During the weekend I was looking up information on whatever happened to some movie stars. I was actually looking up information on River Phoenix who died in 1993 and was intrigued to find that Joaquin Phoenix is his brother and found him outside The Viper Room which is a bar half owned by Johnny Depp and called an ambulance for help, but to no avail. It ends up they were in a big family who were part of the Children of God cult and hence why Joaquin Phoenix was once called "Leaf" and born in Puerto Rico.
Anyway, the details are below. River Phoenix was the oldest brother.
Phoenix was born
JoaquÃn Rafael Bottom in
RÃo Piedras, a sector of the city of
San Juan,
Puerto Rico, where he lived until he was six. He is the third of five children, including
River (1970–1993),
Rain (1972), Liberty (1976), and
Summer (1978). He also has a half-sister named Jodean (1964) from a previous relationship of his father's.
[2]
His father, John Lee Bottom, was a
lapsed Catholic[3] from
Fontana, California.
[4] His mother,
Arlyn (née Dunetz), was born in
The Bronx, New York, to
Jewish parents whose families emigrated from
Russia and
Hungary.
[3] In 1968, Arlyn left her family and moved to
California, later meeting Phoenix's father while hitchhiking. They married in 1969, then later joined the religious cult the
Children of God and began travelling throughout
South America.
[4]
His parents eventually became disenchanted with the Children of God; they made the decision to leave the cult and returned to the U.S. in 1978. They changed their last name to "Phoenix" to symbolize a new beginning. This was also around the time Joaquin had begun calling himself "Leaf", desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings and inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves with his father. (In a
Jay Leno interview, Joaquin said he had originally called himself Antleaf as a child; it is unclear if he was being serious).
[5] Leaf became the name he would use as a child actor; at fifteen, he changed it back to Joaquin.
[6]
In order to provide food and financial support for the family, the children performed on the streets and at various talent contests, singing and playing instruments.
[citation needed] In Los Angeles his mother started working as a secretary for
NBC, and his father worked as a landscaper. Phoenix and his siblings were eventually discovered by one of Hollywood's leading children's agents,
Iris Burton, who got the five children acting work, mainly doing commercials and television show appearances.
[7] Joaquin went on to establish himself as a child actor before deciding to withdraw from acting for a while and travel to
Mexico and
South America with his father.
[citation needed]
Phoenix came back into public view under tragic circumstances: on October 31, 1993, his brother,
River Phoenix, suffered a drug overdose and died, outside the
Hollywood nightclub
The Viper Room, which was co-owned by
Johnny Depp at the time. Joaquin's call to
911 to save his brother was recorded and repeatedly played over the airwaves and on television.
[8] The sudden media intrusion into his life proved to be overwhelming; once again, he retreated from the public eye. A year later, at the insistence of his friends, Phoenix reluctantly re-entered the world of acting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaquin_Phoenix
