Editing River Phoenix (section)

==Early life==
River Phoenix was born on August 23, 1970, in [[Madras, Oregon]], the first child of [[Arlyn Phoenix|Arlyn Dunetz]] and John Lee Bottom.<ref name="people">{{cite journal |last1=Levitt |first1=Shelley |last2=Benet |first2=Lorenzo |last3=Stambler |first3=Lyndon |last4=Dodd |first4=Johnny |last5=Stone |first5=Joanna |last6=Sider |first6=Don |name-list-style=and |date=November 15, 1993 |title=River's End |url=https://people.com/archive/cover-story-rivers-end-vol-40-no-20/ |journal=[[People (magazine)|People]] |volume=40 |issue=20 |pages=127–133 |access-date=April 19, 2022}}</ref> He had four younger siblings: [[Rain Phoenix|Rain]] (born 1972), [[Joaquin Phoenix|Joaquin]] (born 1974), [[Liberty Phoenix|Liberty]] (born 1976) and [[Summer Phoenix|Summer]] (born 1978), as well as a paternal half-sister, Jodean (born 1964).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=icv_AQAAQBAJ&q=jodean+bottom+joaquin&pg=PT6| title=He's Still Here: The Biography of Joaquin Phoenix| access-date=June 17, 2017| isbn=9781843584308| last1=Howden| first1=Martin| date=January 10, 2011| publisher=John Blake}}</ref> Phoenix's parents named him after the ''river of life'' from the [[Hermann Hesse]] novel ''[[Siddhartha (novel)|Siddhartha]]'',<ref name=NYTimes/> and he received his middle name from [[the Beatles]]' song "[[Hey Jude]]". In an interview with ''[[People (magazine)|People]]'', Phoenix described his parents as "[[hippie]]ish".<ref name="people"/>

His mother, Arlyn, was born in New York to [[Jewish]] parents whose families had emigrated from [[History of the Jews in Russia|Russia]] and [[History of the Jews in Hungary|Hungary]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-river-phoenix-1501412.html|title=Obituary: River Phoenix|last=Turner|first=Adrian|date=November 1, 1993|work=[[The Independent]]|access-date=May 26, 2018}}</ref><ref name="jjournal"/><ref>{{cite web |date=November 18, 2005 |title=Ten American showbiz celebrities of Russian descent |url=http://english.pravda.ru/news/russia/23-08-2002/16489-0/ |access-date=August 24, 2010 |publisher=pravda.ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/09/rain-phoenix-river-joaquin-family|title=Rain Phoenix's unusual childhood|last=Corner|first=Lena|date=July 9, 2011|website=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=May 26, 2018}}</ref> His father, John Lee Bottom, was a [[lapsed Catholic]] from [[Fontana, California]], of English, German and French ancestry.<ref name="jjournal">{{cite web|last=Pfefferman |first=Naomi |url=https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/5788/ |title=The Days of Summer |date=April 11, 2002 |website=[[Jewish Journal]]|access-date=April 19, 2022}}</ref> In 1968, Phoenix's mother travelled across the United States. While hitchhiking in California, she met John Lee Bottom. They got married on September 13, 1969, less than a year after meeting.

Phoenix's family moved cross country when he was very young. Phoenix has stated that they lived in a "desperate situation." Phoenix often played guitar while he and his sister sang on street corners for money and food to support their ever-growing family.<ref name="The Independent">{{cite news |last=Parker |first=Ian |date=December 5, 1993 |title=Wasted: How on earth did River Phoenix, purest of all child stars, sensitive, clean-living and eco-friendly, end up dead from a drug overdose at the age of 23? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/wasted-how-on-earth-did-river-phoenix-purest-of-all-child-stars-sensitive-cleanliving-and-ecofriendly-end-up-dead-from-a-drug-overdose-at-the-age-of-23-the-answer-lies-in-a-secret-life-that-was-shocking-even-by-the-notorious-double-standards-of-hollywood-1465475.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719174348/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/wasted-how-on-earth-did-river-phoenix-purest-of-all-child-stars-sensitive-cleanliving-and-ecofriendly-end-up-dead-from-a-drug-overdose-at-the-age-of-23-the-answer-lies-in-a-secret-life-that-was-shocking-even-by-the-notorious-double-standards-of-hollywood-1465475.html |archive-date=July 19, 2013 |access-date=July 22, 2013 |work=[[The Independent]]}}</ref> Phoenix never attended formal school. Screenwriter [[Naomi Foner]] later commented, "He was totally, totally without education. I mean, he could read and write, and he had an appetite for it, but he had no deep roots into any kind of sense of history or literature."<ref name="The Independent"/> Filmmaker [[George Sluizer]] claimed Phoenix was [[dyslexic]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Macnab |first=Geoffrey |date=September 28, 2012 |title=River Phoenix: the last film |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/sep/27/river-phoenix-dark-blood-last-film |access-date=June 18, 2017 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

=== Children of God cult ===

In 1973, the family joined the religious cult known as the [[The Family International|Children of God]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Corner |first=Lena |date= July 8, 2011 |title=Rain Phoenix's unusual childhood |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/09/rain-phoenix-river-joaquin-family |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=February 11, 2020}}</ref> His family settled in [[Caracas]], [[Venezuela]], where the Children of God had stationed them to work as missionaries and fruit gatherers.

According to ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', Phoenix was raped at the age of four.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Micah |last=Nathan |title=Remembering River Phoenix, 23 Years After His Death |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/10/remembering-river-phoenix-23-years-after-his-death |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |date=October 31, 2016 |access-date=August 28, 2018}}</ref> In an interview with ''[[Details (magazine)|Details]]'' magazine in November 1991, Phoenix stated he lost his virginity at age four to other children while in the Children of God, but he had "blocked it out."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gone Before 30: Stars Who Died Young |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=4174733&page=1 |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=ABC News |language=en}}</ref><ref name=Another2018/> In 2019, his brother [[Joaquin Phoenix|Joaquin]] would claim that River was joking, saying, "It was literally a joke, because he was so tired of being asked ridiculous questions by the press."<ref>{{cite web|last=Hagen|first=Joe|title="I Fucking Love My Life": Joaquin Phoenix on Joker, Why River Is His Rosebud, His Rooney Research, and His "Prenatal" Gift for Dark Characters|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/10/joaquin-phoenix-cover-story?inline|work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=November 2019|access-date=July 17, 2021}}</ref> Although Phoenix rarely talked about the cult, he was quoted in an article published in ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' in 1994 as having said, "They're disgusting, they're ruining people's lives."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Friend |first=Tad |url=http://www.aleka.org/phoenix/zines/phoenix7.html |title=River, with love and anger |magazine=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]] |issue=March 1, 1994 }}</ref> Arlyn and John eventually grew disillusioned with the "Church" and left the cult in 1977.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Bruney|first=Gabrielle|date=October 5, 2019|title=Joaquin Phoenix and Rose McGowan Spent Their Early Years in a Religious Cult. Then it Became Infamous.|url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a29374581/children-of-god-cult-joaquin-phoenix-rose-mcgowan/|url-status=live|magazine=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20211205050039/https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a29374581/children-of-god-cult-joaquin-phoenix-rose-mcgowan/|archive-date=December 5, 2021|access-date=December 14, 2022}}</ref>

In the aforementioned interview with ''Details'' magazine, Phoenix said he was "completely celibate" between the ages of 10 and 14.<ref name=Another2018>{{cite magazine|last=Taylor|first=Trey|date=October 31, 2018|title=River Phoenix's Insatiable Appetite for Sex|url=https://www.anothermag.com/another-man/12561/river-phoenix-s-insatiable-appetite-for-sex-deadline-interview|url-status=live|website=[[Another Magazine]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20221214005754/https://www.anothermag.com/another-man/12561/river-phoenix-s-insatiable-appetite-for-sex-deadline-interview|archive-date=December 14, 2022|access-date=December 14, 2022}}</ref>