Tragedy of River Phoenix as brother Joaquin names newborn son after him
River Phoenix was one of Hollywood’s most famous young actors when he died of a drug overdose aged just 23. His death sent a shockwave through the entertainment industry and left his family devastated
Video Loading
Click to play
Tap to play
The video will start in 8Cancel
River Phoenix has been remembered by his younger brother Joaquin in a touching tribute as the actor named his newborn baby after the late actor.
Gladiator star Joaquin, 45, has welcomed a baby boy with his partner Rooney Mara and the couple honoured his late brother by calling the tot River.
The birth comes 27 years after River’s tragic death aged 23, which sent a shockwave through Hollywood and left his family devastated.
The tragic actor grew up as River Bottom – his real last name – along with brother Leaf – who later changed his name to Joaquin – and sisters Rain, Liberty and Summer.
The kids didn’t attend formal school, but River showed a flair for the creative arts, learning guitar.
The family joined a Christian cult called Children of God, but left in the late 1970s and moved to Florida where they ditched their last name of Bottom and rebranded themselves the Phoenix family to signify their fresh start.
After relocating to Los Angeles, a talent scout spotted the siblings singing for change on the street and signed them up.
River started his showbiz career appearing in adverts before moving into acting roles as a child star.
He landed a series of small parts before landing his breakout role in 1986 movie classic Stand By Me.
At just 15 years old, River had a starring role in the coming-of-age drama which hit cinemas in 1986.
His movie career took off and just two years later, he landed an Oscar nomination for his role in 1988’s Running on Empty.
River didn’t win, but the Academy Award honour propelled his career to new heights.
He continued working, landing a role as the young Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and winning acclaim for his turn in Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho.
As well as movies, River kept his love of music into adulthood and played with a number of bands including P – with his pal Johnny Depp and Red Hot Chili Peppers star Flea.
In October 1993, the actor flew back to Los Angeles from a movie shoot in New Mexico and organised to play with P at The Viper Room – the club co-owned by Depp on the Sunset Strip.
During the night out, the young actor ingested a cocktail of drugs and fell ill in the club.
He was helped outside by his sister Rain and brother Joaquin, but River began having seizures on the pavement.
Joaquin called emergency services and was heard pleading for help for his brother in a frantic 911 call.
Paramedics rushed to the scene and attempted to resuscitate River.
The actor was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
A coroner’s report later revealed River died of “acute multiple drug intoxication” with both morphine and cocaine found in his system along with marijuana, Valium and an over-the-counter cold medicine.
The tragedy haunted Joaquin, and he rarely spoke about it in the following years.
He later opened up about River in an emotional interview on US TV show 60 Minutes.
The Oscar winner said: “I feel like in virtually every movie that I made, there was a connection to River in some way.
MirrorCeleb
More On