CineScope
River Phoenix picture

River Phoenix

Acting
Known For

23 Years Old

River Jude Phoenix (né Bottom; August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993) was an American actor and musician. Phoenix grew up in an itinerant family, as the older brother of Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Liberty Phoenix, and Summer Phoenix. He had no formal schooling, but showed an instinctive talent for the guitar. He began his acting career at age 10 in television commercials. He starred in the science fiction adventure film Explorers (1985) and had his first notable role in 1986's Stand by Me, a coming-of-age film based on the novella The Body by Stephen King. Phoenix made a transition into more adult-oriented roles with Running on Empty (1988), playing Danny Pope, the son of fugitive parents in a well-received performance that earned him a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (at age 18, he became the sixth-youngest nominee in the category), and My Own Private Idaho (1991), playing Michael Waters, 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 1991 Venice Film Festival as well as Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead and National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor, becoming the second-youngest winner of the former. Phoenix died at age 23 from combined drug intoxication in West Hollywood in the early hours of Halloween, 1993, having overdosed on cocaine and heroin (a mixture commonly known as speedball) at The Viper Room. Description above from the Wikipedia article River Phoenix, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Born

Metolius, Oregon USA on 23rd August 1970

Died

31st October 1993

All Credits

Hotel Image
Hotel
Family Ties Image
Family Ties
Eugene Forbes
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Image
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Guthrie McFadden
It's Your Move Image
It's Your Move
Too Young to Die Image
Too Young to Die
Self (archive footage)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Image
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Young Indy
Sneakers Image
Sneakers
Carl
Stand by Me Image
Stand by Me
Chris Chambers
Dogfight Image
Dogfight
Eddie Birdlace
My Own Private Idaho Image
My Own Private Idaho
Mike Waters
Explorers Image
Explorers
Wolfgang Müller
Celebrity Image
Celebrity
Jeffie - Age 11
101 Most Shocking Moments in Entertainment Image
101 Most Shocking Moments in Entertainment
Running on Empty Image
Running on Empty
Danny Pope
Robert Kennedy & His Times Image
Robert Kennedy & His Times
Robert Kennedy Jr.
The Thing Called Love Image
The Thing Called Love
James Wright
The Mosquito Coast Image
The Mosquito Coast
Charlie Fox
A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon Image
A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon
Jimmy Reardon
I Love You to Death Image
I Love You to Death
Devo Nod
Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones & Harrison Ford Image
Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones & Harrison Ford
Self (archive footage)
Showbiz Kids Image
Showbiz Kids
Self (archive footage)
Little Nikita Image
Little Nikita
Jeff Grant
Surviving Image
Surviving
Philip Brogan
Silent Tongue Image
Silent Tongue
Talbot Roe
Indiana Jones: Making the Trilogy Image
Indiana Jones: Making the Trilogy
Self (archive footage)
Walking the Tracks: The Summer of Stand by Me Image
Walking the Tracks: The Summer of Stand by Me
Self (archive footage)
The Making of ‘Sneakers’ Image
The Making of ‘Sneakers’
Self
My Own Private River Image
My Own Private River
Michael "Mike" Waters (archive footage)
Circle of Violence: A Family Drama Image
Circle of Violence: A Family Drama
Chris Benfield
Joaquin Phoenix: An Actor of Extremes Image
Joaquin Phoenix: An Actor of Extremes
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Truth or Dairy Image
Truth or Dairy
Self (archive footage)
Dark Blood Image
Dark Blood
Boy
The Making of ‘My Own Private Idaho’ Image
The Making of ‘My Own Private Idaho’
Self
Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia Image
Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia
Brian Ellsworth
This Road Will Never End Image
This Road Will Never End
Self (archive footage)
The Phoenix Portal Image
The Phoenix Portal
Wolfgang Müller / Michael "Mike" Waters (archive footage)
Final 24: River Phoenix Image
Final 24: River Phoenix
Self (archive footage)
Flea Master Session Image
Flea Master Session
Self
Evolution's End? Image
Evolution's End?
Self