robert downey jr biography

Robert Downey Jr.

Actor Robert Downey Jr. is known for roles in a wide variety of movies, including Iron Man , The Avengers , and Sherlock Holmes. He won an Academy Award for the 2023 biopic Oppenheimer .

1965-present

Robert Downey Jr. Now: Iron Man Actor Returning to Avengers Movies

Robert Downey Jr. is known for playing one of Marvel’s most beloved heroes. Now, he’ll return as one of its most diabolical foes.

The 59-year-old Downey—who portrayed Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, in three titular films and 10 movies total— is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the villainous Doctor Doom in the next Avengers installment, titled Avengers: Doomsday , in May 2026.

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige revealed Downey’s surprising role in Avengers: Doomsday on July 27 at San Diego Comic-Con. The actor removed a silver mask before gesturing toward the crowd and receiving thunderous applause. “New mask, same task,” Downey quipped in a video by the Associated Press . “What did I tell you? I like playing complicated characters.”

The Stan Lee –created Doctor Doom, real name Victor von Doom, is known as the primary antagonist for the Fantastic Four, who are set to make their MCU debut in The Fantastic Four: First Steps in July 2025. Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled for release in May 2026.

Who Is Robert Downey Jr.?

Quick facts, early movies and snl, movies of critical acclaim, substance abuse problems, move to television with ally mcbeal, box office hits, awards for oppenheimer, wife and children, path to sobriety.

Actor Robert Downey Jr. is best known for his portrayal of Tony Stark, a.k.a superhero Iron Man, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film franchise and roles in movies like Chaplin and Tropic Thunder . Downey made his first movie appearances and was a cast member on Saturday Night Live in the 1980s, but his growing success was marred by years of struggles with drug abuse. Eventually turning his life around, he earned a resurgence of critical and widespread acclaim and is now considered one of Hollywood’s A-list actors. Downey gave an Oscar-winning performance as Lewis Strauss in the 2023 biopic Oppenheimer and will return to the MCU in 2026 as villain Doctor Doom.

FULL NAME: Robert John Downey Jr. BORN: April 4, 1965 BIRTHPLACE: New York City SPOUSES: Deborah Falconer (1992-2004) and Susan Levin (2005-present) CHILDREN: Indio, Exton, and Avri ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aries

Famed actor Robert Downey Jr. was born on April 4, 1965, in New York City, the son of the avant-garde filmmaker Robert Downey Sr., best known for the 1969 film Putney Swope . Downey began acting as a young child. His mother, Elsie, was an actress who instilled in her son a love of performing. Raised in Greenwich Village with his older sister, Alison, Downey made his film debut playing a puppy in his father’s film Pound (1970), in which actors played dogs. He would go on to have small parts in several more of his father’s films.

Downey’s parents divorced when he was 13, and the young actor ended up living in Los Angeles with his father. At 16, however, he dropped out of high school and was on the move again, relocating to New York to live with his mother.

Downey made his earliest feature film appearances in such films as Baby, It’s You (1983), Firstborn (1984), Weird Science (1985) and Back to School (1986). From 1985 to ’86, he was a regular cast member of Saturday Night Live , NBC’s popular sketch-comedy program.

The Pick-up Artist and Less Than Zero

Downey’s first leading role on the big screen was as a charming womanizer in The Pick-up Artist (1987), a romantic comedy co-starring Molly Ringwald written and directed by James Toback. His breakthrough performance came in 1987 with Less Than Zero (1987), where he co-starred with Andrew McCarthy. Downey played the party-loving, cocaine-addicted Julian Wells in the film.

By the early 1990s, Downey had established a reputation as a critically acclaimed A-List actor. He earned praise for his comic turn as a shifty soap opera producer in Soapdish (1991), co-starring Sally Field , Kevin Kline, and Whoopi Goldberg . More adoration followed when Downey landed a featured role in Short Cuts (1993), the critically lauded ensemble film by Robert Altman.

A particular high point in Downey’s career came in 1993 when he was nominated for an Academy Award (Best Actor) for his performance in Chaplin (1992), directed by Richard Attenborough. In the highly acclaimed film, which didn’t go over nearly as well with audiences as with critics, Downey nimbly portrayed the legendary Charlie Chaplin from ages 19 to 83. The role displayed his dramatic range and his considerable talent for physical comedy. By this time, the 27-year-old Downey had come to be seen as one of the most gifted actors of his generation, but he had also earned a reputation as a troubled and controversial figure in Hollywood.

Natural Born Killers and Richard III

In the wake of his critical success with Chaplin , Downey anchored a documentary about the 1992 presidential election, The Last Party . In 1994, he appeared in the romantic comedy Only You , and in Oliver Stone ’s acclaimed but controversial Natural Born Killers . The following year, the actor starred in the period film Restoration alongside Meg Ryan and Sam Neill; an updated film version of Richard III , co-starring Ian McKellen and Annette Bening ; and the Jodie Foster -directed Home for the Holidays , also starring Holly Hunter.

While Downey’s acting prospects appeared on track, his personal life would be in turmoil for the next few years. Downey was introduced to drugs at the age of 8 by his father and developed a full-fledged addiction as he headed into his 20s.

“Until ( Less Than Zero ), I took my drugs after work and on the weekends,” he later explained. “Maybe I’d turn up hungover on the set, but no more so than the stuntman. That changed on Less Than Zero ... The character was an exaggeration of myself. Then things changed, and, in some ways, I became an exaggeration of the character. That lasted far longer than it needed to last.”

A stint in drug rehabilitation followed shortly afterward, but Downey’s struggles with drugs and alcohol would persist for years. In June 1996, the actor was stopped by police after driving naked in his Porsche on Sunset Boulevard and found not only to be without clothes but in possession of cocaine, heroin, and a .357 Magnum. Less than a month later, and just a few hours before he was slated to be charged, Downey ran afoul of the law again after he was found passed out in a neighbor's house.

For the next several years, Downey’s life was a haze of headline-generating, dependency-induced mistakes and their consequences. There was a 12-month stay in prison and another visit to drug rehab. In November 2000, Downey was again arrested, this time in a Palm Springs hotel room, where he was discovered with cocaine and in a Wonder Woman costume. He was charged with felony drug possession.

Downey’s trial, initially set for late January, was delayed for several months while his lawyers negotiated with prosecutors. In March 2001, the two sides failed to reach a plea bargain, and the case was set for a preliminary hearing at the end of April. On April 24, 2001, Downey was arrested for allegedly being under the influence of an undisclosed “stimulant.”

Despite his turmoil in the early 2000s, Downey continued working. He gave a memorable performance in Wonder Boys (2000) and had roles in several other films, including Auto Motives and Lethargy . Additionally, Downey moved to the small screen in 2000, becoming a regular cast member of the popular show Ally McBeal , starring Calista Flockhart. Downey once again reminded fans and critics of his talent, likability, and versatility with this new role. He went on to pick up a 2001 Golden Globe Award and won a Screen Actors Guild Award soon after.

But Downey’s increasingly complicated personal life pressed his employer's patience. After that second arrest in April 2001, Downey's tenure on Ally McBeal ended; producers had decided to wrap production of the final episodes of the season without the actor. Around this same time, lawyers reached an agreement with prosecutors that required Downey to plead no contest to cocaine-related charges. He was sentenced to three years’ probation—a ruling that allowed him to continue live-in drug treatment instead of returning to prison.

Downey didn’t return to scripted dramatic television until 2024, when he portrayed five different characters in the Max miniseries The Sympathizer . His performances earned him a supporting actor nomination at the 2024 Emmy Awards .

Working his way back to prominence, Downey in 2003 starred opposite Halle Berry in Gothika , which fared better at the box office than it did with the critics. He continued to dedicate himself to his craft, playing a supporting role in the critically acclaimed Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) and the lead in the independent drama A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006), which he also co-produced. In Zodiac (2007), Downey plays a journalist who gets wrapped up in the hunt for the infamous Zodiac Killer.

Tropic Thunder

Taking a huge risk, Downey starred in the comedy Tropic Thunder (2008) with Ben Stiller and Jack Black ; he played a white actor pretending to be a Black actor in this war movie spoof. His efforts received primarily positive reviews, with Variety magazine’s Todd McCarthy stating that “the audacity of Downey’s performance” was one of “the best reasons to see the film.” Downey garnered numerous accolades for his performance in Tropic Thunder , including Oscar (Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role), Golden Globe (Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture), and Screen Actors Guild (Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role) nominations.

Iron Man and The Avengers Franchise

That same year, Downey established himself as a box office star by playing wealthy industrialist-turned-crime fighter Tony Stark in the smash hit Iron Man , based on the Marvel Comics superhero. The film grossed more than $318 million domestically, leading to the release of sequels in 2010 and 2013.

Stark would also become one of the central characters in the series of Marvel Cinematic Universe films that followed, headlined by The Avengers in 2012 and its three sequels later in the decade. The movies featured a bevy of Hollywood talent as iconic Marvel heroes, including Chris Evans (Captain America), Don Cheadle (Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Samuel Jackson (Nick Fury) and Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), among others.

Downey would reprise his Stark/Iron Man dual role for Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015); Captain America: Civil War (2016); Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017); Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

In July 2024, Marvel Studios announced Downey will return to play villain Doctor Doom in a new installment titled Avengers: Doomsday in 2026.

The Soloist and Sherlock Holmes

Downey went on to share top billing with Jamie Foxx in The Soloist (2009), which tells the story of the friendship between a Los Angeles journalist (Downey) and a homeless Juilliard-trained musician (Foxx). The film registered a respectable showing at the box office and earned praise from critics, who lauded Downey and Foxx for their performances.

Demonstrating he isn’t afraid of blockbusters (or English accents), Downey co-starred in the Guy Ritchie-directed Sherlock Holmes in 2009 alongside Jude Law as Dr. John Watson. The duo teamed up again for the 2011 sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows .

Downey also offered a turn as sharp city lawyer Hank Palmer, opposite Robert Duvall, in the drama The Judge (2014).

After a half-decade of appearing solely in Marvel-branded features, Downey reemerged as host of the YouTube series The Age of AI beginning in late 2019. In January 2020, he starred as a veterinarian who talks to animals in Dolittle , based on the classic children’s book series by British author Hugh Lofting.

Downey took a short hiatus from the big screen following Dolittle and focused on his work as a producer. In 2022, he appeared in and served as an executive producer for Sr. , a documentary film about the life and career of his father.

However, Downey Jr. would draw critical acclaim for his next big performance in 2023, portraying Lewis Strauss in the blockbuster biopic Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan . Although Nolan had not worked closely with the actor in the past, he contacted Downey directly regarding the role and invited him to read the screenplay for the movie—about American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb. “I felt like (Downey) just was in a place where he would be ready to come and try something completely different. And as a director, if you can convince one of the great actors of his generation to come and challenge himself in a completely different way, you just know you’re going to get something special,” Nolan told Vanity Fair .

Oppenheimer , also starring Cillian Murphy , Emily Blunt , Florence Pugh , and Matt Damon , became the third-highest-grossing movie of the year globally and was universally praised. In 2024, Downey won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor along with comparable awards at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs, Critics’ Choice Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

In contrast to his prior history with the law, Downey has a much more stable home life these days. He met producer Susan Levin on the set of Gothika in 2003, and the two were engaged in November of that year. They married in August 2005 and have two children: son Exton, born in February 2012, and daughter Avri, born in November 2014.

In June 2010, Downey and Levin began their Team Downey production company, producing films and TV shows such as The Judge (2014), Dolittle (2020), and the Netflix fantasy series Sweet Tooth . “We don’t like going too long without having an extremely difficult project together, whether it’s a movie or a kid,” Downey said jokingly in 2020.

Downey also has his eldest son, Indio (born September 1993), from his prior relationship with singer and actor Deborah Falconer, whom he married in 1992. The couple separated in 1996 and finalized their divorce in 2004.

Downey’s friend and fellow actor Anthony Michael Hall is Indio’s godfather.

Downey began to seek serious treatment for his drug addiction around 2003 and has maintained his sobriety amid his career resurgence.

One of the people to play a key role in the actor’s turnaround was Mel Gibson , with whom Downey co-starred in Air America (1990). Gibson stuck by his friend’s side, even as Downey’s life was completely unraveling. When Downey was unable to get something as routine as an insurance bond due to his past troubles with the law, Gibson found him work, casting him in the 2003 film The Singing Detective. The two actors remain close friends today.

In December 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown pardoned Downey for the 1996 drug conviction that sent him to prison for a year.

According to his IMDb profile , Downey is 5 feet, 8 inches inches tall.

According to Celebrity Net Worth , Downey’s total value is around $300 million. Much of his fortune stems from his MCU appearances as Stark. The actor made $75 million from Avengers: Endgame alone thanks to the film’s box office performance.

• I think part of my destiny has to be realizing that I’m not the poster boy for drug abuse. I’m just this guy who has a really strong sense of wanting home and wanting foundation and having not had it, I now choose to create it.
• I don’t drink these days. I am allergic to alcohol and narcotics. I break out in handcuffs.
• Until [“Less Than Zero”], I took my drugs after work and on the weekends. Maybe I'd turn up hungover on the set, but no more so than the stuntman... The character was an exaggeration of myself. Then things changed, and, in some ways, I became an exaggeration of the character. That lasted far longer than it needed to last.

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Robert Downey Jr.

IMDbPro Starmeter Top 500 46

• Contact info
• 79 wins & 159 nominations total

Robert Downey Jr. Through the Years

Photos 1877

• Sherlock Holmes

• Victor von Doom
• Pre-production
• Dr. Victor von Doom, Doctor Doom
• In Development
• Mexican Stranger

• Professor Hammer
• Nicos Damianos ...

• Lewis Strauss

• Dr. John Dolittle

• Hank Palmer

• Peter Highman
• executive producer
• In Production
• Post-production

• 16 episodes

• 14 episodes

• co-producer

• In-development projects at IMDbPro

Personal details

• 5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
• April 4 , 1965
• Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
• Spouses Susan Downey August 27, 2005 - present (2 children)
• Children Indio Falconer Downey
• Parents Robert Downey Sr.
• Allyson Downey (Sibling)
• Other works Recorded "Every Breath You Take" with Sting , and "Chances Are" with Vonda Shepard , both for the "Ally McBeal - Songs of the Heart" soundtrack.
• 2 Print Biographies
• 1 Portrayal
• 11 Interviews
• 31 Articles
• 9 Pictorials
• 142 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

• Trivia During the promotion of Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) , famously walked out of an interview with Krishnan Guru-Murthy when pressed about his "dark" past because he felt it was inappropriate that children would be watching. He told Howard Stern he would leave again if that ever happened in the future.
• Quotes I've always felt like such an outsider in this industry. Because I'm so insane, I guess.
• Trademarks Sarcastic humorous deliveries while remaining completely stonefaced
• Salaries Oppenheimer ( 2023 ) $4,000,000 + backend participation
• How old is Robert Downey Jr.?
• When was Robert Downey Jr. born?
• Where was Robert Downey Jr. born?

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Robert Downey Jr. (American Actor) Biography

Published on January 9, 2024 by Nitesh

Robert Downey, Jr.  (born April 4, 1965, New York City, New York, U.S.) American actor considered one of Hollywood’s most gifted and versatile performers. Robert Downey was raised in an artistic household in New York City’s Greenwich Village; his father was a noted underground filmmaker who gave the five-year-old Downey his first part. After dropping out of high school in California, Downey returned to New York City to pursue an acting career. 

Table of Contents

Robert Downey Info

Robert downey early life and family.

Downey was born in Manhattan, New York City, the younger of two children. His father, Robert Downey Sr., was an actor and filmmaker, while his mother, Elsie Ann (née Ford), was an actress who appeared in Downey Sr.’s films. Downey’s father was of half Lithuanian Jewish, one-quarter Hungarian Jewish, and one-quarter Irish descent, while Downey’s mother had Scottish, German, and Swiss ancestry. Robert’s original family name was Elias which was changed by his father to enlist in the Army. Downey and his older sister Allyson grew up in Greenwich Village.

During his childhood, Downey had minor roles in his father’s films. He made his acting debut at the age of five, playing a sick puppy in the absurdist comedy  Pound  (1970), and then at seven appeared in the surrealist Western  Greaser’s Palace  (1972). At the age of 10, he was living in England and studied classical ballet as part of a larger curriculum. He attended the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in upstate New York as a teenager. When his parents divorced in 1978, Downey moved to California with his father, but in 1982, he dropped out of Santa Monica High School, and moved back to New York to pursue an acting career full-time.

Downey and Kiefer Sutherland, who shared the screen in the 1988 drama  1969 , were roommates for three years when he first moved to Hollywood to pursue his career in acting.

Robert Downey Career

Downey began building upon theater roles, including in the short-lived off-Broadway musical  American Passion  at the Joyce Theater in 1983, produced by Norman Lear. In 1985, he was part of the new, younger cast hired for  Saturday Night Live , but following a year of poor ratings and criticism of the new cast’s comedic talents, he and most of the new crew were dropped and replaced. Rolling Stone magazine named Downey the worst  SNL  cast member in its entire run, stating that the “Downey Fail sums up everything that makes  SNL  great.” That same year, Downey had a dramatic acting breakthrough when he played James Spader’s character’s sidekick in  Tuff Turf  and then a bully in John Hughes’s  Weird Science . He was considered for the role of Duckie in John Hughes’s film  Pretty in Pink  (1986), but his first lead role was with Molly Ringwald in  The Pick-up Artist  (1987). Because of these and other coming-of-age films Downey did during the 1980s, he is sometimes named as a member of the Brat Pack.

In 1987, Downey played Julian Wells, a rich boy whose life rapidly spirals out of his control, in the film version of the Bret Easton Ellis novel  Less than Zero . His performance, described by Janet Maslin in  The New York Times  as “desperately moving”, was widely praised, though Downey has said that for him “the role was like the ghost of Christmas Future”.  Zero  drove Downey into films with bigger budgets and names, such as  Chances Are  (1989) with Cybill Shepherd and Ryan O’Neal,  Air America  (1990) with Mel Gibson, and  Soapdish  (1991) with Sally Field, Kevin Kline, and Whoopi Goldberg.

In 1992, he starred as Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin, a role for which he prepared extensively, learning how to play the violin as well as tennis left-handed. He had a personal coach in order to help him imitate Chaplin’s posture, and a way of carrying himself. The role garnered Downey an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor at the Academy Awards 65th ceremony, losing to Al Pacino in  Scent of a Woman .

In 1993, he appeared in the films  Heart and Souls  with Alfre Woodard and Kyra Sedgwick and  Short Cuts  with Matthew Modine and Julianne Moore, along with a documentary that he wrote about the 1992 presidential campaigns titled  The Last Party  (1993). He starred in the 1994 films,  Only You  with Marisa Tomei, and  Natural Born Killers  with Woody Harrelson. He then subsequently appeared in  Restoration  (1995),  Richard III  (1995),  Home for the Holidays  (1995),  Two Girls and a Guy  (1997), as Special Agent John Royce in U.S. Marshals (1998), and in Black and White (1999).

Robert Downey Career Setbacks

In April 1996, Downey was arrested for possession of an unloaded .357 Magnum handgun while he was speeding down Sunset Boulevard. A month later, while on parole, he trespassed into a neighbor’s home and fell asleep in one of the beds. He received three years’ probation.

In 1999, he was arrested again. A week after his 2000 release, Downey joined the cast of the hit television series  Ally McBeal , playing a new love interest. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. He also appeared as a writer and singer on Vonda Shepard’s  Ally McBeal: For Once in My Life  album, and sang with Sting a duet of “Every Breath You Take” in an episode of the series. In January 2001, Downey was scheduled to play the role of Hamlet in a Los Angeles stage production directed by Mel Gibson.

Before the end of his first season on  Ally McBeal , over the Thanksgiving 2000 holiday, Downey was arrested when his room at Merv Griffin’s Hotel and Givenchy Spa in Palm Springs, California, was searched by the police, who were responding to an anonymous 911 call. Despite the fact that, if convicted, he would have faced a prison sentence of up to four years and eight months, he signed on to appear in at least eight more Ally McBeal episodes.

In April 2001, while Downey was on parole, a Los Angeles police officer found him wandering barefooted in Culver City. He was arrested, but was released a few hours later. After this last arrest,  Ally McBeal  executives ordered last-minute rewrites and reshoots and fired Downey, despite the fact that Downey’s character had resuscitated  Ally McBeal ‘s ratings. The Culver City arrest also cost him a role in the high-profile film America’s Sweethearts, and the subsequent incarceration prompted Gibson to cancel his  Hamlet  production. In July 2001, Downey pleaded no contest to the Palm Springs charges, avoiding jail time.

In a December 18, 2000, article for People magazine entitled “Bad to Worse”, Downey’s stepmother Rosemary told author Alex Tresnlowski that Downey had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder “a few years ago” and added that this was “the reason he has a hard time staying sober. What hasn’t been tried is medication and intensive psychotherapy”. In the same article, Dr. Manijeh Nikakhtar, a Los Angeles psychiatrist and co-author of Addiction or Self-Medication: The Truth, claimed she received a letter from Downey in 1999, during his time at Corcoran II, asking for advice on his condition. She discovered that “no one had done a complete [psychiatric] evaluation [on him] … I asked him flat out if he thought he was bipolar, and he said, ‘Oh yeah. There are times I spend a lot of money and I’m hyperactive, and there are other times I’m down.'” In an article for the March 2007 issue of Esquire, Downey stated that he wanted to address “this whole thing about the bipolar” after receiving a phone call from “the Bipolar Association” asking him about being bipolar. When Downey denied he had ever said he was bipolar, the caller quoted the  People  article, to which Downey replied, “‘No!  Dr. Malibusian  said [I said I was bipolar] … ‘, and they go, ‘Well, it’s been written, so we’re going to quote it.'” Downey flatly denied being “depressed or manic” and that previous attempts to diagnose him with any kind of psychiatric or mood disorder have always been skewed.

Robert Downey, Jr.’s Net Worth

Robert Downey, Jr is an American actor, producer and singer. Robert Downey, Jr has a net worth of $300 million. Robert Downey, Jr. is probably most widely recognized today for his role as Iron Man in the Marvel franchise of the same name. The role made him one of the highest-paid actors in the history of Hollywood.

Robert Downey, Jr. has had some incredible ups and downs in both his personal and professional lives. Always recognized as a brilliant actor, he also had a penchant for partying too hard, and a nasty habit of drinking and/or drugging himself into a stupor.  Unfortunately, his lifestyle caught up with him and derailed his career. After jail time, and multiple trips to rehab, he finally got himself straightened out.  The last ten years have seen him shoot to the top of the A-list in Hollywood, appearing in such hit projects as the “Sherlock Holmes” franchise, the “Iron Man” franchise, “The Soloist”, “Tropic Thunder”, the surprise independent hit, “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints”, and “Kiss Kiss Bang,Bang”, among many others.

Robert Downey FAST FACTS

• Dropped out of high school to pursue an acting career
• Won the title role of Chaplin over Dustin Hoffman, Billy Crystal and Robin Williams
• Received “Man of the Year” honors from Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals in February 2004
• Released debut album, The Futurist, in 2004
• Its highlight: a duet with Yes lead singer Jon Anderson on the classic Yes track “Your Move
• ” Son Indio appears in the opening scene of Downey’s 2005 film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang as a younger version of Downey’s character
• Launched the production company Team Downey in 2010, along with his producer wife, Susan

Robert Downey AWARDS

• 2020People’s Choice Awards-Favorite Movie Actor: Nominated
• 2019People’s Choice Awards-Favorite Movie Actor: Winner
• 2014Critics’ Choice Movie Awards-Best Actor in an Action Movie: Nominated
• 2013Critics’ Choice Movie Awards-Best Actor in an Action Movie: Nominated
• 2010Golden Globe-Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy: Winner
• 2009BAFTA Film Awards-Best Supporting Actor: Nominated
• 2009Critics’ Choice Awards-Best Supporting Actor: Nominated
• 2008Oscar-Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Nominated
• 2008Southeastern Film Critics Association-Best Supporting Actor: Nominated
• 2008Chicago Film Critics Association-Best Supporting Actor: Nominated
• 2008Detroit Film Critics Society-Best Supporting Actor: Nominated
• 2008Screen Actors Guild Awards-Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Nominated
• 2006Sundance Film Festival-Dramatic Special Jury Award: Best Ensemble Performance: Winner
• 2006Critics’ Choice Awards-Best Acting Ensemble: Nominated
• 2005Screen Actors Guild Awards-Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: Nominated
• 2001Golden Globe-Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television: Winner
• 2001Emmy-Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Nominated
• 2000Screen Actors Guild Awards-Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series: Nominated
• 1993Golden Globe-Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama: Nominated
• 1993BAFTA Film Awards-Best Actor in a Leading Role: Winner
• 1992Oscar-Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Nominated

Robert Downey Relationship

• Avri Roel Downey — Daughter
• Sarah Jessica Parker — Ex-significant Other
• Deborah Falconer — Ex-wife
• Robert Downey Sr. — Father
• Elsie Downey — Mother
• Allyson Downey — Sister
• Exton Elias Downey — Son
• Indio Falconer Downey — Son
• Laura Downey — Stepmother
• Susan Downey — Wife

Robert Downey Relationships and family

Downey started dating actress Sarah Jessica Parker in 1984 after meeting her on the set of  Firstborn . The couple later separated in 1991.

He married actress and singer Deborah Falconer on May 29, 1992, after a 42-day courtship. Their son, Indio Falconer Downey, was born in September 1993. The strain on their marriage from Downey’s repeated trips to rehab and jail finally reached a breaking point; in 2001, in the midst of Downey’s last arrest and sentencing to an extended stay in rehab, Falconer left Downey and took their son with her. Downey and Falconer finalized their divorce on April 26, 2004.

In 2003, Downey met producer Susan Downey (née Levin), an Executive Vice President of Production at Joel Silver’s film company, Silver Pictures on the set of  Gothika . Though Susan twice turned down his amorous advances, she and Downey did quietly strike up a romance during production. Despite Susan’s worries that the romance would not last after the completion of shooting because “he’s an actor; I have a real job”, the couple’s relationship continued after production wrapped on  Gothika , and Downey proposed to Susan on the night before her thirtieth birthday. In August 2005, the couple were married, in a Jewish ceremony, at Amagansett, New York. A tattoo on one of his biceps reads “Suzie Q” in tribute to her. The Downeys’ first child, a son named Exton Elias, was born in February 2012, and their second, a daughter named Avri Roel, was born in November 2014.

Downey has been a close friend of Mel Gibson since they starred in  Air America . Downey defended Gibson during the controversy surrounding  The Passion of the Christ , and said “nobody’s perfect” in reference to Gibson’s DUI. Gibson said of Downey: “He was one of the first people to call and offer the hand of friendship. He just said, ‘Hey, welcome to the club. Let’s go see what we can do to work on ourselves.'” In October 2011, Downey was being honored at the 25th American Cinematheque Awards; Downey chose Gibson to present him with his award for his life’s work and used his air time to say a few kind words about Gibson and explain why he chose him to present the award.

Robert Downey Iron Man and further Success

With all of the critical success Downey had experienced throughout his career, he had not appeared in a “blockbuster” film. That changed in 2008 when Downey starred in two critically and commercially successful films,  Iron Man  and  Tropic Thunder . In the article Ben Stiller wrote for Downey’s entry in the 2008 edition of  The Time 100 , he offered an observation on Downey’s commercially successful summer at the box office:

“Yes, Downey is  Iron Man , but he really is Actor Man … In the realm where box office is irrelevant and talent is king, the realm that actually means something, he has always ruled, and finally this summer he gets to have his cake and let us eat him up all the way to the multiplex, where his mastery is in full effect.”

In 2007, Downey was cast as the title character in the film  Iron Man , with director Jon Favreau explaining the choice by stating: “Downey wasn’t the most obvious choice, but he understood what makes the character tick. He found a lot of his own life experience in ‘Tony Stark’.” Favreau insisted on having Downey as he repeatedly claimed that Downey would be to  Iron Man  what Johnny Depp is to the  Pirates of the Caribbean  series: a lead actor who could both elevate the quality of the film and increase the public’s interest in it. For the role, Downey had to gain more than 20 pounds (9 kilograms) of muscle in five months to look like he “had the power to forge iron”.

Iron Man  was globally released between April 30 and May 3, 2008, grossing over $585 million worldwide and receiving rave reviews which cited Downey’s performance as a highlight of the film. By October 2008, Downey had agreed to appear as Iron Man in two  Iron Man  sequels, as part of the Iron Man franchise, as well as  The Avengers , featuring the superhero team that Stark joins, based on Marvel’s comic book series  The Avengers . He first reprised the role in a small appearance as Iron Man’s alter ego Tony Stark in the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk, as a part of Marvel Studios’ depicting the same Marvel Universe on film by providing continuity among the movies.

Robert Downey Upcoming projects

Downey will appear in the sports comedy drama film  All-Star Weekend , directed by Jamie Foxx. He will reprise his role as Holmes in a third film, initially scheduled for release on December 22, 2021, but later put on hold indefinitely according to director Dexter Fletcher. On July 15, 2021, it was announced that Downey would co-star in the television adaptation of novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel,  The Sympathizer . Later in 2021, it was revealed that Downey would play Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming biographical film Oppenheimer. It was also announced he would star in the film  Play Dirty,  reuniting with Shane Black, the director of  Kiss Kiss Bang Bang  and  Iron Man 3 .

Robert Downey Movies

• Up the Academy 
•  Baby It’s You
•  Richard III
•  Home for the Holidays
•  One Night Stand
•  Friends & Lovers
•  Black & White
•  The Singing Detective
• . The Shaggy Dog
•  Charlie Bartlett
• The Incredible Hulk
•  The Soloist
•  Iron Man 2
•  The Avengers

Robert Downey Jr Gets Standing Ovation As He Wins Golden Globe For Oppenheimer !

Golden Globes 2024:  Hollywood superstar Robert Downey Jr on Sunday (Monday in India) won Best Supporting Actor award at the Golden Globes for Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed movie Oppenheimer. Downey Jr. played Lewis Strauss in Nolan’s biopic of the titular physicist (Cillian Murphy). Lewis Strauss played a significant role in the development of the atomic bomb and later became a political rival of J Robert Oppenheimer. Downey Jr received a standing ovation as he walked onto the stage to receive his award.

“Yeah, yeah, I took a beta blocker so this will be a breeze,” Downey Jr joked while accepting the Golden Globe. The actor said he was glad Universal “went all in” for Nolan and crew to “render a goddamn masterpiece.” He called it the “most improved” award and thanked his wife Susan, who “made an art out of extracting me from my comfort zone.”

Robert Downey Jr.'s speech after winning Best Supporting Actor at the #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/B9RG06TKss — Christopher Nolan Art & Updates (@NolanAnalyst) January 8, 2024

Most recently, Robert Downey Jr likened his role in Oppenheimer to his stint as Iron Man. “There have been three times in my career when I became completely obsessed with the possibility of playing a role,” he told W Magazine. “First time was Chaplin. Second time was Tony Stark, in Iron Man.”

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