River Phoenix’s Relationships: A Look into the Late Actor’s Dating History

River Phoenix was an American actor and musician who had garnered love and fame through his talents. In addition, he was known as the older brother of his siblings: Rain, Liberty, Summer, and Joaquin Phoenix.

River had started acting at an early age and showed exceptional talent for the guitar, and as he grew up, his abilities only became impressive. Unfortunately, he couldn’t show his full potential as he died at the age of 23 due to acute multiple drug intoxication.

Moments before his death, River was performing at The Viper Room, where his siblings – Joaquin and Rain – and then-girlfriend, Samantha Mathis, were also present in the audience. Joaquin called 911, and River was taken to the nearest hospital.

However, the attempts to revive River at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center were unsuccessful. And at 1:51 a.m. PST on October 31, 1993, River was pronounced dead. His autopsy report stated his cause of death was multiple drug intoxication.

Since his death, many netizens who come to know him have made different inquiries about River’s life, including his personal life. So, what did River’s love life look like? Here is all you need to know about his dating history!

River Phoenix’s relationship with Samantha Mathis

Mathis was the last woman that River was in a romantic relationship with. And as mentioned earlier, Mathis was alongside the late singer on the night of his death.

Speaking of their relationship, it has been reported that River and Mathis officially began dating in 1992 after they met each other while working together in the movie The Thing Called Love.

Since they began dating, they often accompanied each other to different public events and occasionally went on vacations. Besides that, there aren’t many details about the couple’s relationship as they preferred to keep things private.

That said, Mathis did open up a bit about River and their relationship during her exclusive interview with The Guardian in 2018, almost 25 years after the death of River. She first explained why she decided to open up about River’s death after so long.

She mentioned that she had buried all the things that happened with/alongside River for decades and didn’t talk about it publicly out of respect for his loved one and as she was traumatized by his death. But she now felt the universe wanted her to talk about her late boyfriend.

She then talked about her first meeting with River when they were teenagers and how she felt she knew she would be together with him someday. “We met when we were both 19, and he bummed a cigarette off me in an LA club.”

“This sounds incredibly cheesy, but I knew I would be with him one day. It just felt fated between us, and there was such chemistry,” Mathis added. And just three years later, they were cast together in The Thing Called Love, and they began dating.

Mathis – raised by a single mother – continued, “I think we recognised something in each other. We came from very different families, but perhaps there were some broken parts in each other we recognised. We found safe harbour.”

River Phoenix with his girlfriend, Samantha Mathis, in ‘The Thing Called Love’ (Photo: Twitter)

The actress also reminisced about the days when she stayed with River and his family in Costa Rica and Florida, where they had fun playing music and cooking vegetarian food. “We just hung out with his siblings and got to be kids. He was so good at hanging out,” she added while tearing up.

Likewise, Mathis stated how much River took care of his family. “River said to me in that last year: ‘I just have to make one more movie to put away enough money so my youngest sister can go to college,’” she recalled.

To conclude, River and Mathis’ relationship was filled with love and affection, but it was cut short due to an unfortunate course of events resulting in River’s death.

River Phoenix’s dating history

After diving more deeply into River’s dating history, it has been found that he was in two more relationships, excluding his romance with Mathis. His first public relationship was with Martha Plimpton, after which he began dating Susanne Solgot.

River Phoenix with his ex-girlfriend, Martha Plimpton, at the 61st Annual Academy Awards (Photo: Twitter)

Speaking of River’s relationship with Plimpton, it has been reported that the former duo first met in 1985 but initially disliked each other. However, a year later, they worked together in the film, The Mosquito Coast, after which they became closer and began dating.

After they officially started dating and went public, they were one of the most talked about Hollywood couples. Likewise, fame didn’t affect the couple’s togetherness; they also co-starred in the 1988 movie Running on Empty.

But as years passed, their bond started to crack, and finally, in June 1989, they broke up. It has been said that River’s drug use was the reason behind their break up. However, they were good friends right until River’s death.

That said, Plimpton later admitted, “I realized that screaming, fighting, and appealing would still not influence him to change, which was one of the reasons we split up. He needed to alter, but he wasn’t yet prepared to do so.”

Moreover, Plimpton has also admitted to getting an abortion shortly after her split with River, leaving many to wonder if the father of her unborn child was the late actor. However, Plimpton hasn’t given any further details about the topic.

As for River’s relationship with Solgot, there aren’t many details known about it. It has been reported that they began dating in 1989 and broke up sometime in 1992. After that break up, it has been said that River sought solace on Plimpton’s shoulders before starting to date Mathis.