Gifted and serious young feature film actor from the mid-1980s to the early 90s. Though strikingly handsome, Phoenix largely eschewed typical teen idol roles. As he matured, he generally opted for parts that played to his strengths for conveying intelligence and sensitivity. The product of an unorthodox, nomadic childhood (his parents worked as migrant fruit pickers in the US Northwest and, later, as Christian missionaries in South and Central America). Phoenix, age seven, earned his supper singing religious songs in the streets of Caracas. Back in the US, he won talent contests in the late 1970s and made his TV debut in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (CBS, 1982-83). A conscientious youth, Phoenix abandoned making commercials for ethical reasons--he didn't actually use the products he was hired to sell. He was convincing as a bespectacled brainy youngster in his feature debut, "Explorers" (1985), a charming fantasy directed by Joe Dante.

Phoenix gave an impressively mature performance as a knowing tough kid in Rob Reiner's poignant coming-of-age drama "Stand By Me" (1986). That same year, he played Harrison Ford's eldest son in Peter Weir's "The Mosquito Coast". In 1988, Phoenix played a socially ambitious teen whose plans are seriously altered in "A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon" and, opposite Sidney Poitier, the initially unsuspecting son of Soviet agents in "Little Nikita". Although he never acquired the commercial clout of some of his contemporaries, Phoenix became known for his nuanced and heartfelt performances. He received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor as a piano student on the lam with his fugitive '60s radical parents in Sidney Lumet's "Running on Empty" (1988) and captured the essence of Harrison Ford playing a young Indiana Jones in the riotous prologue of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989). He clearly emerged as the leading actor of his generation in Hollywood with a courageous portrayal of a gay narcoleptic street hustler in Gus Van Sant Jr.'s "My Own Private Idaho" (1991). He also gave impressive performances as a mystic pizza man in Lawrence Kasdan's black comedy, "I Love You to Death" (1990) and a young Vietnam-bound Marine in Nancy Savoca's "Dogfight" (1991).

Also a talented musician, Phoenix formed the rock band Aleka's Attic with his sister Rain. He sang and played guitar in the country-western drama "The Thing Called Love" (1993). Phoenix's final credit was metaphysical Western, "Silent Tongue" (also 1993), written and directed by Sam Shepard. Before his untimely death on Halloween night 1993, he was set to play the interviewer in Neil Jordan's adaptation of the Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire". He had also nearly completed work on the independent thriller "Dark Blood", with Judy Davis.

from movies.yahoo.com

  Silent Tongue (1994) .... Talbot Roe
... aka Gardien des esprits, Le (France)
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993) (uncredited) .... Pilgrim
The Thing Called Love (1993) .... James Wright
Dark Blood (1993) .... Boy
Sneakers (1992) .... Carl Arbegast
Dogfight (1991) .... Eddie Birdlace
My Own Private Idaho (1991) .... Mike Waters
I Love You to Death (1990) .... Devo Nod

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) .... Young Indy
Running on Empty (1988) .... Danny Pope/Michael Manfield
Little Nikita (1988) .... Jeff Grant
... aka The Sleepers
A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988) .... Jimmy Reardon
The Mosquito Coast (1986) .... Charlie Fox
Circle of Violence: A Family Drama (1986) (TV) .... Chris Benfield
... aka Circle of Violence
Stand by Me (1986) .... Chris Chambers
Explorers (1985) .... Wolfgang Müller
Surviving (1985) (TV) .... Philip Brogan
... aka Surviving: A Family In Crisis
... aka Tragedy (USA: video title)
"Robert Kennedy & His Times" (1985) (mini) TV Series .... Robert Kennedy Jr. (Part 3)
Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia (1984) (TV) .... Brian Ellsworth
"Celebrity" (1984) (mini) TV Series .... Jeffie - age 11
... aka Tommy Thompson's Celebrity (Canada: English title: video title)
"Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1982) TV Series .... Guthrie McFadden (1982-1983)