Robert John Downey, Jr. (photo ©Gage Skidmore) was born April 4, 1965 in Manhattan, New York, USA.
Robert Downey Jr. made his first experience with the world of drugs when he was still a child because of his father, who was addicted. Smoking marijuana together was a way to establish an emotional bond between them but over time it led the young Robert to use drugs and alcohol.
During his childhood, Robert Downey Jr. had some small roles in his father’s movies as his old man was an actor and a director. During his teenage years, he also studied classic ballet and in the early ’80s he left high school to become a full-time actor.
Initially, Robert Downey Jr. performed in theater and in 1985 was part of the cast of the television show “Saturday Night Live”. He started getting noticed in cinema productions with movies such as “Tuff Turf” (1985) and “Weird Science” (1985) and then to have success as the star of “The Pick-up Artist” (1987).
Also in 1987, Robert Downey Jr. had another hit with “Less Than Zero”, in which he played a drug addict. This led him to bigger budget movies such as “Chances Are” (1989), “Air America” (1990) and “Soapdish” (1991).
The movie “Chaplin” (1992) earned Robert Downey Jr. an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the famous comedian Charlie Chaplin. That part took considerable preparation to properly imitate Chaplin.
In subsequent years, Robert Downey Jr. kept on having roles in several movies including “Short Cuts” (1993), “Natural Born Killers” (1994), “Richard III” (1995) and “Home for the Holidays” (1995), directed by Jodie Foster.
In the second half of the ’90s, however, Robert Downey Jr. started having serious problems with drugs. They included several arrests, passing drug treatments and various legal consequences. He spent some time in jail, in a case also one specializes in substance abuse treatments.
In 2000, Robert Downey Jr. joined the cast of the television show “Ally McBeal”, earning considerable critical praise. He received a nomination for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category and won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a series, mini-series or television film.
Before the end of the “Ally McBeal” season, Robert Downey Jr. was arrested again for drug problems. Released on parole in 2001, he was arrested when a police officer noticed him wandering in the street barefoot. He was released shortly after despite a positive result of a cocaine test. At that point, “Ally McBeal” producers decided to fire him even if they were forced to rewrite a number of episodes and his participation had led to a growth in audience, which before had been declining.
After years in which there was more talking about his problems than his movies, Robert Downey Jr. was able to clean up. He went back to work regularly in several movies from “The Singing Detective” (2003) and “Gothika” (2003) to “A Scanner Darkly” (2006).
2004 had ups and downs for Robert Downey Jr. because there was a divorce from his first wife Deborah Falconer, married in 1992, but in addition to his commitments as an actor he released a music album titled “The Futurist”. The criticisms were mixed and the actor stated that probably he won’t produce another album. In 2005, he got married again, with Susan Levin. In November 2014, the couple had a girl, Avri Roel Downey.
In 2008, Robert Downey Jr. played for the first time the character of Tony Stark in “Iron Man”, who also appeared in a cameo in the movie “The Incredible Hulk” of the same year. For his part in the movie “Tropic Thunder” in 2009 he received a new Oscar nomination, this time for Best Supporting Actor. Also in 2009, he was the star of the movie “Sherlock Holmes”, for which he won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.
In recent years, Robert Downey Jr. played Tony Stark / Iron Man some more times in the movie “Iron Man 2” in 2010, “The Avengers” in 2012, directed by Joss Whedon, “Iron Man 3” in 2013 and the very recent “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” also directed by Joss Whedon. The actor has also reprised the role of the famous detective in the movie “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” (2011).
In 2010, Robert Downey Jr. and wife Susan have opened their production company. The first project is the movie “The Judge” (2014), in which the actor is the protagonist but also a producer.
Robert Downey Jr. had huge problems in the course of his life because of drug addiction. After several attempts of treatments, the actor seems to have been able to clean up his life and in the last decade things for him improved a lot in his personal life and work. Now he can really exploit his talent and can offer us many other great performances.
