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River Phoenix

River Phoenix
River Jude Phoenix, born August 23, 1970, was an American actor and musician. He is well remembered for being an activist - a devoted animal rights, environmental and political activist. River hated the fact that the media seemed more interested in who he was dating rather than environmental issues.
River Phoenix was born in Metolius, Oregon, to parents Arlyn Sharon Dunetz and John Lee Bottom. Soon after travelling across the US, they joined a religious cult named "The Children of God". River was named after the "River of Life" from the novel "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse, and Jude was chosen to be his middle name from the Beatles song, "Hey Jude".
River is the oldest of his family, and has a few brothers and sisters - Jodene (who later changed her name to Trust), Rain, Joaquin, Liberty and Summer.
In an interview with People Magazine, he described his parents as being "hippieish".
Phoenix's mother often encouraged her children to get into films, and River also had great talent for music. Often, he and his sister Rain, would sing, River playing guitar, on street corners, acquiring money that was used mainly towards the income of the family. He and his sister Rain would later form a band called Aleka's Attic.
During this time, the family was situated in South America. Near to the end of their stay there, the entire family converted to become vegans. This was largely encouraged and supported by River and his younger brother, Joaquin, due to the fact that they saw the methods used to killing fish.
Soon after this, the family moved back to the US, to stay with Phoenix's grandparents. Not long after, the family had the daughter, Summer. This was when River's parents changed their last names to Phoenix, symbolising a new start, and named after the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes.
River, at his young age, acted as many different characters, and he loved this. He once said: "I really like acting because you can create a character. You can make someone who has never existed before. That's neat."
He had a number of roles, some starring, which include; his first film, Explorers (1985), The Mosquito Coast where he played the lead character Charlie Fox (1986), Stand by Me (1986), My Own Private Idaho starring alongside Keanu Reeves which could have easily been his most famous and best work (1991), and Dogfight (1991). His last film was un-released due to his unexpected death before many of the crucial scenes were filmed.
River Phoenix's death was something that gained a lot of attention in 1993. He was aged 23 at the time.
Phoenix, on the evening of October 30, 1993, was set to perform on stage at Johnny Depp's club, The Viper Room. River had gone into the bathroom with various friends, reportedly taking a range of drugs - including Persian Brown (a strong form of heroin mixed with methamphetamine). His autopsy showed that he had incredibly high doses of cocaine, morphine, diazepam, ephedrine and marijuana in his system.
Soon after his drug intake, River began to feel very unwell, and stumbled outside of the club, before collapsing on the pavement. Joaquin and his sister Rain were with him at the time, and as Joaquin was calling the ambulance, Rain was giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, which unfortunately had no effect. River preceded to go into a series of fits for 5 minutes, until the ambulance came and transferred him to the nearest hospital. River was pronounced dead at 1.51am, on the morning of October 31, 1993.
River Phoenix had once tragically stated: "I don't want to die in a car accident. When I die it'll be a glorious day. It'll probably be a waterfall."
Johnny Depp closed the club that night, and since then has continued to close his club every year on October 31st, until he sold his share in 2004.
"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."



News | What members say | Filmography

River Phoenix - news / articles


  • DiCaprio's regrets over Phoenix meeting - 14 February 2010
    -Leonardo DiCaprio regrets failing to introduce himself to River Phoenix at a Halloween party - because just hours after their chance encounter the young actor lost his life outside a Los Angeles nightclub.- -DiCaprio was at the beginning of his Hollywood career when h

River Phoenix - what members say


  • Stand by Me
  • Stand by Me review by A customer from Newcastle, England
    Rated - 5.0 stars Heartwarming and melancholy. 14 September 2003
    ...moving, not least because one of the film's more tragic characters is played by River Phoenix, who himself died at a young age....   Read customer review
  • A Night In The Life Of Jimmy Reardon
  • A Night In The Life Of Jimmy Reardon review by A customer from Leicester, England
    Rated - 4.0 stars VERY GOOD 25 July 2004
    ...h path to take, we all go through such times which I guess allows us to relate. River Phoenix is always watchable, he has become almost as legendary as James Dean after his ...   Read customer review
  • I Love You To Death
  • I Love You To Death review by from London
    Rated - 4.0 stars An interesting meatball 8 July 2004
    ... and curiously adept at bumping people off in what looks like freak accidents. River Phoenix does well as a hippy whimp inexplicably attracted to middle aged frumpy house w...   Read customer review

River Phoenix - filmography


  • Silent Tongue on DVD (1994)
    Starring: Richard Harris,  Sheila Tousey,  Alan Bates
    Director: Sam Shepard
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    Watch now: Unavailable
    Silent Tongue was the last River Phoenix film to be released - a year after his premature death - and has never been out before on UK DVD. Written and directed by Pulitzer Prize winner Sam Shepard, the film is a haunting Western about a plainsman who will do anything to help his son get over the ..read more »
    2 stars out of 5 43% from 700 members
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  • The Thing Called Love on DVD (1993)
    Starring: K.T. Oslin,  Valeri Ross,  Trisha Yearwood
    Director: Peter Bogdanovich
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    Director's cut of the musical comedy starring River Pheonix. The film tells the story of four aspiring country singers who meet in a bar where their talents can be heard. Unfortunately love seems to get in the way of their careers. This was River Phoenix's last film before his untimely death.
    3 stars out of 5 60% from 1,276 member
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  • Sneakers - Blu-ray (1992)
    Starring: Robert Redford,  Dan Aykroyd,  Sidney Poitier
    Director: Phil Alden Robinson
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Martin Bishop (Robert Redford) is the head of 'Sneakers', a computer group who test security systems. However, his political activist past catches up with him when the government use it as a lever to force him into doing some of their hi-tech dirty work. Bishop and his team reluctantly comply, only ..read more »
    3 stars out of 5 No ratings yet. Be the first.
    Currently unavailable
  • Sneakers on DVD (1992)
    Starring: David Strathairn,  James Earl Jones,  Robert Redford
    Director: Phil Alden Robinson
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Martin Bishop (Robert Redford) is the head of 'Sneakers', a computer group who test security systems. However, his political activist past catches up with him when the government use it as a lever to force him into doing some of their hi-tech dirty work. Bishop and his team reluctantly comply, only ..read more »
    3.5 stars out of 5 69% from 5,447 members
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  • My Own Private Idaho on DVD (1991)
    Starring: Keanu Reeves,  James Russo,  River Phoenix
    Director: Gus Van Sant
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Watch now: Unavailable
    Gus Van Sant's dreamtime riff on Shakespeare's Henry IV, Parts I and II features River Phoenix as Mike Waters, a narcoleptic male hustler who is first seen drifting on a stretch of highway in Idaho. Mike shifts from Seattle to Portland, where he has taken up with Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves), who is ..read more »
    3 stars out of 5 60% from 8,793 members
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  • I Love You To Death on DVD (1990)
    Starring: Keanu Reeves,  V,  River Phoenix
    Director: Lawrence Kasdan
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Comedy starring Tracey Ullman. Rosalie Boca (Ullman) is incensed when she discovers that her pizza delivery man husband, Joey (Kevin Kline), has been conducting a long-term affair, and hatches a plot to murder him. Encouraged by her mother, Nadja (Joan Plowright), Rosalie enlists the assistance of ..read more »
    3 stars out of 5 61% from 1,103 member
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  • Running On Empty on DVD (1988)
    Starring: Martha Plimpton,  River Phoenix,  Christine Lahti
    Director: Sidney Lumet
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Mike (Terry Serio) is an attractive, sexually appealing factory worker and Fox (Richard Moir) is his racing nemesis. Both are after the same woman, Julie (Debbie Conway), dueling it out on the road and in personal encounters. Julie and Mike (whom she favors) go to an odd blind man named Rebel to ..read more »
    3.5 stars out of 5 71% from 1,536 member
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  • Little Nikita on DVD (1988)
    Starring: Caroline Cava,  River Phoenix,  Richard Bradford
    Director: Richard Benjamin
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    Thriller starring Sidney Poitier as Roy Parmenter, an FBI agent in San Diego. 20 years ago his partner was killed by a Soviet spy, nicknamed Scuba (Richard Lynch). Still at large, Scuba is now trying to extort the Soviets and to prove he's serious, he's killing their agents one by one, including '..read more »
    3 stars out of 5 58% from 299 members
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  • Stand by Me on DVD (1986)
    Starring: Casey Siemaszko,  Jason Oliver,  Richard Dreyfuss
    Director: Rob Reiner
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
    Based on the Stephen King short story The Body, Rob Reiner's easygoing nostalgia piece is set in Castle Rock, OR, over Labor Day weekend, 1959. A quartet of boys, inseparable friends all, set out in search of a dead body that one of the boys overhears his brother talking about. The foursome ..read more »
    4 stars out of 5 77% from 37,026 members
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  • Stand by Me - Blu-ray (1986)
    Starring: Casey Siemaszko,  Jason Oliver,  Richard Dreyfuss
    Director: Rob Reiner
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
    Upon hearing that an old friend has died, a writer (Richard Dreyfuss) reminisces about his childhood in the Fifties. As a twelve-year-old boy, Gordie's (Will Wheaton) friends consisted of 'bad' kid Chris (River Phoenix), Teddy (Corey Feldman) and the pudgy Vern (Jerry O'Conell). When the latter ..read more »
    4 stars out of 5 81% from 1,246 member
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  • The Mosquito Coast on DVD (1986)
    Starring: Harrison Ford,  Andre Gregory,  River Phoenix
    Director: Peter Weir
    Certificate: Certificate: PG
    Idealistic inventor Allie Fox (Harrison Ford) turns his back on modern America and takes his family to a remote part of Central America, where he carries out a scheme to manufacture ice for the jungle dwellers. While he proves innovative and ingenious in taming the jungle, his obsessive nature ..read more »
    3.5 stars out of 5 64% from 2,108 members
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  • Explorers (1985)
    Starring: River Phoenix,  Ethan Hawke,  Jason Presson
    Director: Joe Dante
    Certificate: Certificate: U
    Explorers turns out to be much ado about nothing, but it's so sublimely assembled we're willing to overlook the sappy climax. Young sci-fi geek Ben Crandall (Ethan Hawke) (could he possibly be based on director Joe Dante?) would give anything to travel in space. Thanks to his computer-happy pal ..read more »
    3.5 stars out of 5 70% from 334 members
    Currently unavailable
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River Phoenix facts

5 most recent films

Silent Tongue - 2.0 stars
The Thing Called Love - 3.0 stars
Sneakers - Blu-ray - 3 stars
Sneakers - 3.5 stars
My Own Private Idaho - 3.0 stars

5 highest-rated films

Stand by Me - Blu-ray - 4.0 stars
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade - 4.0 stars
Stand by Me - 4.0 stars
Dogfight - 4.0 stars
Running On Empty - 3.5 stars

5 lowest-rated films

Sneakers - Blu-ray - 3 stars
Indiana Jones - Quadrilogy - Blu-ray - 3.5 stars
Silent Tongue - 2.0 stars
A Night In The Life Of Jimmy Reardon - 2.5 stars
Little Nikita - 3.0 stars

Most frequent co-stars

John Cusack - 3 times - show films
Jerry O'Connell - 3 times - show films
Gary Riley - 3 times - show films
Corey Feldman - 3 times - show films
Keanu Reeves - 3 times - show films

Most frequent directors

Rob Reiner - 3 times - show films
Phil Alden Robinson - 2 times - show films
Steven Spielberg - 2 times - show films
Sam Shepard - 2 times - show films
Gus Van Sant - 2 times - show films