Robert Downey Jr. has emerged as one of Hollywood’s most respected actors. With a huge list of credits to his name, he has managed to stay fresh and innovative even after more than 40 years in the business.
Downey was born on April 4, 1965, in Manhattan, New York, the son of the author, CEO, and CEO Robert Downey Sr. and actor Elsie Downey (nee Elsie Ann Ford). Robert’s father is a Lithuanian Jew, 15 Hungarian and 15 Irish, and Robert’s mother is English, Scottish, German, and Swiss-German. Robert and his sister, Allyson Downey, were immersed in film and art from an early age, bringing Downey Jr. to study at the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in upstate New York, before moving to California with his father.
In 1982, he left Santa Monica High School to pursue a full-time career. Downey Sr., who is also a drug addict, exposed his son to drugs at an early age, and Downey Jr. will continue to struggle with pollution for years to come.
Robert Downey Jr. debuted at the age of five in the film Pound (1970), which was written and directed by his father, Robert Downey Sr., Weird Science (1985), True Believer (1989), and Wonder Boys (2000) among many others. In 1992, Robert Downey won an Oscar nomination and won a BAFTA (British Academy Award) for Best Actress for her performance in the title Chaplin (1992).
In Robert Altman’s Short Cuts (1993), he appeared as an aspiring actor in the film his best friend the killer. In Natural Born Killers (1994) by Oliver Stone, Woody Harrelson, and Juliette Lewis, Downey plays a tabloid television reporter who uses the murder of a murdered couple to promote his status. For Heart and Happiness (1993), Downey danced as a young man with a special relationship with four spirits. In 1995, Downey starred in Restoration (1995), with Hugh Grant, Meg Ryan, and Ian McKellen, directed by Michael Hoffman. That year, he starred in Richard III (1995), which appeared alongside his partner Restoration (1995) McKellen.
In 1997, Downey appeared in The Gingerbread Man (1998) with Robert Altman, opposite Kenneth Branagh, Daryl Hannah, and Embeth Davidtz; at One Night Stand (1997), directed by Mike Figgis and starring Wesley Snipes and Nastassja Kinski; and Hugo Pool (1997), by his father, Robert Downey Sr. directed by Sean Penn and supported by Patrick Dempsey. In September 1999, Downey appeared in Black & White (1999), written and directed by James Toback, along with Ben Stiller, Elijah Wood, Gaby Hoffmann, Brooke Shields, and Claudia Schiffer. In January 1999, he starred alongside Annette Bening and Aidan Quinn in Dream (1999), directed by Neil Jordan.
In 2000, Downey collaborated with Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire on Wonder Boys (2000), directed by Curtis Hanson. In this film, Downey plays a bisexual writer. In 2001, Downey made his television debut for the first time when he joined the Fox-TV series Ally McBeal (1997) as a lawyer for “Larry Paul”. For this work, he won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a series, miniseries or television production, as well as the Filmmakers Guild Award for outstanding performance by a man in his film series. Additionally, Downey was nominated for an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a film series.
The actor’s drug problems in 1996-2001, led to arrests, rehab visits, and imprisonment, which were later released by Ally McBeal (1997). Looking clean and pure in 2003, Downey Jr. started to work on it.
He used his debut album, “The Futurist”, with the Sony Classics Label on November 23, 2004. The album’s eighth track, written by Downey, as well as his double-release single as the final theme of his expressed frustration song and voice. Downey demonstrated her prowess in two separate films in October 2003: The Sing Detective (2003), a BBC adaptation of the same name, and the inspired Gothika (2003) starring Halle Berry in Penélope Cruz.
Downey engages in terribly difficult work inspired by the life stories of some of history’s most mysterious secrets, including Richard Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly (2006) and 2006 collaborations with Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, and Woody Harrelson, and Fur: The Imaginary. Painting by Diane Arbus (2006) co-produced by Nicole Kidman, a film about the life of Diane Arbus, a famous photographer whose images attracted attention in the early 1960s.
The show showcases Downey’s strengths from last year in 2005, which starred in the Oscar® film Good Night and Good Luck. (2005), directed by George Clooney and staged by Shane Black as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) with Val Kilmer. In 2007, he collaborated on the suspension of David Fincher’s Zodiac (2007), along with Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo, about a notorious killer who stalked San Francisco in the 1970s.
In May 2008, Downey received praise and box office success for his stellar work with Iron Man (2008), Jon Favreau’s Marvel music book screening. The film stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, and Terrence Howard. In August 2008, Downey collaborated with Ben Stiller and Jack Black on Tropic Thunder (2008) and subsequently received the Oscar® for Best Supporting Actress, Kirk Lazarus.
In December 2009, Downey starred in the film Sherlock Holmes (2009). The film, directed by Guy Ritchie, teamed up with Jude Law and Rachel McAdams to win the Downey Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress and Graphic Designer – Film or Musician in January 2010. In early summer 2010, Downey moved on again. with director Jon Favreau reiterating his role as “Tony Stark / Iron Man” in the first hit series, Iron Man 2 (2010), starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, and Mickey Rourke.
Downey follows the star in Time Reach (2010), a comedy directed by Todd Phillips, in which she plays the role of a father waiting for a race to find time for the birth of his first child. Date Reached (2010), starring Zach Galifianakis from The Hangover (2009), was released in November 2010.
Downey was honored by Time magazine’s “Time 100” in 2008, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. His performances have included two Oscar nominations, three Golden Globes, many nominations, and other awards, as well as major commercial success, especially in his work as Sherlock Holmes and Tony Stark (he later appeared in Iron Man. (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) Over the next three years, from 2012 to 2015, Downey is on Forbes’ list of best Hollywood-actors paid, earning around $ 80 million between June 2014 and June 2015.
In 2005 Downey Jr. married Susan Downey, who has two children. Downey also has another son, Indio Falconer Downey, born in 1993, from his first marriage to Deborah Falconer, from whom he divorced in 2004.
Robert founded the Tim Downey Production Company with his wife Susan Downey.
