Who is Jodean Bottom? All About Joaquin Phoenix's Elder Sister

May 2024 · 6 minute read

Jodean Bottom is the half-sister of Joaquin Phoenix, the American actor. She was born on 29th February 1964 and is currently 59 years old. She is a resident of the United States, but her career path is unknown.

Jodean and Joaquin Phoenix share the same father, John Lee Bottom, who abandoned her mother, Trinity, without knowing she was pregnant for him. Thus, Jodean grew up without knowing her father. She was already a grown woman with a daughter when one of her half-siblings, River Phoenix, reunited her with the rest of the family.

Summary of Jodean Bottom’s Biography

How Old Is Jodean Bottom?

Jodean Bottom was born on February 29th, 1964 and calculations from her date of birth pegs her current age at 59. Her birth place is captured as Andora, Portugal. A Portuguese by nationality, Jodean is of mixed ethnic background. She is the daughter of John Lee Bottom.

John came from a poor family background and was surviving on menial jobs when he met and fell in love with Jodean’s mother, Trinity. The fear of being recruited into the army led John to abandon his love interest and flee without knowing that she was expecting a baby.

When Trinity eventually realized she was in the family way, she had no way of contacting her boyfriend, thus, she raised Jodean as a single mother. Sadly, when Jodean Bottom was still very little, she was involved in a domestic accident that led to the loss of her left eye.

After John migrated to the United States, he got married to Arlyn Phoenix (a social media activist) and had five children who grew up to become entertainers. John died in 2005 at age 68 and his cause of death is listed as complications from cancer.

Jodean has Five Half-siblings

Jodean Bottom didn’t have any biological siblings but she later discovered that she has five half-siblings – Joaquin Phoenix, Liberty Phoenix, Summer Phoenix, Rain Phoenix, and the late River Phoenix. They all share the same father, John Lee Bottom.

River Phoenix

The oldest among the Phoenix brood is River Phoenix. River’s date of birth is captured as the 23rd of August 1970. He started acting at age 10 and recorded his big break on the set of the movie, Support Me. His other notable productions include Running Empty, Indiana Jones, and more. River was also a popular musician and a member of the band known as Aleka Attic. He met his death on the 31st of October 1993 from a drug overdose.

Rain Phoenix

Next to River is Rain Phoenix who is the second among the Phoenix siblings. She was born on the 21st of November 1972 in Texas. She started experimenting with music at a tender age and by the time she was 15, she joined efforts with River and launched the band Aleka’s Attic.

Joaquin Phoenix

The most popular among the Phoenix siblings is Joaquin Phoenix. Born in in San Juan, Puerto Rico on the 28th of October 1974, Joaquin is John and Arlyn’s 3rd child. He is immensely successful in the entertainment industry as an actor, musician, and animal activist.

The character Jodean Bottom’s half-brother depicted in The Master earned him a Venice International Film Festival award in the category of best actor. The psychological thriller entitled, The Joker is among his best-known productions.

Liberty Phoenix

Born on the 5th of July 1976, Liberty Phoenix is the fourth child of John Lee Bottom and his wife Arlyn Phoenix. Her career took off in the 1980s and in addition to acting, she is also a musician and currently manages River Phoenix Centre for Peacebuilding – this is a philanthropic organization launched by Arlyn Phoenix in memory of her late son, River.

Summer Phoenix

The baby of the Phoenix family is Summer Phoenix and she was born on the 10th of December 1978. Jodean Bottom’s half-sister is also part of the movie world and has recorded appearances in a good number of productions.

Why Does Jodean Bottom Have a Different Surname from Her Half Siblings?

By the time John Lee Bottom married his wife, Arlyn Phoenix, he was already tired of doing menial jobs as a gardener and carpenter and decided to make his life better by joining a religious cult popularly known as “The Children of God”.

At this point, John and his family were still bearing their family name, Bottom. At the invitation of the cult, John took his entire family to live in Crockett, Texas, which was the cult’s main commune. Jodean Bottom’s father later became the sect’s archbishop for Venezuela and the Caribbean.

In the long run, John moved his family to the Puerto Rican commune in San Juan. There, money was constantly in very short supply as the mission didn’t have enough funds to pay missionaries. Thus, the children were sent into the street to make money by preaching about the cult’s beliefs to passersby and earning some loose change.

At a point, the whole family started depending on what the children brought in for food and when they failed to make money, the entire household would go to bed hungry.

Arlyn was the first to become disillusioned about the cult practices after the women were forced to use sex in luring men into the cult and the children were also used in weird sexual activities. This was when the Bottom family decided to escape from the cult in 1978.

They joined a trolley going to Englewood, Florida, and that was how they started living with Arlyn’s parents in America’s Sunshine State. It was at this point that they changed their last name from Bottom to Phoenix “the mythical bird that rises out of its ashes”. This signified a new beginning for the whole family.

What Does Jodean Do For A Living?

Jodean’s career path has never been disclosed as she is the type that loves to live a low-key life. Even her family members support her kind of life and help in keeping everything about her under wraps.

Where is Jodean Bottom Now?

Jodean Bottom now lives in the United States after she was discovered by her half-brother, River Phoenix, who introduced her to the rest of the family. Even after River died from a drug overdose, the rest of the Phoenix family still welcomed her with arms wide open.

Jodean was greatly affected by the death of her half-brother River as he was the one who reunited her with the rest of the family.

Is Jodean Botton Married or Dating?

Jodean Bottom has never been a mainstream celebrity, thus nothing is known about her personal life. However, When River found and brought her into the Phoenix family, she came along with her child, though nothing has been said about the girl’s father.

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