River Jude Phoenix

Having broken into the entertainment business with Seven Brides, River made his feature-film debut
as a nerdy smart kid in Explorers (1985). But it was the box-office success Stand By Me based on a
Stephen King novella, that brought young River to national prominence. The Mosquito Coast (1986),
starring Harrison Ford as a man anxious to take his family back to a primitive and elemental life,
was set in a Caribbean jungle. Its plot premise bore remarkable parallels to Phoenix's unusual
upbringing having been born in a log cabin in Oregon. River accepted his escalating success
reluctantly, glad that at least it provided a way for him to help his family by being their
breadwinner.

Unlike many rising actors, River was very shy and hated publicity. He disliked being involved in
media hype. He once said, "I've kept my ego and my happiness completely separate from my work. in
fact, if I see my face on the cover of a magazine I go into remission. I shut myself out and freak.
After roles in many successful pictures like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, My Own Private
Idaho and Sneakers people began to notice major personality changes in Phoenix, who was once so
appreciated for his innocence and wholesomeness. He had been a strict vegetarian who wore no
leather, and who cared so much about the diminished rain forest that he bought many acres of it in
Costa Rica to save it from development. He was the celebrity who said, "I don't see any point or any
good in drugs that are as disruptive as cocaine. I never tried heroin. I tried alcohol and most of
the others when I was 15, and got it out of the way - finished with the stuff." Now all that had
radically changed, and people began to wonder why.

Some thought River's complete turnaround was nothing more than cynicism, the price he paid for
competing in the rough film making world. Others felt it was his ongoing rebellion against his
bizarre childhood, or that he was hell-bent to test all his limits. Still others judged him a lost
soul who had caved in to his demons and would not deal with recovery.

At any rate, in the early 1990s Phoenix abandoned acting and returned to Florida to live in
Gainesville with his family (and later on his own). For a time he called himself Rio. He formed a
band called Aleka's Attic with his sister Rain, in which he sang, played gitar, and wrote songs. He
remained a firm environmentalist and a dedicated animal rights activist.

In mid 1993, River was in LA, working on a film called, Dark Blood, for Fine Line Features. He was
also signed to star in Interview With a Vampire, With Tom Cruise. While in LA, he usually stayed at
the St. James's Club and Hotel, on Sunset Boulevard.On the evening of October 30th 1993, he went to
The Viper Room, a club owned by Johnny Depp, at 8852 Sunset Boulevard. River was wearing striped
brown pants and black and white Converse high tops and socks.

A few minutes before 1:00 am, River had been in the bathroom doing drugs with some drug dealer
friends when someone offered him a snort of high-grade Persian Brown. Immediately upon snorting the
drug he began trembling and shaking. He then screamed at his friend and vomited. Someone tried to
help by giving him a Valium.
He then staggered back out into the bar and over to actress Samantha Mathis and his sister Rain. He
complained that he could not breathe and then briefly passed out. When he awakened, he asked Mathis
to take him outside of the bar. Mathis first called River's friend and assistant Abby, then Mathis
and River's brother Joaquin took him outside. River then proceeded to collapse on the sidewalk. He
then started having seizures before a photographer, Ron Davis, went to call 911 at the nearby
payphone, as did Joaquin. "He looked like a fish out of water," said Ron Davis, who happened to be
standing outside the club. He was "thrashing spasmodically, his head flopping from side to side,
arms flailing wildly." By now Rain had come out and thrown herself on River to attempt to stop the
seizures. River then became still,at which point Joaquin said he was not breathing. It was 1:14 a.m.
He was in full cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived and Paramedic Ray Ribar of the LA County Fire
Department began to administer CPR. They rushed him to Cedars Sinai Medical Center where they
arrived at 1:34. When they got there, his skin was dark blue, but his body was still warm. The ER
physicians did everything to revive him, including inserting a pacemaker. He was pronounced dead at
1:51 am. on October 31, 1993.