Biography

Basic Facts

Robert John Downey, Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning American actor and musician. He became known during the late 1980s and early 1990s, after a series of well-reviewed performances in Hollywood films. During his period of drug addiction during the late 1990s, Downey Jr. continued his acting career, appearing on the television series Ally McBeal as well as in a number of supporting and lead film roles, including Iron Man.

Early Life and Career

Downey Jr. was born in New York City, New York to Elsie (Ford), a dancer and singer, and Robert Downey Sr., an actor, writer, producer, cinematographer, and director of underground films. He has a sister, Alison. Downey, Jr. is Jewish on his father’s side, the original family name being “Elias”;he also has Irish ancestry.

During his childhood, he had a minor role playing a puppy in his father’s film Pound (1970). Downey Jr. grew up in California with his father. At the age of twenty, he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, but was a cast member for only one season. He went on to star in The Pick-up Artist in 1987. The same year, he portrayed the drug-addicted rich boy in Less Than Zero. In 1992, he starred as Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin, a role which garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. His other films in the 1990s included Heart and Souls, Only You, Natural Born Killers, and Restoration.

Later Career

In 1997, Downey was arrested and jailed for missing mandatory court-imposed drug tests. Two years later in 1999 he was jailed again for similar offences. Following his release in 2000, Downey joined the cast of the hit television series Ally McBeal, playing Larry Paul the new love interest of Calista Flockhart’s title character. He won a Golden Globe award and was also nominated for an Emmy. He also appeared as a writer and singer on Vonda Shephard’s “Ally McBeal: For Once in My Life” album and sang in a duet with Sting in an episode of the series (a version of The Police’s 1983 hit “Every Breath You Take”). Initially, it appeared that Downey’s problems were behind him, but before the end of his first season on Ally McBeal, he had already relapsed into drug use and was summarily fired from the series by producer David E. Kelley. This led to a year in a drug treatment facility and three years probation. Downey did, however, make a brief and uncredited cameo in the fifth and final season of the series the following year but it is not clear if this was a genuinely new appearance or archival footage filmed during his tenure on the show.

The new book Conversations With Woody Allen reports that Film director Woody Allen wanted to cast Robert Downey Jr. and Winona Ryder in his film Melinda and Melinda in 2000, but was unable to do so because he could not get insurance on them. “I couldn’t get insurance on them . . . We couldn’t get bonded. The completion bonding companies would not bond the picture unless we could insure them,” said Allen. “We were heartbroken because I had worked with Winona before [on "Celebrity"] and thought she was perfect for this and wanted to work with her again. And I had always wanted to work with Bob Downey and always thought he was a huge talent,” Allen added.

Downey went on to appear in Elton John’s video for the single “I Want Love” in 2001. On November 23, 2004, he released his debut musical album “The Futurist” on Sony Classical, for which he designed the cover art. He was invited to open for Duran Duran in 2005, but declined due to film commitments.

He returned to film in the mid 2000s, with three roles in 2005 and seven roles in 2006. Among them are the already-released Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Good Night, and Good Luck., The Shaggy Dog, A Scanner Darkly, Zodiac and Fur.

Personal Life

Downey Jr. dated actress Sarah Jessica Parker in the 1980s. He married actress Deborah Falconer on May 29, 1992 and had a son named Indio. They divorced on April 26, 2004. On August 27, 2005, Downey Jr. married producer Susan Levin, (whom he met on the set of Gothika) in a Jewish ceremony at Amagansett, New York.

Downey practices Wing Chun Kung Fu, which he has credited with helping him beat his addiction.