[35] Joaquin's call to 911 was recorded and broadcast by several radio and TV shows. Following the death of River and the invasive, disrespectful attitude of the media in his private life (a reporter broke into the Milam funeral home and took a picture of the body of Phoenix that was sold to the National Enquirer), Joaquin walked away from Hollywood for the second time.

On November 24, 1993, Arlyn "Heart" Phoenix published an open letter in the Los Angeles Times on her son's life and death. It read, in part:

His friends, co-workers and the rest of our family know that River was not a regular drug user. He lived at home in Florida with us and was almost never a part of the "club scene" in Los Angeles. He had just arrived in L.A. from the pristine beauty and quietness of Utah where he was filming for six weeks. We feel that the excitement and energy of the Halloween nightclub and party scene were way beyond his usual experience and control. How many other beautiful young souls, who remain anonymous to us, have died by using drugs recreationally? It is my prayer that River's leaving in this way will focus the attention of the world on how painfully the spirits of his generation are being worn down.[36]
River made such a big impression during his life on Earth. He found his voice and found his place. And even River, who had the whole world at his fingertips to listen, felt deep frustration that no one heard. What is it going to take? Chernobyl wasn't enough. Exxon Valdez wasn't enough. A bloody war over oil wasn't enough. If River's passing opens our global heart, then I say, thanks dear, beloved son, for yet another gift to all of us.[36]

Phoenix was cremated and his ashes were scattered at his family ranch in Micanopy, Florida. Following his death, Aleka's Attic disbanded.

Unreleased and unfilmed projects

River's sudden death prevented him from playing various roles for which he had already been cast:

References in popular culture

Phoenix's status as a teen idol and promising young actor, and his subsequent premature death, made him a frequent subject in popular culture media. He 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 (1986). The song appears on the 1989 release Miltons.[44]

Phoenix's friends, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, wrote a few lines for him in their hit 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..." Phoenix also appears in the music video for their song, "Breaking the Girl" and following his death, the band payed tribute to him with the song "Transcending" (originally titled "River") on their 1995 album, One Hot Minute. Former Chili Peppers' guitarist, John Frusciante, dedicated the song "Smile From The Streets You Hold" to River Phoenix. As a matter of fact, Frusciante wrote the first part of the song about their friendship while Phoenix was still alive, and after Phoenix's passing he wrote the second part for his memory.

Phoenix has been the subject of numerous other tributes in song and other media. The band R.E.M. dedicated their album Monster to Phoenix (as Michael Stipe and Phoenix were close friends), 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. River Phoenix is referenced in the song: Sacred Life, from the eponymous album by the British band, The Cult: "River Phoenix was so young, Don't you know your prince has gone?"

Ex-10000 Maniacs singer Natalie Merchant wrote and recorded a memorably controversial song, simply named "River", featured on her 1995 solo album "Tigerlily" (Elektra). While she deplores this tragic death of a "Young & strong Hollywood son" who was "one of ours", she criticizes strongly the excesses of the people's "vulture's candor" and the media's greedy attention to the event and adds: "Why don't you let him be… /Give his father & his mother peace", as well as: "It's only a tragedy", ending with the real question behind it: "How could we save him / From himself ?". Thus she went far beyond the straight eulogy that most songs and writings about River Phoenix's passing were at the time it happened.

Musician Sam Phillips has the dedication "For River" on her album Martinis & Bikinis. Other songs inspired by Phoenix include Dana Lyons' "Song For River Phoenix (If I Had Known)", Grant Lee Buffalo's "Halloween",× Ellis Paul's song "River", found on his 1994 release Stories,[45] 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 Jay-Z's album, Kingdom Come, the lyrics of "Hollywood" list him as one of the many fatalities of the pressures of Hollywood. 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". In the song "The Viper Room", Wesley Willis takes an abrupt turn from an otherwise glowing account of the club by noting Phoenix's death, stating that he "...collapsed and died like a Doberman." On his 2013 album Not Thinking Straight, British recording artist Matt Fishel referenced Phoenix in the song "When Boy Meets Boy". Its lyrics portray a bedroom in which the walls are "covered in posters of idols and rock stars who had died too young" and the song's third verse contains the line "I paid tribute with a little wink to River Phoenix hanging on the wall".[46] In the song's accompanying music video, an animated poster of Phoenix hangs on a wall next to Jimi Hendrix, Freddie Mercury and Kurt Cobain.[47]

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 1997 novel Pink to him. Experimental Santa Cruz filmmaker Cam Archer also produced a documentary called Drowning River Phoenix as part of his American Fame series.[48] During performances on November 13[49] and November 15, 1993,[50] and February 12, 1994,[51] and one of Nirvana's last USA shows in Seattle on January 7, 1994,[52] Kurt Cobain of Nirvana dedicated the song "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" to Phoenix (among other celebrities who died young), just a few months before Cobain's death. Tom Petty dedicated "Ballad of Easy Rider" to Phoenix when he played in his and Phoenix's hometown of Gainesville, Florida in November 1993.

The British band Manic Street Preachers mentions River in their song "Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart" (from the album The Holy Bible, 1994) in the following line: "...I'm thinking right now of Hollywood tragedy; Big Mac; smack; Phoenix, R; please smile y'all..." Phoenix was 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 Phoenix's tombstone as its cover art in 1995. The chorus features the line, "I'm on the drug that killed River Phoenix."[53] On the song "Love Me, Hate Me" by rapper Ja Rule, he numerates different ways he could die as a celebrity, and one of the lyrics says "I might OD in a club off drugs like 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 Hugh Cornwell song "Rain on the River" from his 2009 album Hooverdam is directly about the death of Phoenix, as his sister Rain sits over her dying brother on the sidewalk outside The Viper Room.[54]

A lesser known reference to River Phoenix was Final Fantasy VIII‍‍ '​‍s main protagonist Squall Leonhart. Tetsuya Nomura, the lead character designer for the game, stated he modeled Squall on River's visage during development, and even gave Squall the same birthdate.[55]

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

Honors and rankings

Phoenix has been ranked numerous times on a number of lists recognizing his talent and career. He was listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1986" in "John Willis' Screen World" (2004). Phoenix was voted at No. 64 on a "Greatest Movie Stars of All Time" poll by channel 4 television in the UK. The poll was made up wholly of votes from prominent figures of the acting and directing communities. He was ranked No. 86 in Empire magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list in 1997.

His life and death has been the subject of an E! True Hollywood Story, an A&E Biography and an episode of Final 24, which contains a dramatic reconstruction of his final hours and death. He was also referred to as "This century's James Dean" in episode 10 ("Mi Casa, Su Casa Loma") of the first season of Being Erica. His death was listed as No. 16 in the top 101 events in E! Television's "101 Most Shocking Moments in Entertainment". In 2010, Phoenix was voted by GQ Magazine as one of the "50 Most Stylish Men of the Past Half Century".

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1985 Explorers Wolfgang Müller Young Artist Award for Exceptional Performance by a Young Actor – Motion Picture
1985 Surviving: A Family in Crisis Philip Brogan Television film
Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor Starring in a Television Special or Mini-Series
1986 Circle of Violence: A Family Drama Chris Benfield Television film
1986 Stand by Me Chris Chambers Jackie Coogan Award shared with Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman and Jerry O'Connell
1986 The Mosquito Coast Charlie Fox Young Artist Award for Best Young Male Superstar in Motion Pictures
1988 A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon Jimmy Reardon Alternative title: Aren't You Even Gonna Kiss Me Goodbye?
1988 Little Nikita Jeff Grant Alternative title: The Sleepers
1988 Running on Empty Danny Pope / Michael Manfield National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated – Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Young Indiana Jones
1990 I Love You to Death Devo Nod
1991 Dogfight Eddie Birdlace
1991 My Own Private Idaho Mike Waters Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor
Volpi Cup for Best Actor
Nominated – New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor (2nd place)
1992 Sneakers Carl Arbegast
1993 Silent Tongue Talbot Roe
1993 The Thing Called Love James Wright
1993 (released in 2012) Dark Blood Boy Last movie
2010 I'm Still Here Himself Archive footage

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1982–1983 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Guthrie McFadden 21 episodes
Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor in a Drama Series 1984
Nominated – Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor in a New Television Series 1982
1984 Celebrity Jeffie (Age 11) Miniseries
1984 ABC Afterschool Special Brian Ellsworth Episode: "Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia"
Nominated – Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television shared with Joaquin Phoenix
1984 It's Your Move Brian Episode: "Pilot"
1984 Hotel Kevin Episode: "Transitions"
1985 Robert Kennedy & His Times Robert Kennedy, Jr. (Part 3) Miniseries
1985 Family Ties Eugene Forbes Episode: "My Tutor"

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Weinraub, Bernard (November 2, 1993). "Death of River Phoenix Jolts the Movie Industry". The New York Times. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  2. ↑ Remembering 1993 Gary Kirkland Gainesville Sun – December 26, 1993
  3. ↑ "Wild west showdown, October 9". Rocky Mountain News. October 9, 2007. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Levitt, Shelley; Benet, Lorenzo; Stambler, Lyndon; Dodd, Johnny; Stone, Joanna; Sider, Don (November 15, 1993). "River's End". People 40 (20): 127–133. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Pfefferman, Naomi. "JewishJournal.com". JewishJournal.com. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Ten American showbiz celebrities of Russian descent". Pravda.Ru. November 18, 2005. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Rio's Attic – Timeline of a Phoenix". River-phoenix.org. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 "Wasted: How on earth did River Phoenix, purest of all child stars, sensitive, clean-living and eco-friendly, end up dead from a drug overdose at the age of 23?". The Independent. December 5, 1993. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
  9. ↑ "River Phoenix – XFamily – Children of God". XFamily. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  10. ↑ "PREMIERE April 1988". Aleka.org. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  11. ↑ "Obituary: Iris Burton, Hollywood agent". The Age (Melbourne). April 17, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Rio's Attic – Phoenix TV". River-phoenix.org. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  13. ↑ "Rio's Attic – Phoenix TV". River-phoenix.org. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  14. ↑ "Rio's Attic – Phoenix TV". River-phoenix.org. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 "Rio's Attic – Phoenix TV". Chicago Tribune. March 27, 1988. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Friend, Tad (April 1994). "River, with love and anger". Esquire Magazine. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
  17. ↑ Ryan, Kyle (March 10, 2010). "Lili Taylor: Random Roles". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Schindehette, Susan; Stambler, Lyndon; Dodd, Johnny; Benet, Lorenzo; Stone, Joanna (January 17, 1994). "High Life". People 41 (2). Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  19. ↑ "Entertainment: A decade without River Phoenix". BBC News. October 31, 2003. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  20. ↑ Hall, Tony, ed. (1996). They Died Too Young: The Brief Lives and Tragic Deaths of the Mega-Star Legends of Our Times. Smithmark Pub. p. 76. ISBN 0-765-19600-X.
  21. ↑ Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas, ed. (2001). All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 920. ISBN 0-879-30627-0.
  22. ↑ "The Vindicator – Google News Archive Search". Retrieved December 21, 2013.
  23. ↑ "Biography of River Jude Phoenix". Buzzle.com. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  24. ↑ "Famous Vegans: River Phoenix". VeganPeace.com. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  25. ↑ Keefe, Robert (November 2, 1993). "Actor had business interests in Tampa". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved July 4, 2014. (subscription required)
  26. ↑ "Actor River Phoenix dies". Variety. Associated Press. October 31, 1993. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  27. ↑ Geoffrey Macnab (September 27, 2012). "River Phoenix: the last film". The Guardian. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  28. ↑ Davidson, Casey. (November 12, 1993) The Passing of River Phoenix: At the Scene | Charlie Sheen Central. EW.com. Retrieved on December 17, 2011.
  29. ↑ "They Came from Hollywood". SPIN.com. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  30. ↑ Braxton, Greg (November 9, 1993). "The Club Scene, Running on Full After Phoenix's Death, It's Business (Almost) as Usual at L.A. Hot Spots". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  31. ↑ Weinraub, Bernard (November 2, 1993). "Death of River Phoenix Jolts the Movie Industry". NYTimes.com. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  32. ↑ "Johnny Depp – Depp Sells His Share of Viper Room – Contactmusic News". Contactmusic.com. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  33. ↑ Christine Spolar (November 14, 1993). "Autopsy Shatters Phoenix's Image". Chicago Sun-Times. The image of actor River Phoenix as a quiet, clean-cut member of Hollywood's youth fraternity has been shattered by autopsy results that showed he died from a mix of cocaine and heroin.
  34. ↑ Rose Rouse (November 7, 1993). "Where were you when River Phoenix died?: The vegan James Dean is being mourned by teenagers from Ilkley to Bristol". London: The Independent. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  35. ↑ Mydans, Seth (November 13, 1993). "Death of River Phoenix Is Linked To Use of Cocaine and Morphine". The New York Times. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 "A Mother's Note on Her Son's Life and Death". The Los Angeles Times. November 4, 1993. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 Ryan Gilbey (November 5, 2003). "Ryan Gilbey on the legacy of River Phoenix | Film". London: The Guardian. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  38. ↑ Vera H-C Chan (September 15, 2011). "The Misery of Brad Pitt | Movie Talk – Yahoo! Movies". Movies.yahoo.com. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  39. ↑ Christian Slater. Gadsden Times. November 18, 1993
  40. ↑ "Christian Slater – Slater's Mother Makes Emotional Appeal To Press – Contactmusic News". Contactmusic.com. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  41. ↑ Grove, Lloyd (December 1999). "Plea For Christian Charity". Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  42. ↑ "Caleb Landry Jones Leading John Boorman's Resurrected 'Broken Dream'; John Hurt Takes Supporting Role". Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  43. ↑ "James Franco – Page". Interview Magazine. Archived from the original on August 22, 2010. Retrieved November 18, 2011. Only first page of four pages archived; Milk comment appears on non-archived page.
  44. ↑ "Rain Forests Come First With Singer – Sun Sentinel". Articles.sun-sentinel.com. June 8, 1990. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  45. ↑ "Songs (w/ Discography)". Ellis Paul. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  46. ↑ "When Boy Meets Boy Official Lyrics", September 7, 2013. Retrieved on February 17, 2014.
  47. ↑ "Matt Fishel – When Boy Meets Boy (Official Music Video)" on YouTube, YouTube. June 2, 2013. Retrieved on February 17, 2014.
  48. ↑ "Film Guide Archive | American Fame Pt. 1: Drowning River Phoenix". TribecaFilm.com. March 29, 2010. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  49. ↑ LIVE NIRVANA TOUR HISTORY: 11/13/93 – Bender Arena, American University, Washington, DC, US. Livenirvana.com. Retrieved on December 17, 2011.
  50. ↑ Live Nirvana Tour History: 11/15/93 – Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY, US. Livenirvana.com. Retrieved on December 17, 2011.
  51. ↑ Live Nirvana Tour History: 02/12/94 – Zénith Omega, Toulon, FR. Livenirvana.com. Retrieved on December 17, 2011.
  52. ↑ Live Nirvana Tour History: 01/07/94 – Seattle Center Arena, Seattle, WA, US. Livenirvana.com. Retrieved on December 17, 2011.
  53. ↑ Dwyer, Michael (July 2, 2004). "The phantom menace". The Age (Melbourne). Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  54. ↑ "Hugh Cornwell". Punkglobe.com. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  55. ↑ Staff (September 21, 2000). "The Bouncer Team Talks About Its Mysterious Game". IGN. Retrieved June 24, 2009.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to River Phoenix.
Wikiquote has quotations related to: River Phoenix