**I am in no way Joaquin Phoenix or related to him. I am just a big fan**
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Joaquin Phoenix was born Joaquin Raphael Phoenix on October 28th, 1974, in Puerto Rico. If angels truly exist, Joaquin must be one of them, for he seems to have been destined to perfume the air with his sweetness and put the audience under an hypnotic state of mind with his highly emotional, simple and brilliant acting. His mother's first name defines well what the Phoenix family is made of: Heart. Their connection with the sentimental side of human existence, where one can find genuine happiness, has marked their way of life over the years. Together, they made it through a path that, at times, seemed mission impossible.
Arlyn Dunitz Jochebed - his mother's "earthy" name-, born in 1944, New York, and father John Bottom Amram, born in Fontana, California, had four other kids to raise. They were River, Liberty, Rain and Summer. All of them named after nature, a decision that matched very well their vision of life. John was a landscaper and, by Joaquin's mother side, was a migrant fruit picker, independent Christian missionary, Children of God Archbishop of Venezuela and the Caribean Islands and missionary with Children of God. Arlyn also worked as a temp at NBC, California, in 1978.
At times, the little siblings would sing in the streets to earn some money for the family. But what initially worked as a way for the kids to express themselves, something their parents always encouraged, ended up revealing the their natural talent for the arts. River and Rain had been specially gifted with the most enchanting voices, but Joaquin was too shy to follow them.
The Bottom family life was marked by frequent trips around America in search for a better life as missionaries with Children of God. The lack of money was never a strong enough reason to give it all up, but those certainly weren't easy times, marked with unforgettable memories such as the trailler with no back window that served as a home for a while. About this time, they must have a lot of stories to tell, good and bad. One of them is about the night when it was so cold inside due to the missing window that they had to use baby diapers to keep warm and be able to sleep.
After the long journey, the family name - originally "Bottom" - was changed to Phoenix. Just like the mythological bird, they had been born from the ashes and were ready to start a new life. At the age of four, Joaquin decided that he wanted a more earthy name like his elder siblings, River and Rain, so he decided on "Leaf" while raking leaves with his father. In the early 90s, he would take back his birth name.
The creative kids of Arlyn and John grew up to be talented and successful adults, River being the one who got recognition still at a very early age. Throughout his short, yet remarkable career, he portrayed complex characters that helped understand the extent of his talent. Undoubtedly, he was a great, and positive, influence on Joaquin's career choice, as well as on its development.
Summer is an acclaimed indie movies' actress, and so is Rain, who's also sang back up for the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their tour in 1996 and for an R.E.M record (the music was "Happiness"), besides starring the videoclip for the song "At my most beautiful". The only one who hasn't yet joined showbiz is Liberty, who's a housewife.
Joaquin dropped out of school in ninth grade."I was doing that home school thing and the motherfuckers sent a dead bloated frog to my house to dissect", justifies him. That was the beginning of a major change in his life that would lead to stardom.
After his auspicious part in "Parenthood" (1989), he made a self-imposed, six-year hiatus. After that, the young actor returned to the set to play, to chilling perfection, an aimless disaffected high school student who's seduced by a sexy cable-access weathergirl into murdering her husband in "To Die For" (1995). "In the interim, I traveled around a lot, went down to Mexico to hang out with my dad for a while".
The name Joaquin Phoenix was in the spotlight again, and more often than ever, after the release of the epic movie "Gladiator" (2000), directed by Ridley Scott. Joaquin's remarkable work as Commodus, a young troubled Roman emperor, was acclaimed by both the critic and the public, and earned him a well-deserved nomination for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2001.
