River Jude Phoenix (August 23 1970 – October 31 1993), born in Madras, Oregon, USA, was one of the most promising movie actors of his generation.

River grew up in a very poor family. He and his sister often had to busk to make money for the family. It was only after Stand By Me that River's family was able to buy a car that was not secondhand.

He and his family were all vegetarians. He believed that eating animals was wrong and was the one who, as a child, convinced his family to become vegans. His opinions on the issue were so strong that when his actress girlfriend, Martha Plimpton, ordered soft-shell crab at a restaurant, he was reported to have begun to cry in disappointment.

Phoenix was one of five siblings who pursued careers in show business, encouraged by their parents, former Children of God missionaries. He had significant juvenile roles in Stand by Me and The Mosquito Coast and was nominated in 1988, at the age of 17, for an Oscar for best supporting actor for his role in Running on Empty. He also portrayed a teenage Indiana Jones. He met Keanu Reeves while filming I Love You to Death and later went on to star opposite Reeves in Gus van Sant's My Own Private Idaho. His friendship with both Reeves and van Sant continued beyond the movie. River was also a friend of John Frusciante (guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers) and appeared on his debut album on the song Soul Removal.

River disliked being seen as just a sex symbol and usually refused to smile for photographs.

He died at age 23 of a drug overdose, outside the Viper Room, a Hollywood night club partly owned by actor Johnny Depp, and was cremated in Gainesville, Florida.

So far, of his siblings, his younger brother Joaquin, (who at one point in his life, temporarily changed his first name to "Leaf") has achieved the greatest success after his first major role in another Gus van Sant movie To Die For, opposite Nicole Kidman. His sister, Rain, appeared in van Sant's adaptation of Tom Robbins's story Even Cowgirls Get the Blues alongside many other well-known personalities.

Filmography

• Silent Tongue (1994)
• Dark Blood (1993)
• Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993)
• Thing Called Love (1993)
• Sneakers (1992)
• Dogfight (1991)
• My Own Private Idaho (1991)
• I Love You to Death (1990)
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
• Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, A
• Running on Empty (1988)
• Little Nikita (1988)
• The Mosquito Coast (1986)
• (1986) (TV)
• Stand by Me (1986)
• Explorers (1985)
• Surviving (1985) (TV)

External link