Person · PER-8C9DB9D10F6B55A9
River Phoenix
2 catalogued objects connected to River Phoenix.
Reference entry
Biography
Person.
River Phoenix was an American actor whose short career included some of the defining youth performances of late-1980s and early-1990s cinema. Born in 1970, he became widely known through Stand by Me and earned an Academy Award nomination for Running on Empty.
He played the young Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and starred opposite Keanu Reeves in Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho. The latter film follows two young sex workers through a story shaped by friendship, longing and unstable family ties. Phoenix died in 1993, aged 23.
Reviewed 2026-09-07Selected sources
- Biography — River PhoenixLife dates and principal career milestones.
- BFI — My Own Private IdahoVan Sant film, cast and narrative.
Reference number
PER-8C9DB9D10F6B55A9
Represented across objects dated 1989–1995.
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