Summer Phoenix Biography

Summer Phoenix (born Summer Joy Bottom; December 10, 1978) is an American actress and model. She is the youngest sibling of the late River Phoenix, Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, and Liberty Phoenix, and is married to actor Casey Affleck.

Early life

Summer was raised in Southern California, but spent her teen years in Central Florida, where she was born. Her mother, Arlyn Sharon (née Dunetz), was born in the Bronx, New York, to Jewish parents from Hungary and Russia. Her father, John Lee Bottom, was a lapsed Catholic from Fontana, California. In 1968, Phoenix's mother left her family and moved to California, meeting Phoenix's father while hitch-hiking. They married in 1969 and joined the religious cult the Children of God, working as missionaries and fruit pickers in South America. Phoenix has four siblings: two brothers, actors Joaquin (Leaf) and the late River, and two sisters, Rain and Liberty.

She attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, but left before graduating to pursue a career in film.

Career

Summer was a child actor, working with agent Iris Burton along with her brothers and sister at the age of two, and went on to have guest roles in Murder She Wrote, Growing Pains and Airwolf. She appeared in the TV movie Kate's Secret and in Russkies, playing the younger sister of real life brother Joaquin. Phoenix later appeared in Wasted, The Laramie Project, SLC Punk!, Dinner Rush, The Believer, and The Faculty. She played leads in Esther Kahn (2000) and Suzie Gold (2004).

In 2002, Phoenix starred in a three-month run of This is Our Youth at the Garrick Theatre alongside Matt Damon and Casey Affleck.

She was a member of the rock band The Causey Way with her sister Rain. She later made guest appearances on albums by Rain's band, the Papercranes.

Personal life

Summer is a vegan. She is an avid supporter of several environmental and animal rights causes and charities, including PETA.

She became engaged to Casey Affleck on December 25, 2003, and gave birth to a son, Indiana August, on May 31, 2004, in Amsterdam. Phoenix and Affleck married on June 3, 2006 in Savannah, Georgia, and had a second son, Atticus, on January 12, 2008.

She now owns and runs the vintage clothing boutiques Some Odd Rubies, with stores in New York and Los Angeles, along with friends Odessa Whitmire and Ruby Canner.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1984	Airwolf	Little Girl	1 episode; 'Flight #093 Is Missing'
	Murder, She Wrote	Cindy Donovan	1 episode; 'We're Off to Kill the Wizard'
1986	Kate's Secret	Becky Stark
1987	Growing Pains	Jody	1 episode 'Big Brother's Not Watching'
	Russkies	Candi
1988	ABC Weekend Special	Lana	1 episode 'Runaway Ralph'
1989	The New Leave It to Beaver	Bettie Haskell	1 episode; 'Still the New Leave It to Beaver'
1990	Swamp Thing	Lilly	1 episode; 'New acquaintance'
1997	Arresting Gena	Jane Freeman	US title: Made in France
	ER	Petra	1 episode; 'Ambush'
1998	I Woke Up Early The Day I Died	Bartender#2/Girl at the Beach
	Girl	Rebecca Fernhurst
	Can't Hardly Wait	Candy, Stoned Girl's Friend	Scenes deleted
	SLC Punk!	Brandy
	The Faculty	F'%# You Girl
2000	Committed	Meg
	Esther Kahn	Esther Kahn
	Dinner Rush	Marti Wellington
2001	The Believer	Carla Moebius
2002	Wasted	Samantha	TV movie
	The Laramie Project	Osnat 'Ossi' Wolf
2004	Suzie Gold	Suzie Gold