River Phoenix

River Phoenix

Birthdate
August 23, 1970 (54 years old)
Place of Birth
Metolius, Oregon USA
Date of Death
October 31, 1993
Known For
Acting

Details

Birthdate
August 23, 1970 (54 years old)
Place of Birth
Metolius, Oregon USA
Date of Death
October 31, 1993
Known For
Acting

Biography

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.

River Phoenix's LGBTQ+ Titles

My Own Private Idaho
My Own Private Idaho
Michael "Mike" Waters

Acting (38)

2024
Joaquin Phoenix: An Actor of Extremes as Self - Actor (archive footage)
2023
Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones & Harrison Ford as Self (archive footage)
2020
Showbiz Kids as Self (archive footage)
2014
Too Young To Die: River Phoenix as Self (archive footage)
2012
Dark Blood as Boy
2012
Too Young to Die as Self (archive footage) (1 episode)
2012
My Own Private River as Michael "Mike" Waters (archive footage)
2005
The Making of ‘My Own Private Idaho’ as Self
2005
The Phoenix Portal as Wolfgang Müller / Michael "Mike" Waters (archive footage)
2003
The Making of ‘Sneakers’ as Self
2000
Walking the Tracks: The Summer of Stand by Me as Self (archive footage)
1996
This Road Will Never End as Self (archive footage)
1994
Truth or Dairy as Self (archive footage)
1993
The Thing Called Love as James Wright
1993
Silent Tongue as Talbot Roe
1992
Sneakers as Carl
1992
Flea Master Session as Self
1991
Dogfight as Eddie Birdlace
1991
My Own Private Idaho as Michael "Mike" Waters
1991
Evolution's End? as Self
1990
I Love You to Death as Devo Nod
1989
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade as Young Indy
1988
Running on Empty as Danny Pope
1988
A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon as Jimmy Reardon
1988
Little Nikita as Jeff Grant
1986
The Mosquito Coast as Charlie Fox
1986
Circle of Violence: A Family Drama as Chris Benfield
1986
Stand by Me as Chris Chambers
1985
Explorers as Wolfgang Müller
1985
Surviving as Philip Brogan
1985
Robert Kennedy & His Times as Robert Kennedy Jr. (3 episodes)
1984
It's Your Move (1 episode)
1984
Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia as Brian Ellsworth
1984
Celebrity as Jeffie - Age 11 (3 episodes)
1982
Family Ties as Eugene Forbes (1 episode)
1982
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers as Guthrie McFadden (22 episodes)
1982
Hotel (1 episode)
1982
River Phoenix Ocean Spray Commercial as Self

Crew (1)

1994
Interview with the Vampire • In Memory Of
• In Memory Of