Arlyn Sharon Phoenix (; born December 31, 1944), commonly known as Heart Phoenix, is an American

social activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range ...

and mother of actors

River A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

Rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

, Joaquin,

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

, and Summer Phoenix.

Early life

Phoenix was born on December 31, 1944, in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

, New York City, the daughter of Margaret (née Lefkowitz; 1916–1998) and Meyer Dunetz (1910–1996). Arlyn was raised with her two sisters, Rhoda and Merle (Sun). Her mother's family was from Hungary, and her father's family was from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. Although Arlyn's family was Jewish and celebrated the

Jewish culture Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not a faith-based religion, but an orthoprax and ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, practice, and identity. Jewis ...

and

holidays A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or t ...

, they did not attend

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wor ...

Adult life

Phoenix left New York in 1968 and moved to California, where she met her future husband John Lee Bottom (1947–2015). They traveled together along the West Coast, picking fruit and vegetables along the way, and their first son River was born August 23, 1970. Soon after their first daughter Rain was born in 1972, they joined the religious group The Children of God and toured Mexico, Puerto Rico and South America as missionaries of the cult for several years. It was during this time that their son and daughter Joaquin and Liberty (Libertad) were born. Arlyn and John renamed themselves for a brief period, taking the

biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of ...

names Jochebed and Amram, respectively. The couple eventually grew disillusioned with the Children of God and left in 1977. Arlyn would later state that she and her husband were opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of

flirty fishing Flirty Fishing (FFing) is a form of evangelism by sexual intimacy practised from around 1974 to 1987 by the cult Children of God, currently known as Family International (TFI). Female members of Children of God, or "fisherwomen" would apply thei ...

. They returned to the US in late 1977 and lived in

Winter Park, Florida Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 30,183 according to the 2022 census population estimate. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winter Park was f ...

, where Arlyn gave birth to her youngest child, Summer. Around this time, they legally adopted the surname "Phoenix" (Arlyn later changed her name to "Heart" in 1988) and began to embrace

veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet (nutrition), diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is kn ...

as their new diet and lifestyle. The parents took their five children and headed back to California, where Arlyn got a job as an executive secretary for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. She later hired an agent,

Iris Burton Iris Burton (born Iris Burstein, September 4, 1930 – April 5, 2008) was an American dancer and talent agent, who discovered and represented many famous child actors during her career. Personal life and early career Burton was born as Iris ...

, who eventually got all of her children acting work. John and Arlyn divorced in 1997. She is now married to her third husband, Jeffrey Weisberg. Phoenix was the Executive Director of The Florida School of Traditional Midwifery for five years, one of ten accredited direct entry

midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many ...

schools in the country. In 2012, she co-founded the non-profit organization River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding which provides and promotes the best practices and principles of peacebuilding and global sustainability. She is on the Board of Directors of

Peace Alliance The Peace Alliance is a nonprofit organization based in the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located ...

, an organization which supports the creation of a

United States Department of Peace The Department of Peace is a proposed cabinet-level department of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States. History The peace movement in the United States has a proposed legislative history that dates to the first year ...

References

External links

River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phoenix, Arlyn 1944 births Activists from New York (state) American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent Living people People from the Bronx

Arlyn Arlyn or Arlyne may refer to: Given name * Arlyn E. Danker (1927–2016), American politician * Arlyn Phoenix (born 1944), American social activist *Arlyne Brickman (1934–2020), mafia informant Surname * Debra Arlyn (born 1986), American pianist ...