River Phoenix With Marlee Matlin At Ed Debevic’s Restaurant – 1988
River Phoenix and his date Marlee Matlin at Ed Debevic’s Restaurant in Beverly Hills for their first birthday party and a sixth anniversary bash in honor of The Starlight Foundation. September 22, 1988. Photo: John Paschal Celebrity Photo
A few weeks ago when my daughter and her college age friends were searching for a movie to watch I asked if they had ever seen Stand By Me (1986)? The answer was a resounding no. And when describing the film I asked a silly question: if they had ever heard of River Phoenix? Another negative reply.
I didn’t ask but I’m guessing they might have known River Phoenix’s younger brother Joker, / Gladiator / Hotel Rwanda star Joaquin Phoenix.
Time has a way of erasing the memory of the public. Especially for events that took place before you were born or people famous for a short period of time. So of course the girls would never have heard of River Phoenix.
River Phoenix had his promising career cut short. He died of an drug overdose at the age of 23 outside The Viper Room, a Hollywood nightclub on October 31, 1993.
Deaf actress Marlee Matlin (b. August 24, 1965) made her acting debut in Children of a Lesser God (1986), winning the Academy Award for Best Actress. Since then Matlin has appeared in several films and numerous television series including The L Word; The West Wing; Reasonable Doubts and Switched At Birth.
Strange how it feels like Phoenix died fairly recently yet it was almost 32 years ago. And so young. He’d be 55 now had he lived. I’m not really surprised that your daughter and her friends never heard of him or the movie. The only dead movie star from the pre-Marvel Universe era who younger people seem to know of is Marilyn Monroe (gone 63 years!). And it seems like most young female celebrities emulate her sooner or later, which I don’t get at all.