River

       Today I'll be talking to you about one of my favorite actors, River Phoenix. You might have never heard of him because he died at a young age. I will talk to you about bit about his lief and the paths he chose in life.

          The first born of five uniquely talented children River Phoenix was born in the 70's in a small house in Oregon. Shortly after River's birth his parents joined the Children of God a religious cult and from there the threesome began to travel the States to spread the word of God. About two years after joining the Children of God, the Phoenix's left when they heard disturbing news about the leader. No longer protected by the church, the family was in a desperate struggle to make ends meet. They lived in a rat-infested beach hut in Venezuela
        At age four, while still in Venezuela, River's talent started to show when he taught himself how to play guitar. The family's need for money was actually what led River to performing. At age five, he and and his sister Rain, were often found singing and playing music in the streets.
          In 1977 the Phoenix's returned to America. The next move for the family was to California. While in Los Angeles, River's love of performing and his good acting skills landed him parts in commercials for products. But he quickly learned that he didn't like the idea of advertising products that he didn't believe in, so he quit commercials ready to move on to bigger and better acting jobs. And we all know he must of worked extra hard to get where he was since his family was not a well off.
          After performing wih Rain as guests on shows such as Real Kids and Fantasy. River was finally cast in a television series. It was called Seven Brides For Seven Brothers. The short-lived series ran only from 1982 to 1983 but it was a good learning experience for River. Next, River got a hole bunch of small parts in episodes of tv shows. As he got older he got better parts. River was cast as Robert Kennedy Jr. in part three of the three part TV mini-series called Robert Kennedy and His Times. River's next role was the biggest he had ever had up to that point in his acting career. He was cast as Wolfgang Muller in Explorers, which co-stared Ethan Hawke. The kiddie sci-fi flick didn't do very well at the box office, but River himself was being recognized as a better actor.
           After Explorers River's next part was what really launched him into stardom. He was cast as Chris Chambers in Stand By Me. The movie turned out to be the sleeper hit of the year, making tons of money at the box office. River got a lot of approval for his acting in the movie and it was then that everyone knew that he would be one of the best actors of his generation. During the filming of Stand By Me River learned how to smoke and tried marijuana for the first time. As you can fortell on your own after this movie he was cast in many more.Since he was on the big screen now he became a teen idol and was always on the covers of teen magazines.
            Around this time it was discovered that River was dyslexic. (Dyslexia is when a person reads things backwards or out of the sequence they are really in - Ed.) River's parents refused to belive that River was, in fact, dyslexic so nothing was done to help him. River began to experiment with drugs and alcohol but kept it from his parents because he often spoke out about how bad drugs and alcohol were.
After making 3 more movies River's dad wanted him to quit actting and work with him. When River refused to give up actting his father started to drink very heavly. River began to use Cocaine and hallucinogenic drugs, maybe to escape the pain and worry he felt about his father and feeling that he had to become better so he could further continue to support his family.
             In the Summer of 1988, River and his friends moved to a 20 acre home, which they called Camp Phoenix. By then River was drinking a lot, smoking marijuana, snorting cocaine and doing phychedelic drugs              In November 1989, River was looking horrible, he was dressed like a homeless person, was full of pimples and was sad-eyed. When River returned home, his friends couldn't reconize him, he was irritable, moody and tempremental. He used drugs and alcohal daily, he was out of control. This was the begining of the end for River Phoenix
             By his 21St birthday, River was one of Hollywood's leading actors, getting several million dollars per movie and was wealthy beyond his wildest dreams.
             On the last full day of his life, River spent the day on the Hollywood set of Dark Blood. Around 7 pm he returned to the Hotel Nikko, where he was staying and met up with his girlfriend, sister and brother. Shortly after 10 pm they set off to a club to see some of River's friends. Around 1 am River was complaining that he couldn't breathe and began throwing-up, so his girlfriend and brother helped him outside to get some air, he then collapsed onto the sidewalk. River started having seizures and colvulsing on the sidewalk, his sister layed down on him, trying to stop his shaking. And his brothe called the ambulance. At 1:51 am all efforts to revive River were stopped. River Jude Phoenix was dead at 23. River's last words were "No paparazzi...I want anonymity"
               No one who was at the club that night will say what happened. It is still a mystery and probably will forever remain that way, if River on prepose took the drugs that killed him or was tricked into taking them or if they were spiked into his drink
              He was only twenty-three years old. A talented young actor who had so much more to show through his movies was lost that night to one off Hollywood's biggest killers -- drugs. Probably one of the best actors of his generation, River Phoenix was often hard to comprehend and his powerful roles kept his private life a mystery to his fans, who loved him dearly and will never fully understand why he had to die.