River Phoenix was on a pathway to becoming one of Hollywood's biggest stars before his life was tragically cut short.
Dark theories have swirled around River's untimely death from a lethal concoction of drugs – from claims he faked his own death to rumours he was murdered.
The 'squeaky clean' actor, who was just 23-years-old when he sadly died, was a teen idol and heartthrob thanks to roles in Stand By Me and Running on Empty.
Despite huge success, River made clear his distaste for Hollywood and the trappings of fame that came with his burgeoning career.
However, his promising acting career was devastatingly ended when he collapsed outside Hollywood nightclub The Viper Room, which was owned by Johnny Depp at the time.
On the night of his death in October 1993, River arrived at the club with Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante to meet up with actor brother Joaquin Phoenix, sister Rain and girlfriend Samantha Mathis.
"I knew something was wrong that night, something I didn’t understand. I didn’t see anyone doing drugs but he was high in a way that made me feel uncomfortable – I was in way over my head," Samantha later told the Guardian.
Starting to cry, she alarmingly added: "45 minutes later, he was dead."
Samantha didn't realise they were staying at The Viper Room – but the actor wanted to perform with the band P, which included Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Depp.
River drank a 'speedball', a lethal combination of heroin and cocaine, dissolved in a drink which meant it took a long time to absorb into his bloodstream.
The autopsy report found that River's blood contained a staggering eight times a lethal overdose.
Because he drank the concoction, River remained active for up to an hour until his death while the lethal drugs started to build, meaning by the time he felt anything it was too late.
"I knew he was high that night, but the heroin that killed him didn’t happen until he was in the Viper Room. I have my suspicions about what was going on, but I didn’t see anything,” said Samantha.
She came out of the bathroom to find River seemingly in a scuffle with another man as they were pushed out of a side door by a club bouncer.
River began to have convulsions on the pavement, while Samantha desperately tried to get back into the club to get help and asked the other man what they were on.
Worried Samantha frantically ran back inside through the main door to alert River's siblings – with Joaquin calling 911.
"He’s having seizures! Get over here please, please, ’cause he’s dying, please,” cried the then 19-year-old.
Rain gave her brother mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but he had already flatlined by the time paramedics arrived.
Sadly, further attempts to revive River at the hospital failed and he was pronounced dead at 1:51am.
Over the years, many fans have also claimed to be impacted by River's passing and, as is the case in the deaths of many young stars, bizarre theories surrounding him continue to swirl.
Among the bizarre theories is that River was either murdered or faked his own death.
The young actor had been open about his abhorrence of drugs and Hollywood culture, so some questioned how he could die of an overdose.
Depp, who bought The Viper Room in the early 1990s, was deeply impacted by the death of his close friend.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star had turned the club into a rock venue where acts including Guns 'N' Roses and Johnny Cash performed.
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 2018, Depp discussed how he'd suffered due to wild speculation after River's death.
Depp even hit back at claims he had "delivered the fatal does to Phoenix himself".
"Imagine living with that,” emotional Depp said.
Another Hollywood actor that saw River on the night he died was Leonardo DiCaprio.
DiCaprio had grown up "revering" Phoenix as "the greatest actor of my generation", so was thrilled to find himself at the same party on that fateful night before he went to the Viper Room.
"I saw him walk up a flight of stairs,” he told Esquire Magazine in 2019.
"It was almost like something you would see in Vertigo because I saw there was something in his face. I’d never met him – always wanted to meet him, always wanted to just have an encounter with him – and he was walking toward me, and I kind of froze.
"And then the crowd got in my way, and I looked back and he was gone. I walked back up the stairs and back down, and I was like, ‘Where did he go?’"
Shortly afterwards, Phoenix left the party to head off to the Viper Room, and just hours later he was dead.
Leo added: "I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s this existential thing where I felt like… he disappeared in front of my very eyes, and the tragedy that I felt afterwards of having lost this great influence for me and all of my friends."
Joaquin has preferred not to publicly discuss the events surrounding his brother's death.
So it came as a huge surprise to when the notoriously private actor opened up about River's sad passing during an interview with 60 Minutes at the start of this year.
"During that time in which you're most vulnerable, there are helicopters flying over, there are people that are trying to sneak onto your land," he described.
"Certainly, for me, it felt like it impeded on the mourning process."
Paying tribute to his brother, the Joker star candidly told Anderson Cooper that every movie he has starred in over the last 27 years felt connected to River.
"I feel like in virtually every movie that I made, there was a connection to River in some way," Joaquin said
"I think that we've all felt his presence and guidance in our lives in numerous ways."
The interview also saw Joaquin discuss how River encouraged him to pursue acting further, detailing a story of River introducing him to the influential Martin Scorsese film Raging Bull starring Robert De Niro which "awakened something in" Joaquin.
Commenting on his brother's talents further, he added: "You know, River was a really substantial actor and movie star and we didn't really know it."
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