RIVER PHOENIX stars as Devo Nod, Rosalie's devoted friend who joins her in her murder plot. The eldest of five children, Phoenix was born in a log cabin in Madras, Ore., and has lived with his family in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Southern California and Florida. His sisters, Rainbow, Summer and Liberty, and brother, Leaf, are also establishing performing careers.

An accomplished guitarist, Phoenix broke into show business with a spot playing guitar and singing on the daytime series "Fantasy." Soon he was appearing in other television series and telefilms such as "Hotel," "Family Ties" and "Surviving: A Family in Crisis," and the miniseries "Celebrity" and "Robert Kennedy: The Man and His Times." He was also a regular on the series "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."

Phoenix made his feature film debut in Joe Dante's 1985 film "Explorers," in which he played a young scientist. In Rob Reiner's "Stand By Me," his portrayal of a scruffy kid from the wrong side of the tracks stole hearts and won critical praise.

His subsequent co-starring role as Harrison Ford's son in "The Mosquito Coast," directed by Peter Weir, firmly established him as a very special actor. At 17 he starred in the coming-of-age adventure "A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon." This was followed by the thriller "Little Nikita," directed by Richard Benjamin, with Sidney Poitier.

For his performance as the son of '60s radicals in Sidney Lumet's "Running on Empty," Phoenix was nominated for an Academy Award as best supporting actor. Recently he appeared as the young Indiana Jones in Steven Spielberg's "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." Phoenix is also starring in the upcoming film "Dogfight," directed by Nancy Savoca.

JOAN PLOWRIGHT is Nadja, Rosalie's Yugoslavian mother, a devotee of supermarket tabloids and an able mechanic who wholeheartedly joins in the murder plot.

Plowright was born in Brigg, England, in 1929, and raised in Scunthorpe. She won a scholarship to the Old Vic Theatre School, where she trained for two years, and made her first professional appearance on stage in 1951 at the Grand Theatre, Croydon.

Since then, she has established herself as one of Britain's foremost actresses, with appearances on stage, in films and on television. On stage she has performed with the Old Vic Company, Nottingham Playhouse, English Stage Company and the National Theatre. Among her roles, she played the only woman in Orson Welles' dramatization of "Moby Dick," which she repeated in John Huston's film; she appeared as Laurence Olivier's daughter in John Osborne's "The Entertainer," a part she later repeated on Broadway; and she was Josephine in "A Taste of Honey," with Angela Lansbury, winning the Tony and a New York Drama Critics' Award for her performance.

For her appearance in "Saint Joan," she won the London Evening Standard Drama Award as best actress, and her performance in Franco Zeffirelli's production "Filumena" earned her the Society of West End Theatres Award.

Other stage credits include "Roots," "Uncle Vanya," "The Master Builder," "The Merchant of Venice," "Saturday Sunday Monday" and "The Seagull." Recently she starred in Lorca's "The House of Bernarda Alba."

Plowright has also worked as a director. In 1969, she directed "Evasion of Woman," which played the Old Vic Theatre. She also co-directed James Saunders' "The Travels of Sancho" for the National Theatre and directed Maurice Dufy's "Rites" at the Old Vic.

Plowright's film credits include Tony Richardson's 1960 version of " Entertainer," once again opposite Olivier; "Equus"; Lindsay Anderson's "Britannia Hospital"; "Brimstone and Treacle," with Sting and Denholm Elliot; "Wagner," with Richard Burton; Hugh Hudson's "Revolution"; Jim O'Brien's "The Dressmaker"; and Peter Greenaway's "Drowning by Numbers." In 1989, the Variety Club of Great Britain honored Plowright as film actress of the year. She is also starring in Barry Levinson's upcoming comedy-drama "Avalon," from Tri-Star Pictures.

Among Plowright's television credits are productions of "School for Scandal," "Three Sisters," "Daphne Laureola," "Saturday Sunday Monday," "A Dedicated Man," "The Diary of Ann Frank" and, recently, "The Birthday Party" and "The Importance of Being Earnest."

Plowright was married to Sir Laurence Olivier until his death in 1989. Their three children are all involved in the performing arts.

Nadja (Joan Plowright), a fiercely protective mother, enthusiastically joins in the plot to murder her daughter's philandering husband in the comic love story "I LOVE YOU TO DEATH," a Tri-Star Pictures presentation of a Chestnut Hill Production of a Lawrence Kasdan Film. Kasdan directed the film, which was produced by Jeffrey Lurie and Ron Moler and written by John Kostmayer. The executive producers are Charles Okun and Michael Grillo.

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