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Joaquin Phoenix Biography |
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| Phoenix is an Academy Award nominated and Golden Globe Award winning, American actor. He is also known as Leaf Phoenix. He was born and raised for a time in Puerto Rico, until his family moved to California, where he began a career as a child actor. He is from a family of performers, most notably his brother, the late actor River Phoenix. He often plays supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a darker side. He has stated on numerous occasions that he has never watched any of his performances on screen. Phoenix is of mixed heritage, as his father, John Lee Bottom, is of Irish and Spanish descent, while his mother, Arlyn Sharon Dunetz, was born in the Bronx to Margaret and Meyer Dunetz, Orthodox Jewish [1][2] emigrants from Hungary and Russia. Shortly after they met in the 1960s, the couple joined the Children of God cult and began traveling throughout South America as missionaries. Joaquin Rafael was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and lived there until he was six years old. He was born with a distinct scar on his lip, which is popularly believed to be the result of a repaired cleft lip. However, he has stated in interviews that his mother, while pregnant with him, felt a sharp pain one day and then he was born with the scar, implying that she believes the two events are connected. The birth scar is a microform, almost taking the form of a cleft, as the tissues just reached far enough to join up; since the bone and muscle tissues joined correctly no surgery or cleft repair was required. After leaving the cult and returning to the states (upon which they adopted the surname "Phoenix"), the family moved to Los Angeles, where his mother started working as a secretary for NBC, and his father became a landscaper. John and Arlyn encouraged their children to develop their creative instincts. His parents hired an agent, who eventually got the five children acting work. Since his siblings all had nature-related names, Joaquin had began going by "Leaf" at age four, inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves with his dad. This is the name he would use as a child actor. Joaquin is the third of five children; the others are River (1970 - 1993), Rain or "Rainbow Joan of Arc" (1973 - ), Liberty Butterfly or "Libertad Mariposa" (1976 - ), and Summer or "Summer Joy" (1978). | |||||||||||||
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