River Phoenix

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River Phoenix (1989)

River Phoenix Jew [ ˌɹɪvəɹ fiː.nɪks ] (* 23. August 1970 in Madras , Oregon as River Bottom Jew ; † 31 October 1993 in West Hollywood , California ) was an American actor and musician. Films like Stand by Me and My Private Idaho made him one of Hollywood's most promising young actors at the time of his drug-induced death.

life and career

River Phoenix's father, John Lee Phoenix, originally John Lee Bottom, was a carpenter (gardener, according to other sources) and his mother, Heart Phoenix, nee Arlyn Sharon Dunetz, was a secretary. Both were of different origins: John (born 1947), a high school dropout from Fontana , California , and Arlyn (born 1944), from a Jewish family in the New York Bronx and previously married, broke out of their familiar surroundings and roamed the United States as hippies . This is where they met in 1968 while hitchhiking .

They were married in a hippie ceremony on September 13, 1969, and their firstborn River was born on a farm where their parents had helped with the mint harvest . He got his first name after the "river of life" in the then very popular story Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse , Jude is based on the Beatles song Hey Jude .

The family moved shortly after birth on and joined in 1973 the sect children of God by David Berg on. They moved to South America and worked as missionaries, John was even named "Archbishop of Venezuela and the Caribbean". Three children were born during this time: Rain Joan of Arc (briefly Rainbow), born November 21, 1972, Joaquin (briefly: Leaf), born October 28, 1974 in Puerto Rico, and Libertad Mariposa (Liberty Mariposa Butterfly) on July 5, 1976. At times very poor, the Bottoms lived in various countries in Central and South America, including Costa Rica and Venezuela . The parents taught their children themselves and developed their musical skills. At the age of seven, Phoenix and his sister Rain earned money for the family as a street musician in Caracas - playing guitar remained his passion throughout his life.

In November 1978 the family turned their back on the sect, disaffected. Heart Phoenix later stated in an interview that especially the so-called “flirty fishing”, a form of religious prostitution , as well as the bossy behavior of the self-proclaimed “leader” David Berg had led them to want to break away from the group. It has not been established whether Phoenix and his siblings were confronted with the abuse of infantile sexuality promoted in the sect. According to legend, the Bottoms traveled back to the USA on a cargo ship and were able to observe the commercial fishing up close. This experience led to the whole family starting to live vegan from this point in time. In December 1978, the Bottoms' last child, Summer Joy Phoenix , was born in Winter Park , Florida , where they had temporarily found a home with Heart's parents. As a symbol of the new phase of life, John Bottom changed the family's name to Phoenix in 1979 and they settled in the Los Angeles area. River's father initially worked as a gardener before a back injury made him unable to work. River's mother, Heart, took on a job as a secretary at NBC to provide for the family.

So she could endeavor to accommodate the children with small engagements in commercials at the film. From 1982 to 1983, Phoenix played twelve-year-old Guthrie in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers . Other television appearances in the series Hotel and It's Your Move followed. He was also in the TV movies Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia and ... and found no way out to watch. For this he received a nomination and an award for the Young Artist Award as best young actor in a family film in the field of television and best young actor in a television special or mini-series . In 1985 he made his cinema debut in Joe Dante's Explorers - A Fantastic Adventure . His breakthrough came in 1986 with the film Stand by Me - The Secret of a Summer , which became a box-office hit in the USA. This was followed by Peter Weir's The Mosquito Coast with Harrison Ford and Little Nikita , an agent thriller starring Sidney Poitier . In 1988 he was nominated for the role of Danny Pope in the Sidney Lumet film Escape into the Unknown as best supporting actor for an Oscar . In addition to his activities as an actor, Phoenix founded the band Aleka's Attic with his sister Rainbow , which gave their first concert at Christmas 1988. He played the guitar, sang, and wrote the songs, some of which were published for charity for the animal welfare organization PETA. However, the group's debut album could not be completed before his death.

In 1989, Phoenix took over the role of young Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade .

In the 1991 film My Private Idaho , directed by Gus Van Sant , he played a homosexual prostitute alongside Keanu Reeves . Then he shot Sneakers - Die Lautlosen , signed a contract for Dark Blood and was on the cast list for Interview with a Vampire .

During the filming of Dark Blood , on the night of Halloween 1993, Phoenix broke after an overdose of heroin and cocaine ( speedball ) in the arms of his brother Joaquin Phoenix and in the presence of his sister Rain Phoenix and his then girlfriend Samantha Mathis in front of the Viper Room nightclub in West Hollywood together. 25 years after his death, Mathis spoke for the first time publicly in a telephone interview with the British newspaper The Guardian about her memory of what happened that night. River Phoenix was still admitted to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center , but only death from cardiac arrest could be determined there. The autopsy also found Valium , cannabis and other drugs in his blood. Since no puncture sites were found, he must have taken the drugs orally or intranasally ("sniffing"). George Sluizer completed the film Dark Blood in 2012. On September 27, 2012, Dark Blood was presented to a public audience for the first time at the Dutch Film Festival . The German premiere took place at the Berlinale 2013 .

In the interview with a vampire , which began only after the young actor's death , Christian Slater took on the role of journalist intended for Phoenix. Slater donated his entire fee to an animal rights organization that River Phoenix supported. The film's credits include “In Memory of River Phoenix”.

A few weeks after his fatal crash came with Silent Tongue ( Silent Tongue ), the last film with Phoenix in the lead role in the movie theaters.

River Phoenix also devoted himself to music during his acting career. He recorded songs with his friend John Frusciante from the Red Hot Chili Peppers , some of which were released on Frusciante's 1997 album Smile From The Streets You Hold . In 1991 he wrote and spoke the lyrics for Curi Curi, a song that can be found on Milton Nascimento's TXAI album . For the film Jimmy Reardon , Phoenix wrote the song Heart to Get , which was only released decades later in the director's cut of the film. In 1993 he was seen in a video in which he interviewed Flea , the bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Flea - Bass Jamming & Techniques). In addition, numerous musicians such as Natalie Merchant , REM , Ellis Paul and the Red Hot Chili Peppers dedicated songs to him after his death . His friends included Flea, John Frusciante, Michael Stipe (REM) and the actors Keanu Reeves , with whom his little brother Joaquin (then Leaf) made the film Eine Wahnsinnsfamilie in 1989 , and Johnny Depp , in whose club he often played with his band.

Throughout his life he remained true to the alternative upbringing of his parents, was a staunch environmental and animal rights activist and lived as a vegan . He supported the animal rights organization PETA , helped with fundraising and bought rainforest in Costa Rica.

Private life

River Phoenix met Martha Plimpton while filming Mosquito Coast . She accompanied him to the 1989 Academy Awards, soon after which their relationship broke up.

Phoenix lived with masseuse and musician Sue Solgot from 1991 to January 1993 in Gainesville , Florida .

His last girlfriend, Samantha Mathis, is also an actress, with whom the 23-year-old was in a relationship from the time The Thing Called Love was shot until his death.

Phoenix initially lived with his family on a ranch in Gainesville , Florida. In 1989 he moved into an apartment in the city, but remained connected to his family. At the same time, he bought his father a house in Costa Rica, where he opened a vegan restaurant.

Phoenix's brother Joaquín is now a well-known Hollywood star and Oscar winner. His sister Summer Joy Phoenix was married to the actor Casey Affleck until March 2016 ; the names of their two sons are related to their dead brother: Indiana August (* 2004), based on the character Indiana Jones who played Phoenix (young Indiana Jones, 1989 ), and the month in which his date of birth is, as well as Atticus (* 2008), possibly after the common band Aleka's Attic . Phoenix's sister Liberty also named her firstborn after the deceased: Rio (* 1997) (Spanish for River).

His mother Heart Phoenix has been remarried since 1997 and heads the organization The Peace Alliance and the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding (2011).

Voice actor

For German-speaking cinema viewers, he was dubbed by Frank Schaff , Nicolas Böll , Timmo Niesner and Simon Jäger , among others .

Filmography

  • : 1994 Silent Tongue Revenge of the Gods - (Silent Tongue) (filmed in 1991, but not published until 1994)
  • 2012: Dark Blood (shot in 1993, but only released in 2012)

Nominations and Awards

Oscar
Golden Globe
Independent Spirit Awards
National Board of Review
National Society of Film Critics
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
Venice International Film Festival
Young Artist Awards

Others

Tetsuya Nomura was inspired by River Phoenix when creating the figure of Squall Leonhart from the computer game Final Fantasy VIII . Squall Leonhart not only has the same date of birth as River Phoenix, but also a deceptive resemblance to him.

literature

  • Grace Catalano: River Phoenix . Starfire, 1988
  • Penny stamp River Phoenix (They Died Too Young) . Parragon Plus, 1996
  • John L. Barker Running on Empty: The Life and Career of River Phoenix . Phoenix Literary Productions, 1998
  • Brian J. Robb: River Phoenix . Schirmer / Mosel, 1999
  • Penelope Dening: The Great River Phoenix Album . VGS Verlagsgesellschaft, May 1998
  • John Glatt: Lost in Hollywood - The fast times and short life of River Phoenix . St. Martins Paperbacks edition, April 1996
  • Barry C. Lawrence: In Search of River Phoenix - The truth behind the myth WORDSWORTH Publishing, October 2004
  • Gavin Edwards Last Night at the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind . It Books, October 2013

Web links

Commons : River Phoenix  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ian Parker: Wasted: How on earth did River Phoenix, purest of all child stars, sensitive, clean-living and eco-friendly, end up dead from a drug overdose at the age of 23? The answer lies in a secret life that was shocking even by the notorious double standards of Hollywood. independent.co.uk, December 5, 1993, archived from the original on February 18, 2013 ; accessed on January 17, 2014 (English).
  2. ↑ 6th Youth In Film Awards . In: YoungArtistAwards.org . Archived from the original on May 21, 2011.
  3. ↑ 7th Annual Young Artist Awards . In: Young Artist Awards . Archived from the original on May 15, 2016. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
  4. ↑ a b Info page on the documentation "Too Young To Die: River Phoenix" by Jobst Knigge, ZDF, 2013 ( Memento from May 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved on May 10, 2019.
  5. ^ Hadley Freeman: The untold story of lost star River Phoenix - 25 years after his death. October 25, 2018, accessed October 25, 2018 .
  6. ^ Brian J. Robb: River Phoenix - a short life, Plexus-Verlag London 1995, ISBN 0-85965-214-9 .
  7. ↑ Rusty Blaze Hoff: Dark Blood, River Phoenix's Final Movie to Debut Nearly 20 Years After His Death Unexpected . In: Laughingsquid.com . August 1, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  8. ↑ Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (Ed.): All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music . Hal Leonard Corporation, 2001, ISBN 0-879-30627-0 , p. 920.
  9. ^ William Richert: Jimmy Reardon . In: williamrichert.com . Retrieved September 25, 2018.
  10. ↑ Casey Affleck and Summer Phoenix are getting divorced . ORF. March 16, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  11. ↑ Interview with Tetsuya Nomura , accessed February 2, 2008.
personal data
SURNAME Phoenix, River
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bottom, River Jude (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and musician
DATE OF BIRTH 23rd August 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH Metolius near Madras , Oregon
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 1993
Place of death West Hollywood , California