![](https://staging.doyouremember.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/standbyme-702x525.jpg)
JERRY O’CONNELL (Vern Tessio)
![](https://www.staging.doyouremember.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/supplied.jpeg)
O’Connell, who played the podgy Vern, surprised fans by blossoming into a bona fide Hollywood hunk in the 1990s. Now 42, he’s getting more work as a voice actor of late, with recent roles in Finding Dory and animated Justice League films.
RIVER PHOENIX (Chris Chambers)
![](https://www.staging.doyouremember.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/River-Phoenix.jpg)
Phoenix’s career blossomed after Stand By Me, with acclaimed roles in films Running On Empty and My Own Private Idaho. In October 1993, he collapsed and died of a drug overdose outside LA’s Viper Room. He was just 23 years old.
What happened to the bully, Kiefer Sutherland? Click “Next” to find out!