- One Saturday River along with girlfriend Samantha Mathis and siblings Joaquin and Rain spent the evening at Johnny Depp's club Viper Room. In the early hours of Sunday morning River collapsed. He was rushed to Cedars Sinai Medical Center but to no avail he was pronounced dead at 0130 am.
- River and Rain sang on street corners to provide food for the family. The family were living in poverty and decided to leave The Children of God.
- He and Christian Slater were both offered the role of Eric Draven in THE CROW (1994) before Brandon Lee.
- BRAZIL (1985) was his favorite movie, and he had been filming Dark Blood with Jonathan Pryce. As a gift, Pryce arranged for Phoenix to meet Terry Gilliam, his hero. The meeting was set to happen the day he died outside the Viper Room. Phoenix never met him.
- At the end of SNEAKERS (1992), when he just asks for the phone number of the female agent (the one with the Uzi), she volunteers it. The number she offers is the first time in decades that a motion picture or TV show used a phone number for a fictional character that did not start with the standardized prefix, '555-'.
- He was cast as The Interviewer in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES (1994), but died before filming began.
- In STAND BY ME (1986), Grownup Gordie tells us the fate of the other three boys. Two of the actors had later experiences, which paralleled those of their characters: Corey Feldman got into trouble with the law, and River Phoenix is dead.
- Izzy Singer was originally to be played by him but 'Astin, Sean' got the part after Phoenix's death (SAFE PASSAGE (1994)).
- When describing how he prepared for playing the role of young Indiana Jones in INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (1989), he explained that he didn't really base his portrayal on the Indiana Jones character. Instead, he decided to do his rendition of actor Harrison Ford. So he observed Ford out of character before acting his part.
- Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture at Golden Globe Awards for RUNNING ON EMPTY (1989)
- Nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role at Academy Awards for RUNNING ON EMPTY (1989)
Awards- Independent Spirit Awards: Best Male Lead, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO (1992)
- National Society of Film Critics Awards: Best Actor, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO (1992)
- Venice Film Festival: Volpi Cup - Best Actor, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO (1991)
- National Board of Review: Best Supporting Actor, RUNNING ON EMPTY (1988)
- Young Artist Awards: Best Young Male Superstar in Motion Pictures, THE MOSQUITO COAST (1988)
- Young Artist Awards: Jackie Coogan Award, STAND BY ME (1987)
- Young Artist Awards: Best Young Actor Starring in a Television Special or Mini-Series, SURVIVING (1986)
- Young Artist Awards: Exceptional Performance by a Young Actor - Motion Picture, EXPLORERS (1986)
- Young Artist Awards: Best Young Actor in a Drama Series for Seven Brides, SEVEN BROTHERS (1984)
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