BIOGRAPHY:

Robert John Downey Jr. is an American actor and producer who gained worldwide fame after playing Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Winner of an Oscar for his supporting role in the film Oppenheimer.

Childhood and youth, parents:

Robert Downey Jr. was born on April 4, 1965 in New York City into the family of actor and underground film director Robert Downey Sr. and actress and writer Elsie Downey (nee Elsie Ann Ford). His father had Jewish and Irish roots, his mother had Scottish and German roots . Robert Downey Jr. has a sister, Allison, who is two years older than him .

The works of Downey Sr. influenced a generation of young filmmakers, but they were not commercially successful and the family struggled to make ends meet, wrote the Daily Mail .

Elsie Downey appeared in all of her husband’s films. Downey Jr. also played supporting roles in them as a child. He made his film debut at the age of five, playing a sick puppy in his father’s absurdist comedy The Paddock. Then, at the age of seven, he appeared in the psychedelic western Griser’s Palace.

Downey Jr. grew up in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. Attended Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center.

In 1978, his parents divorced and Downey Jr. moved to California with his father. There he attended high school in Santa Monica, where he met Sean Penn and Rob Lowe, who later also became famous actors .

Four years later, Downey Jr. dropped out of school to devote himself full-time to his acting career and returned to New York to live with his mother.

Beginning of career and Oscar nomination:

In 1985, Downey Jr. joined the television sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live for one season, but then returned to films.

In 1985–1986 he starred in the action film “Wall to Wall”, the comedy “Oh, This Science!” and a number of other projects. In 1987, he played his first leading role in the film “Reception Specialist.” The same year, the film Less Than Zero was released, in which Downey Jr. played a drug addict.

After this role, the actor began to receive offers to star in big-budget films. Among them were “The Chances Are” (1989) with Cybill Shepherd and Ryan O’Neal, “Air America” (1990) with Mel Gibson and “Soap Lather” (1991) with Sally Field and Kevin Kline. The next role brought Downey Jr. fame in Hollywood. He played Charlie Chaplin in the film Chaplin, directed by Richard Attenborough. In preparation for the role, Downey Jr. learned to play the violin and tennis with his left hand. He was also trained for ten weeks by comedian Dan Kamin so that the actor would accurately imitate Chaplin’s posture, gait and movements . Downey Jr. later said that he performed all the stunts in the film himself. For this role he was nominated for an Oscar in the category “Best Actor” (1993). As a result, he did not receive the statuette: Al Pacino took it for his role in the film “Scent of a Woman.”

The same year, the films “Heart and Souls” and “Short Cut” with the participation of Downey Jr. were released, and in 1994 he starred in the films “Only You” with Marisa Tomei and “Natural Born Killers” with Woody Harrelson. Also in the 1990s, the actor played in the films “Royal Grace”, “Richard III”, “Home for the Holidays” (1995), “Love Triangle” (1997), “Officers of the Law” (1998) and “Black and White” ( 1999).

Drug addiction and prison:

Downey Jr. first tried drugs as a child – his father, himself an addict, gave his son marijuana to try when he was six years old. Subsequently, Downey Sr. called his action “a terrible, stupid mistake” . “A lot of us have tried everything and thought it would be hypocritical to tell our kids not to smoke marijuana and stuff like that. <…> On our part, on the part of many of us, it was an idiotic act to share this with our children,” noted the actor’s father.

Downey Jr. would subsequently struggle with drug addiction and serve a year in prison for possession of a controlled substance. From 1996 to 2001, Downey Jr. was repeatedly arrested on drug-related charges and attended drug treatment programs on multiple occasions.

In June 1996, Downey Jr. was stopped for speeding and drunk driving. They find heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and an unloaded Magnum revolver in his possession. The actor is waiting for the court’s decision. However, a month later, under the influence of illegal substances, he enters an unlocked neighbor’s house and falls asleep in the empty bed of the owners’ 11-year-old son. The family did not press trespassing charges.
After the incident, the judge sent Downey Jr. to a 24-hour rehabilitation program. But two days later, the actor, dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and hospital pants, escapes from rehab through a window and then hitchhikes to a friend’s house in Malibu. A few hours later he is detained and sent to prison for nine days.

The judge then orders Downey Jr. back into another rehabilitation program. The court sentences him to three years probation with mandatory periodic drug testing, and also orders him to undergo six months of rehabilitation.
In 1997, Downey Jr. skips one of his court-ordered drug tests and is sent to prison for six months.
In 1999, the actor was arrested again for another missed test. This time, Downey Jr. is sentenced to three years of real imprisonment and compulsory treatment.
After almost a year in prison, Downey was released early: the court counted the time spent in rehabilitation centers as part of his sentence, and a bail of $5 thousand was also paid .
Immediately after his release, in 2000, he joined the cast of the TV series Ally McBeal, which brought the actor his first Golden Globe.
However, a few months after his release, the actor was again detained on suspicion of possession of cocaine and Valium and being under the influence of drugs. His hotel room in Palm Springs was searched after an anonymous call. The trial has begun.
In April 2001, the actor was detained again: the police noticed him wandering alone barefoot in an alley and suspected that he was under the influence of drugs. Cocaine was found in the tests . The actor was placed in a rehabilitation center.
In the Palm Springs case, the court sentenced Downey Jr. to three years probation and one year in a rehabilitation program . The actor avoided jail time.
The arrests cost Downey Jr. his role in the rom-com America’s Sweethearts. In addition, the actor was fired from the TV series Ally McBeal, the script of which had to be rewritten due to his arrests.

Resuming a career after rehabilitation:

After five years of arrests, exonerations and relapses, Downey Jr. returned to his acting career. The first work after the break was filming Elton John’s I Want Love video in August 2001, in which the actor “sang” in the musician’s voice.

Downey Jr. was helped back to the big screen by his friend Mel Gibson. He invited Downey to the musical “The Singing Detective” (2003), in which he played himself and was one of the producers, and personally vouched for him to the insurance company by paying a deposit. Downey Jr.’s next work was the film “Gothika” with Halle Berry, which came out the same year. It was this picture that became a turning point for the actor. While working on it, he met Susan Levine, executive vice president of production at Silver Pictures (the owner of that company, Joel Silver, was the producer of Gothic). Levine also served as an executive producer on Downey Jr.’s next film, Kiss Bang Bang (2005).

During the filming of Gothic, Downey Jr. and Levine began an affair. Levin gave him an ultimatum: either he stops using drugs, or they won’t be able to be together. They married in 2005 and founded their production company, Team Downey, a few years later.

After Gothic, Downey received a number of major and minor roles. In particular, he starred in the films “How to Recognize Your Saints,” “Good Night and Good Luck,” “A Scanner Darkly,” as well as in the Disney family film “The Shaggy Daddy.”

In 2007, Downey played in David Fincher’s detective thriller Zodiac, based on real events. The actor played the role of San Francisco Chronicle reporter Paul Avery, who covered the case of the serial killer known as the Zodiac.

Despite the critical success of his work, by the mid-2000s Downey Jr. had never starred in a blockbuster film. But in 2008, the situation changed: the actor became part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“Iron Man” and worldwide fame:

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Downey Jr. embodied the image of the superhero Iron Man on the screen. In the story, the brilliant billionaire inventor Tony Stark is captured after being wounded. When terrorists force him to develop weapons of mass destruction, he creates a high-tech armor suit that he uses to escape. Stark would subsequently upgrade his armor with various devices and weapons and use it to protect people.

The first Iron Man (2008), in which Downey Jr. played the lead role, grossed over $585 million worldwide against a budget of $140 million. When the actor starred in this film, he was 43 years old.

Later, the actor starred in the second and third parts of the franchise, which were released in 2010 and 2013. He also appeared as Iron Man in other films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: in the films “The Avengers”, “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, “Captain America: Civil War”, “Spider-Man: Homecoming”, “Avengers: Infinity War” and “ Avengers: Endgame.”

All four parts of The Avengers are among the twenty highest-grossing films in history. The latest part, “Avengers: Endgame,” grossed more than any other – almost $2.8 trillion with a budget of $356 million.

During his collaboration with Marvel, Downey Jr. was repeatedly included in the ratings of the most paid Hollywood actors and the highest-grossing representatives of this profession. With each film, his salary grew. As Screen Rant writes, Downey Jr. was paid the least – $500 thousand – for the first part of Iron Man. According to the portal, he later received: for “Iron Man 2” – $10 million, “The Avengers” – $50 million (the amount included rental income), “Avengers: Age of Ultron” – $80 million. Even a salary for an episodic appearance in “ Spider-Man: Homecoming” amounted to an impressive $10 million. For “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame” he received $75 million each. For comparison: Chris Evans, who played the role of Captain America, earned $15 for “Avengers: Endgame” million and about the same amount was received by other “Avengers”, such as Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff, Black Widow).

In total, Downey Jr. earned over $360 million from Marvel films, writes Screen Rant. CBR estimates the amount to be $396–435 million. In 2008, after the release of Iron Man and Tropic Thunder, Time magazine named Downey Jr. one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2013, 2014 and 2015, the actor became the highest paid Hollywood actor according to Forbes – his annual income was estimated at $75–80 million.

Other projects besides Marvel:

In parallel with his work on the Marvel franchise, Downey starred in a number of other films, which became commercially successful and were well received by critics. In the same year (2008) as the first “Iron Man,” the military parody adventure comedy “Soldiers of Trouble” was released with the actor’s participation. In addition to Downey Jr., Ben Stiller and Jack Black played in it. Downey Jr. played the self-absorbed Australian multi-Oscar actor Kirk Lazarus, confident that there was no role he couldn’t handle. So, according to the plot, Lazarus underwent surgery to change his skin color for the role of African-American sergeant Lincoln Osiris in the film “Soldiers of Fortune.”

The film received good reviews: on Rotten Tomatoes it has an 82% “fresh” rating from critics and 71% from audiences. At the box office, the film grossed more than $188 million against a budget of $92 million. Downey was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor (the award was posthumously received by Heath Ledger in 2009 for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight). In April 2009, the film “The Soloist”, shot a year earlier, was also released.

The first role Downey Jr. accepted after becoming Iron Man was the role of Sherlock Holmes in the film adaptation directed by Guy Ritchie. The film broke several box office records in the United States. In total, it grossed $524 million worldwide against a budget of $90 million. For this work, Downey Jr. won the Golden Globe in the category “Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.” The next commercially successful film with Downey Jr.’s participation was the comedy “Back to End,” where he played opposite Zach Galifianakis. The film was released in 2010 and grossed $211.8 million against a budget of $65 million.

But during this period the actor starred not only in superheroes, comedy or adventure films. One of the works of that period was also the legal drama “The Judge” (2014). This was the first film produced by Downey Jr. and his wife’s company, Team Downey. The film raises the issue of fathers and sons. The second film from this company, “The Amazing Voyage of Doctor Dolittle” (a family adventure comedy), was released in 2020, after Downey Jr. left the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the comedy, Downey Jr. played a veterinarian who can talk to animals. The film paid off at the box office ($251.4 million in worldwide receipts against a cost of $175 million), but was poorly received by critics (15% “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes). In 2021, “Dolittle” received the “Golden Raspberry” anti-award in the category “Worst sequel, remake or plagiarism”.

“Oppenheimer” and winning an Oscar:

A new round of popularity came to Downey Jr. after his role in the film “Oppenheimer” directed by Christopher Nolan. The film tells about the fate of the “father of the atomic bomb” – American nuclear physicist Robert Oppenheimer. The main role in the film was played by Cillian Murphy, who had previously worked with Nolan. And Downey Jr. got a supporting role, but no less important – the head of the US Atomic Energy Commission Lewis Strauss. Critics praised Downey Jr.’s performance. For this role he received a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Downey Jr. also received an Oscar for his role as Strauss in Oppenheimer. In the category “Best Supporting Actor” he beat out Robert De Niro (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Mark Ruffalo (“The Lost and Lost”), Ryan Gosling (“Barbie”) and Sterling Brown (“American Fiction”).

In 2013, after 11 years of playing the same character, Iron Man, Downey Jr. admitted: “You start to wonder if your muscle has atrophied.” “Yes, 100%, and I knew that Christopher Nolan supported, like, ‘let’s work other muscles, but we’ll do it by depriving you of your usual techniques,’” he said already in 2023, after working on Oppenheimer.

Nolan, in turn, called Marvel’s decision to cast Downey Jr. as Tony Stark “one of the most important decisions ever made in the history of the movie business.” The director noted that he “always wanted to work” with Downey. “Whoever you work with <…>, you are looking for some kind of emotional connection, empathy. He [Downey Jr.] has incredible generosity of spirit. <…> I have always seen this in his works. And he has the same charisma as Tony Stark.” And while “a whole generation of kids knows what a great movie star Downey Jr. is, they haven’t seen the subtlety and brilliance of [his acting],” Nolan said.

According to the director, he wanted to give Downey Jr. “the opportunity to disappear into the role, to disappear into another person the way great actors love to do.” “When was the last time we saw this? “Chaplin”? Directors are well aware of how talented Downey is, but because of his incredible energy, which can break through the screen, it’s difficult to find something suitable for him,” Nolan said. Downey Jr.’s upcoming projects include the miniseries “The Sympathizer,” the third part of Sherlock Holmes, as well as the film Starry Weekend.

Personal life:

The actor is married for the second time and has three children.

In 1984, Downey Jr. began dating actress Sarah Jessica Parker, whom he met on the set of the film First Born. In 1991, they broke up due to Downey Jr.’s problems with drugs – Parker initiated the breakup. “I liked to drink, and I had problems with drugs, and this did not fit into the relationship with Sarah Jessica, because it was the most distant a thing from her,” Downey Jr. later said. He noted that at that time Parker tried to help him and was “very annoyed” when he still “could not pull himself together”.

In May 1992, the actor married model and actress Deborah Falconer – at that time they had been in a relationship for less than a month and a half. In September 1993, the couple had a son, Indio. In 1996, Downey Jr. and Falconer separated, but continued to be formally married. Falconer filed for divorce in 2001, during court hearings in a drug case. The couple officially divorced in 2004.

In 2003, on the set of Gothika, Downey met Susan Levine, executive vice president of production at Silver Pictures (its owner, Joel Silver, was the film’s producer). In August 2005, the couple got married. In 2012, they had a son, Exton Elias, and a daughter, Avry Roel, in 2014. The couple have their own production company, Team Downey.

Lifestyle and other projects:

In 2019, Downey Jr. announced the creation of the investment group Footprint Coalition. It was launched in April 2020. The mission of the project is the large-scale implementation of environmental restoration technologies. It invests in “high-growth companies that use technology to improve humanity’s impact on the planet.”

In particular, Footprint Coalition, together with actress Gwyneth Paltrow, venture fund Greycroft, billionaires Marc Benioff and Mark Cuban, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and others, invested $3 million in the Cloud Paper toilet paper brand in 2020. The company makes toilet paper from bamboo, and the packaging is made from recycled materials. The company’s goal is to preserve forests. According to her, 15% of deforestation is associated with the production of toilet paper.

That same year, Footprint Coalition became one of the investors in the French startup Ynsect, which grows insects – mealworm larvae. They are ground into powder, which is added to pet, livestock and fish food, as well as fertilizer. As stated on the company’s website, its product is richer in protein than beef, and carbon dioxide emissions during its production are 40 times less.

As for Downey Jr.’s diet, in January 2024 the actor announced that he is a pescatarian. With this type of diet, a person does not consume meat, with the exception of fish and seafood. “I tried to go full vegetarian and even vegan, but it just didn’t work out for me. Without some animal protein, I have low levels of vitamin B12, calcium, iodine and iron,” he explained.

Downey Jr. is the co-author of Cool Food: Erasing Your Carbon Footprint One Bite at a Time. It promotes a diet designed to reduce your carbon footprint. Its principles include consuming less processed meat and dairy products, reducing food waste through proper portion sizes, and others.

The actor practices yoga, as well as the Chinese martial art Wing Chun [33].

Filmography of Robert Downey Jr.

Downey Jr. has starred in more than 70 films. Among the most popular paintings and TV series with him:

“There’s a Chance” – Alex Finch (1989);
“Chaplin” – Charlie Chaplin (1992);
“Heart and Souls” – Thomas Reilly (1993);
Natural Born Killers – Wayne Gale (1994);
“Only You” – Peter Wright (1994);
“Richard III” – Earl Rivers, brother of Queen Elizabeth (1995);
“Ally McBeal” – Larry Paul (TV series, fourth season, 2000–2001);
“Gothic” – Pete Graham (2003);
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus – Lionel Sweeney (2006);
“Zodiac” – Paul Avery (2007);
“Iron Man” – Tony Stark / Iron Man (2008);
“Sherlock Holmes” – Sherlock Holmes (2009);
“Iron Man 2” – Tony Stark / Iron Man (2010);
“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” – Sherlock Holmes (2011);
“The Avengers” – Tony Stark / Iron Man (2012);
“Iron Man 3” – Tony Stark / Iron Man (2013);
“The Judge” – Hank Palmer (2014);
Captain America: Civil War – Tony Stark/Iron Man (2016);
“Avengers: Infinity War” – Tony Stark / Iron Man (2018);
“Avengers: Endgame” – Tony Stark / Iron Man (2019);
“Oppenheimer” – Lewis Strauss (2023).

Awards:

Downey Jr. is the winner of a number of prestigious film awards. Among them:

1993 – BAFTA Award (“Chaplin”);
1994 – Saturn Award in the category “Best Actor” (“Heart and Souls”);
2001 — Screen Actors Guild Award in the category “Best Actor in a Comedy Series” (“Ally McBeal”); 2001 — “Golden Globe” in the category “Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie” (“Ally McBeal”);
2006 – Sundance, special jury prize (for the film “How to Know Your Saints”);
2009, 2014, 2019 – Saturn Award for the role of Iron Man in the first and third parts of the franchise and The Avengers. The final”;
2010 — Golden Globe in the category “Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical” (“Sherlock Holmes”);
2024 – two Screen Actors Guild Awards: Best Supporting Actor and Best Cast (Oppenheimer);
2024 – BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor (“Oppenheimer”);
2024 – Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor (“Oppenheimer”).