Joaquin Phoenix

A bachelor till date, he had been in a romantic relationship twice. First was with actress Liv Tyler which lasted for three years. He is presently dating DJ Allie Teilz since November 2013

An active social activist, he has been a loyal supporter of various charities and humanitarian organizations including, Amnesty International, The Art of Elysium, HEART, and the Peace Alliance. Additionally, he serves as one of the directors of the non-profit organization The Lunchbox Fund, which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto of South Africa

He is an active PETA activist and an ardent vegan.

Joaquin Phoenix was born as Joaquin Rafael Bottom to John Lee Bottom and Arlyn Bottom in Rio Piedras. His parents were ardent followers of the Children of God missionary. He had four siblings, River, Rain, Liberty and Summer.

Young Bottom spent much of his early life traveling between Central and South America along with his family. However, his parents soon became disillusioned with the religious view of the group finally distancing themselves from it.

They returned to United States in 1978 and took up Phoenix as their new surname which explains Joaquin being known as Joaquin Phoenix. Following the footsteps of his elder siblings, he took to performing arts on streets to financially aid the family.

Soon the children were spotted by a leading Hollywood children’s agent who helped them appear in television shows and commercials.

His first stint at acting was in 1982 as a guest appearance in River’s breakthrough television series, ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers’. During this time, he used the name, ‘Leaf Phoenix’.

Following this, he was seen in a couple of television series such as ‘Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia’, ‘The Fall Guy’, ‘Hill Street Blues’, ‘Murder, She Wrote’, and so on.

His big break came in 1986 with the kid’s adventure flick, ‘SpaceCamp’ wherein he was cast in a supporting role as a wannabe astronaut, Max.

Later, he was cast in Alfred Hitchcock episode of ‘A Very happy Ending’ and in the primetime drama, ‘Morning/Evening Star’. In 1987, he found a role in the film, ‘Russkies’.

His breakthrough performance came in 1989 with the Ron Howard directorial venture, ‘Parenthood’. The highlight of the film was his impressive performance as the rebellious son of Dianne West.

He is the proud recipient of a Golden Globe Award in the category of Best Actor for the film, ‘Johnny Cash’. For the film, he even bagged a Grammy Award for his outstanding contribution in the sound track of the album.

He has to his credit several nominations in prestigious awards such as Academy Award, BAFTA, Satellite Awards, Screen Actors Guild and so on.

In 2005, he was conferred with the Humanitarian Award for his work and contribution to the Nation Earth film, ‘Earthlings’.