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 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 due to a deep-seated animosity casued by the rough and tumble world of filmmaking. Others surmised it was his way of rebelling against his unusual childhood. Still others thought he was lost soul crushed by his own inner demons and would never kick his habit.
But eventually, in the 1990s, Phoenix would abandon acting and return to Florida to live in Gainesville with his family. He would go on to form a band called Aleka's Attic with his sister Rain, in which he sang, played guitar, and wrote songs. He steadfastly stuck to his roots as an 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.
 Married With Children star Christina Applegate was at the club that night and witnessed the seizures, which she later reenacted at an anti-drug dance piece.
River's autopsy showed lethal levels of cocaine and morphine (heroin shows up as morphine, as the body metabolizes it), Valium, marijuana and ephedrine. Ephedrine is the main ingredient found in crystal meth. Official cause of death was Acute multiple drug ingestion. River Phoenix was 23 years old.
River was placed in a blue coffin (click to view the coffin - warning extremely graphic!!!!!!), and on November 4, sixty mourners showed up at Milam Funeral Home for the viewing. His usual blonde hair was dyed black for the film he was working on. The mortician cut River's shoulder length hair, and placed the cut hair beside him in the coffin, at his mother's request.
He was dressed in a black t-shirt with the logo of his band, Aleka's Attic on it. His mother put a single carnation in the coffin. As mourners passed his coffin, many placed things like notes and necklaces in the casket.
There was a memorial service held on the Paramount Studios Lot on November 18th. Sidney Poitier, Rob Reiner, Richard Benjamin, John Boorman, Christine Lahti, Peter Bogdanovich and River's mother, Heart, attended it.
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More River Phoenix Stuff
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The Sunset Tower (formerly The St. James Club and Hotel and formerly The Argyle) at 8358 Sunset Boulevard where River liked to stay when in LA. In fact, River was living here at the time of his death. He was checked in under the name Earl Gray.
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| The Joaquin Phoenix 911 call - click to hear the 911 call made from the payphone by Joaquin outside The Viper Room the night River Phoenix died. |
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| 8800 Block of Sunset Blvd. The Viper Room is the dark storefront below the yellow arrow. |
More information of The Viper Room from www.seeing-stars.com -
The Viper Room, a rock nightclub in West Hollywood, was already a hot spot with the young celebrity club crowd months before River Phoenix ("Stand By Me") died here of a drug overdose. The young actor's death made headlines when he collapsed on the sidewalk outside the purple awning of this Sunset Strip nightclub. That was on Halloween night of 1993.
Less than four months later, another incident at the Viper Room made the gossip columns, when TV star Nicole Eggert (who played 'Summer' on "Baywatch," and earlier played 'Jamie' on "Charles in Charge") got into a nasty fight here with another girl over a mutual boyfriend.
On Oct. 1, 1996, a paparazzo in the club snapped a photo of the Rolling Stone's Mick Jagger embracing actress Uma Thurman ("Pulp Fiction"). The photographer alleged that Mick's bodyguard wrestled him to the ground and club employees confiscated the valuable film and handed it to a member of the Stones' entourage, who destroyed the film. The photographer claimed the photo would have been worth $1 million, and sued both Jagger and the Viper Room. Mick settled out of court, but a jury later ruled against the club, and awarded $600,000 in damages to the photographer.
And in 1996, rocker Tommy Lee (of Mötley Crüe) was convicted of battery after he pushed over a photographer (Henry Trappler) who tried to videotape he and wife Pamela Anderson Lee outside the Viper Room on Sept. 26, 1996. Lee was fined and sentenced to a 24-month summary probation and 200 hours of community service. (In a later incident, in 1998, he was sentenced to six months in jail for kicking his wife.)
(These incidents at the Viper Room are but a few on a long list of Hollywood tragedies and scandals which have plagued the movie industry since its inception.)
But the club has survived the scandals. It was owned for years by none other than actor Johnny Depp, star of "Edward Scissorhands" and "Donnie Brasco" - which may account for the club's celebrity following.
Inside, off the sidewalk, behind the club's windowless, black facade, you used to find a tiny, all-black room punctuated by green lights, populated by a young, casually-dressed crowd. There were just five black vinyl booths (and one of them was permanently reserved for Depp's agent and friend, with a bronze plaque warning "Don't f*** with it.") Just hitting its stride at midnight, the Viper Room features live music every night, ear-splitting decibels and light shows.
But the Viper Room temporarily shut its doors over New Years of 1999 for a makeover. It reopened with a concert by Courtney Love to show off the club's new, completely different Art Deco interior design. The room is no longer a black hole. Now, the formerly black walls are a creamy white, with cherrywood floors and a larger bar downstairs.
Attending the Courtney Love concert was Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson, Drew Barrymore, Rosanna Arquette and Jennifer Aniston.
Although most acts here are unlisted acts, big names have been known to drop in unannounced and jam on stage: Counting Crows, Oasis and the Wallflowers have dropped by recently.
Other stars may be in the audience.
The Pussycat Dolls event in May of 2001 had No Doubt's Gwen Stefani on stage and Cameron Diaz, Christina Aguilera, and Alicia Silverstone in the crowd.
The night Johnny Cash played at the club, the audience included Sean Penn, Tom Petty, Juliette Lewis, Dwight Yokum, and Johnny Depp. Mick Fleetwood ("Fleetwood Mac") has been spotted here several times. Christina Applegate tended bar one night (and was there the night River Phoenix died). When Joan Osbourne played the club, Michael Keaton did the announcing. Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche were caught smoking in the club while watching a June 1998 performance of the band Live. Members of Counting Crows and Rage Against the Machine were also in the audience for that show. Tom Arnold met his wife, Julie, here.
In September of 1995, Bruce Springsteen dropped by for an impromtu concert.
In March of '99, the Stone Temple Pilots performed together for the first time in two years, to an audience that included Chris Rock and members of Marilyn Manson's band.
In July on '99, the Go-Go's staged a "secret" concert at the Viper Room.
Recently, Smashing Pumpkins' singer Billy Corgan did a solo concert here. Other acts that have performed here have included Matchbox 20, Oasis, Green Day, Billy Idol, Sheryl Crow, The Kult, The Knack, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Everclear, Run-D.M.C., Deus, The Black Crowes, Iggy Pop, and Lenny Kravitz. But often big name acts aren't even advertised, they just show up. Lines can get long outside, so if you wanna get in, show up when they open, at 9 p.m.
The L.A. Times called it "the most consistently hip club in town."
Johnny Depp's ownership of the club came to an end in 2004, when he signed it over the the daughter of his missing partner in the club, Anthony Fox. Before his disappearance, Fox had sued over allegedly missing profits, and the legal settlement involved the handover. Amanda Fox, 19, reportedly plans to sell the club.
Unfortunately, despite the tragic death of River Phoenix, it appears that drug use is still very popular among young club-hoppers. Cover varies, so phone for info. No one under 21 allowed.
External River Phoenix Links
The River Phoenix page over at Wikipedia
Rio's Attic - River Tribute Site
The River Phoenix page over at Findadeath.com
River Phoenix Quizzes and River Phoenix Trivia -- FunTrivia
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