Person
River Phoenix
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- August 23, 1970
- Died
- October 31, 1993
- Place of birth
- Metolius, Oregon USA
- Also known as
- River Jude Phoenix, Rio Jude Phoenix, River Jude Bottom
Biography
River Jude Phoenix (née Bottom; August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993) was an American actor, musician, and activist.
Phoenix grew up in an itinerant family, as the oldest brother of Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Liberty Phoenix, and Summer Phoenix. He had no formal schooling, but he showed an instinctive talent for the guitar, and he played and sang on the streets for money. He began his acting career at age 10 in a handful of television commercials. He starred in the science fiction adventure film Explorers (1985) and had his breakthrough 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 fought heroin addiction and died at age 23 from combined drug intoxication in West Hollywood in the early hours of Halloween, 1993, after unknowingly ingesting cocaine and heroin (a mixture commonly known as a speedball) at The Viper Room.
Biography from TMDB, which often draws on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source · CC BY-SA 4.0
In Catlg
1 Work in the catalog credit them.
Filmography
Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth and Nothing ButtFilm · 2026 · as Self (archive footage)
Joaquin Phoenix: An Actor of ExtremesFilm · 2024 · as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones and Harrison FordFilm · 2023 · as Self (archive footage)
Showbiz KidsFilm · 2020 · as Self
Dark BloodFilm · 2012 · as Boy
My Own Private RiverFilm · 2012 · as Michael "Mike" Waters (archive footage)
Too Young to DieTV · 2012 · as Self (archive footage) · 1 episode
Final 24: River PhoenixFilm · 2006 · as Self (archive footage)
The Phoenix PortalFilm · 2005 · as Wolfgang Müller / Michael "Mike" Waters (archive footage)
101 Most Shocking Moments in EntertainmentFilm · 2003 · as Self (archive footage)
Indiana Jones: Making the TrilogyFilm · 2003 · as Self (archive footage)
The Making of ‘Sneakers’Film · 2003 · as Self
Walking the Tracks: The Summer of Stand by MeFilm · 2000 · as Self (archive footage)
This Road Will Never EndFilm · 1996 · as Self (archive footage)
Silent TongueFilm · 1994 · as Talbot Roe
Truth or DairyFilm · 1994 · as Self (archive footage)
The Thing Called LoveFilm · 1993 · as James Wright
Flea Master SessionFilm · 1992 · as Self
SneakersFilm · 1992 · as Carl
DogfightFilm · 1991 · as Eddie Birdlace
Evolution's End?Film · 1991 · as Self
My Own Private IdahoFilm · 1991 · as Mike Waters
I Love You to DeathFilm · 1990 · as Devo Nod
Indiana Jones and the Last CrusadeFilm · 1989 · as Young Indy
A Night in the Life of Jimmy ReardonFilm · 1988 · as Jimmy Reardon
Little NikitaFilm · 1988 · as Jeff Grant
Running on EmptyFilm · 1988 · as Danny Pope
Circle of Violence: A Family DramaFilm · 1986 · as Chris Benfield
Stand by MeFilm · 1986 · as Chris Chambers
The Mosquito CoastFilm · 1986 · as Charlie Fox
ExplorersFilm · 1985 · as Wolfgang Müller
Robert Kennedy & His TimesTV · 1985 · as Robert Kennedy Jr. · 3 episodes
SurvivingFilm · 1985 · as Philip Brogan
Backwards: The Riddle of DyslexiaFilm · 1984 · as Brian Ellsworth
CelebrityTV · 1984 · as Young Jeffie Crawford · 3 episodes
It's Your MoveTV · 1984 · as Brian · 1 episode
Family TiesTV · 1982 · as Eugene Forbes · 1 episode
HotelTV · 1982 · Acting · 1 episode
Seven Brides for Seven BrothersTV · 1982 · as Guthrie McFadden · 22 episodes
Filmography from TMDB. This product uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.