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