River Phoenix
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Aug 23, 1970
- Died
- Oct 31, 1993 (aged 23)
- Place of birth
- Metolius, Oregon USA
- Credits
- 39
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.
Known for
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
1989Movie
Young Indy
Stand by Me
1986Movie
Chris Chambers
My Own Private Idaho
1991Movie
Mike Waters
Sneakers
1992Movie
Carl
The Mosquito Coast
1986Movie
Charlie Fox
Explorers
1985Movie
Wolfgang Müller
Filmography
Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt
2026Movie
Self (archive footage)
Joaquin Phoenix: An Actor of Extremes
2024Movie
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford
2023Movie
Self (archive footage)
Showbiz Kids
2020Movie
Self
Dark Blood
2012Movie
Boy
Too Young to Die
2012TV
Self (archive footage)
My Own Private River
2012Movie
Michael "Mike" Waters (archive footage)
Final 24: River Phoenix
2006Movie
Self (archive footage)
The Phoenix Portal
2005Movie
Wolfgang Müller / Michael "Mike" Waters (archive footage)
Indiana Jones: Making the Trilogy
2003Movie
Self (archive footage)
101 Most Shocking Moments in Entertainment
2003Movie
Self (archive footage)
The Making of ‘Sneakers’
2003Movie
Self
Walking the Tracks: The Summer of Stand by Me
2000Movie
Self (archive footage)
This Road Will Never End
1996Movie
Self (archive footage)
Silent Tongue
1994Movie
Talbot Roe
Truth or Dairy
1994Movie
Self (archive footage)
The Thing Called Love
1993Movie
James Wright
Sneakers
1992Movie
Carl
Flea Master Session
1992Movie
Self
Dogfight
1991Movie
Eddie Birdlace
My Own Private Idaho
1991Movie
Mike Waters
Evolution's End?
1991Movie
Self
I Love You to Death
1990Movie
Devo Nod
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
1989Movie
Young Indy
Running on Empty
1988Movie
Danny Pope
Little Nikita
1988Movie
Jeff Grant
A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon
1988Movie
Jimmy Reardon
The Mosquito Coast
1986Movie
Charlie Fox
Circle of Violence: A Family Drama
1986Movie
Chris Benfield
Stand by Me
1986Movie
Chris Chambers
Explorers
1985Movie
Wolfgang Müller
Surviving
1985Movie
Philip Brogan
Robert Kennedy & His Times
1985TV
Robert Kennedy Jr.
It's Your Move
1984TV
Brian
Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia
1984Movie
Brian Ellsworth
Celebrity
1984TV
Young Jeffie Crawford
Family Ties
1982TV
Eugene Forbes
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
1982TV
Guthrie McFadden
Hotel
1982TV