Born River Bottom on
August 23rd. 1970 in Oregon, he taught himself how to play the
guitar at the age of four. At the age of five he was street
performing to supplement his family's income. They had fallen
on hard times.
When
the family moved to California, his name was changed to
Phoenix (after the bird that rises from the ashes). River's
performing skills landed him parts in commercials, but he
didn't like endorsing products he didn't believe in. Then
following a couple of guest appearances (with his younger
sister, Rain) in shows such as "Real Kids", he finally got a
break being cast as Guthrie McFadden in the television series,
"Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". The River Phoenix career
had started.
River's
films: Surviving: A Family Crisis / Explorers / Stand By Me /
The Mosquito Coast / A Night In The Life Of Jimmy Reardon /
Running On Empty / Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade /
Dogfight / My Own Private Idaho / Sneakers / Silent Tongue /
The Thing Called Love.
Sadly, in the early hours of October 31st.1993, while at
Johnny Depp's, Viper Room, River overdosed on a mixture of
recreational drugs. He was just twenty-three years old.
The
world was robbed of one of the best young actors of our time.
The following links
will take you to hundreds (literally) of pictures of River
right back to his childhood. There's multimedia, screensavers,
and wallpaper to download, with biographies and tributes by
the bucket-load. If ever there was a message - it has to be
here!
When
the family moved to California, his name was changed to
Phoenix (after the bird that rises from the ashes). River's
performing skills landed him parts in commercials, but he
didn't like endorsing products he didn't believe in. Then
following a couple of guest appearances (with his younger
sister, Rain) in shows such as "Real Kids", he finally got a
break being cast as Guthrie McFadden in the television series,
"Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". The River Phoenix career
had started.
