Casting New York

RIVER PHOENIX: LOOKING BACK

BY: Michael Lombardi

River Jude Bottom nicknamed Rio or Riv was born on August 23, 1970 in Madras, Oregon five miles south of Madras. He had very humble upbringings, his father John Lee Bottom who was Irish and Spanish worked as a carpenter, and his mother Arlyn Sharon Dunetz who was Hungarian, Russian, and originally from the Jewish faith both joined the Children of God in the 1960s when River was two and moved to Venezuela in South America. Not until, 1977 did they move to Los Angeles; it is there that the family changed their last name to Phoenix. River had one brother Joaquin, and three sisters Rain, Summer, and Liberty. River grew up in poverty and his earliest theatrical work was as a street performer.

In 1985 River Phoenix’s first major work was in Expolers as Wolfgang Müller with Ethan Hawke, and although the film wasn’t quite finished as it was being shot, because the studio moved up the release date, the director Joe Dante released what he had at that point. Then in 1986 came the great ticket sales success when he appeared in Stand by Me as Chris Chamber. River then also in 1986 played Charlie Fox in The Mosquito Coast with Harrison Ford, and in 1989 as the young Indiana in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. River Pheonix received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor in 1988 as Danny Pope in Running on Empty, however his best role arguably was as Mike, the hustler in My Own Private Idaho in 1991 for which he won the Best Actor Award from the Venice Film Festival and Best Actor Award by the National Society of Film Critics. Although River lost out to Brad Pitt in Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It, he did star with Redford in the 1992 film Sneakers directed by Phil Alden Robinson. Phoenix was appeared on John Frusciante’s, guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, second solo album Smile from the Streets You Hold in the song Height Down. He also had his own band called Aleka’s Attic and was close friends with Michael Stipe of the band R.E.M.

While working in the movie Dark Blood that was almost completed, but was never released, tragically he overdosed at 23 and was pronounced dead at 1:51 in the morning on October 31, 1993 on a combination of heroin and cocaine while partying outside of a Hollywood nightclub that was partly owned by Johnny Depp called the Viper Room; there were also traces of cough syrup and cannabis found in his blood. One of his next projects was to play Arthur Rimbaud the great French gay poet in Total Eclipse, instead the part was given to Leonardo DiCaprio. Another project he was supposed work on was to star in was Interview with the Vanpire as the role of Daniel Molloy, however Christian Slater took the role and donated the money he earned for the role to charity. River Phoenix was one of the greatest actors with artistic promise in America and tragic early death is comparable to James Dean death at 24 in a highway accident.


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	RIVER PHOENIX: LOOKING BACK BY: Michael Lombardi River Jude Bottom nicknamed Rio or Riv was born on August 23, 1970 in Madras, Oregon five miles south of Madras. He had very humble upbringings, his father John Lee Bottom who was Irish and Spanish worked as a carpenter, and his mother Arlyn Sharon Dunetz who was Hungarian, Russian, and originally from the Jewish faith both joined the Children of God in the 1960s when River was two and moved to Venezuela in South America. Not until, 1977 did they move to Los Angeles; it is there that the family changed their last name to Phoenix. River had one brother Joaquin, and three sisters Rain, Summer, and Liberty. River grew up in poverty and his earliest theatrical work was as a street performer. In 1985 River Phoenix’s first major work was in Expolers as Wolfgang Müller with Ethan Hawke, and although the film wasn’t quite finished as it was being shot, because the studio moved up the release date, the director Joe Dante released what he had at that point. Then in 1986 came the great ticket sales success when he appeared in Stand by Me as Chris Chamber. River then also in 1986 played Charlie Fox in The Mosquito Coast with Harrison Ford, and in 1989 as the young Indiana in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. River Pheonix received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor in 1988 as Danny Pope in Running on Empty, however his best role arguably was as Mike, the hustler in My Own Private Idaho in 1991 for which he won the Best Actor Award from the Venice Film Festival and Best Actor Award by the National Society of Film Critics. Although River lost out to Brad Pitt in Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It, he did star with Redford in the 1992 film Sneakers directed by Phil Alden Robinson. Phoenix was appeared on John Frusciante’s, guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, second solo album Smile from the Streets You Hold in the song Height Down. He also had his own band called Aleka’s Attic and was close friends with Michael Stipe of the band R.E.M. While working in the movie Dark Blood that was almost completed, but was never released, tragically he overdosed at 23 and was pronounced dead at 1:51 in the morning on October 31, 1993 on a combination of heroin and cocaine while partying outside of a Hollywood nightclub that was partly owned by Johnny Depp called the Viper Room; there were also traces of cough syrup and cannabis found in his blood. One of his next projects was to play Arthur Rimbaud the great French gay poet in Total Eclipse, instead the part was given to Leonardo DiCaprio. Another project he was supposed work on was to star in was Interview with the Vanpire as the role of Daniel Molloy, however Christian Slater took the role and donated the money he earned for the role to charity. River Phoenix was one of the greatest actors with artistic promise in America and tragic early death is comparable to James Dean death at 24 in a highway accident. More Time Machine Stories