River Phoenix, a rising talent became a casualty of Hollywood and a cultish upbringing when he overdosed aged 23, 25 years ago next week. What made it all the more tragic was that he had purported to uphold clean living and vegetarianism.
He was born 23 August 1970 12.03 pm Madras Station, Oregon, the eldest child of counter-culture hippy parents who joined the Children of God cult when he was 3. They believed among other things, that sex without boundaries was a form of love (Rose McGowan was also raised in the cult). The family moved from Venezuela to Mexico to Puerto Rico to spread the word of the cult, and Phoenix was sent out as a child to busk to raise money for food. He later said he was sexually abused when he was four years old. He never went to school, even when his parents returned to the USA. Instead, his mother contacted the casting director at Paramount, and he began working at the age of eight. His siblings, Rain, Joaquin, Liberty and Summer followed suit.
His father had an alcohol problem and River felt he had to support the family. By the time he died he had appeared in 24 films and TV shows. A junkie friend said: ‘First, smoke crack or shoot coke directly into a vein for that 90-second, electric brain-bell jangle. Then shoot heroin to get a grip and come down enough to be able to carry on a conversation for a few minutes before you start the cycle again.’ He collapsed outside a nightclub and couldn’t be revived.
He did have an inordinately difficult chart with a heavily afflicted Moon in Taurus in a cold-mother conjunction to Saturn in a neurotic opposition to Neptune and a cruel-treatment square to Mars in Leo in his 10th. With his Moon also in a bleak trine to Pluto. His Virgo Sun was sextile Jupiter in Scorpio. Poor mite, what a life. His mother has a good deal to answer for. She was born 31 December 1944 and is a Sun Capricorn opposition Saturn square Neptune; with an opportunistic Mars square Jupiter. Her emphasised Pluto was conjunct his midheaven so she’d be a controlling force in his life.
When he died there was a horrific Saturn in Aquarius square Mars Pluto in Scorpio which was bouncing off his Mars and Saturn, pulling in his Moon and Neptune. One storm too many.