River Phoenix Biography

River Phoenix was born River Jude Bottom on August 23, 1970 in Madras, Oregon to John Lee Bottom and Arlyn Sharon Dunetz. Phoenix had four siblings which consisted of Joaquin, Summer, Rain and Liberty. Phoenix's name derived from the River of Life in the novel, Siddhartha. At the time of Phoenix's birth, his parents were a part of the religious cult known as The Children of God. The family would travel from commune to commune and later became missionaries for the cult. Unfortunately, cult provided no financial support for the family so after the birth of their second child, they disassociated themselves with The Children of God. In 1979, the family decided to head out west to Los Angeles, California and make it their home. It was during this trip that Phoenix decided that he wanted to become an actor. To supplement the family's income, River, Rain and Joaquin would perform on street corners, singing and dancing.