Phoenix pursued a
career in show business, encouraged by his parents. He had
significant juvenile roles in Joe Dante's Explorers
(1985); Rob Reiner's coming of age picture Stand By
Me (1986) which first brought Phoenix to public
prominence; Peter Weir's The Mosquito Coast (1986)
where Phoenix played the son of Harrison Ford and Helen
Mirren; A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988);
and Little Nikita (1988) with Sidney Poitier.
Phoenix was nominated
in 1989, at the age of 18, for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor
(as well as for a Golden Globe) and received the Best Supporting
Actor honor from the National Board of Review for his role in
Sidney Lumet's Running on Empty (1988), considered by
critics to be one of River Phoenix's finest films.
Appearing again with Harrison Ford, Phoenix portrayed the teenage
Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
and was offered the role of the young Indiana Jones in the upcoming
TV series, which he turned down. Phoenix met actor Keanu Reeves
while Reeves was filming Parenthood with his brother,
Joaquin. Phoenix later went on to star opposite Reeves in 1990's
I Love You To Death and again in Gus Van Sant's
avant-garde film My Own Private Idaho. His friendship with
both Reeves and Van Sant continued until his death.
After losing out on the Brad Pitt role in Robert Redford's film
A River Runs Through It, Phoenix teamed up with Redford
and again with Sidney Poitier for the routine heist thriller
Sneakers (1992). He then appeared in Peter Bogdanovich's
country music-themed film, The Thing Called Love (1993);
it was his last completed picture before his death. Phoenix's
co-star in the film, Samantha Mathis, became his girlfriend in real
life.
On October 31, 1993, Phoenix died at the age of 23 from a drug
overdose outside the Viper Room, a Hollywood night club partly
owned by actor Johnny Depp. On the night of Phoenix's death,
following a last minute refusal to perform music on stage, he was
in the bathroom taking drugs with various friends. Upon leaving The
Viper Room, he collapsed face-first onto the sidewalk. His brother
Joaquin was present at the scene, as was his sister Rain, and his
girlfriend, Samantha Mathis. Joaquin dialed 911; during the call
Joaquin was unable to determine whether River was breathing. River
had in fact already stopped breathing. He was rushed to the
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center via an ambulance. Red Hot Chili Pepper
bassist Flea also was present in the ambulance. Further attempts to
resuscitate Phoenix were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at
1:51 a.m. PST on the morning of October 31, 1993.
At the Vansickle
Cemetery, you will find the nearest marker to the cache that
of one Laverne Phoenix (no relation...probably). Just a short
distance away is a well concealed small cylinder shaped
container capable of holding small trade items. The
coordinates were averaged for 5 minutes to an accuracy of
8.4'.