River Phoenix with his younger brother Joaquin.
Photo: Getty Images, Dianna Whitley. All rights reserved.
River Phoenix, the eldest brother of actor Joaquin Phoenix, died in October 1993. He was considered one of the most promising young actors of the 80s and 90s. At 16, he starred in the coming-of-age film Stand By Me, and he shared the lead role with Keanu Reeves in My Private Idaho. At the age of 23, the actor overdosed outside the Viper Room in Los Angeles in the presence of his siblings Joaquin and Rain. He succumbed to the consequences in the hospital.
On Wednesday (August 23) River Phoenix would have been 53 years old. Both family and fans remember the actor’s passing with love and sadness. Brother Joaquin and his wife Rooney Mara named their son River, born in 2020, in his honor. But mother Heart Phoenix (real name Arlyn Sharon Phoenix) also shares a tribute to her son every year for his birthday.
Over Instagram she shares with her followers: “23. August 1970…one of the happiest days of my life…giving birth to a living creature…truly a touch of the holiest.” He would always come to his siblings with “his humor, his wisdom, his authenticity, his talent, his compassion, his vulnerability and his undying love”.
“The greatest pain I’ve ever experienced was the pain of a natural birth and, while very different, the pain of the passing of my son,” Heart Phoenix continues. However, the mother wishes to remember her son positively: “Both times the things he gave us were ingrained in us almost instantly and so we continue to celebrate his life for these precious 23 years. There are no guarantees in life, and there is no promise that we will not experience “tragic moments.”
“I’m in awe of the fact that he does live on inside me,” Heart Phoenix concludes. “Thank you for all the precious messages I’ve received over the past 30 years.”