Joaquin Phoenix was moved to tears Sunday night as he accepted his Oscar for best actor in Joker, a moment that was highlighted when the actor quoted his late brother, River. “Run to the rescue with love, and peace will follow," Phoenix said in closing, a lyric of River's, who was also a talented musician, forming the band Aleka's Attic. His sister, Rain, was also a member.
River never played a superhero (although he was young Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade) nor a supervillain, but there still was a Batman connection to the young actor decades before his brother would win an Oscar for playing The Joker.
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It turns out that the 1960s Batman series starring Adam West was River's favorite show and one of the few he watched in his youth.
In a video unearth by The Hollywood Reporter, River makes the comments while attending the premiere for 1989's Batman, in which Jack Nicholson played The Joker.
"My expectations are very simple: I am hoping to walk out of this place and enjoy what I've seen," River told reporters on the red carpet. "I hope it carries on the great memories I have of the early show."
He added, "I grew up with it. It was one of the only shows I ever watched."
River died of an overdose in October 1993, but was a star in his own right before his untimely passing, even being nominated for an Oscar for his work in 1988's Running on Empty.
Watch Joaquin's speech and River's interview below.
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