River Phoenix1970 - 1993
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.