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In the wake of his critical success with Chaplin, Downey anchored a documentary about the 1992 presidential election, called The Last Party. He appeared in the romantic comedy Only You in 1994, and Oliver Stone's acclaimed but controversial Natural Born Killers (1994). In 1995, he starred in the period film Restoration alongside Meg Ryan and Sam Neill; an updated film version of Richard III (1995), co-starring Ian McKellen and Annette Bening; and the Jodie Foster-directed Home for the Holidays, co-starring Holly Hunter.
Downey's personal life had expanded, too. In May 1992, he married actress Deborah Falconer. Two years later, the couple had a son, Indio, naming friend and actor, Anthony Michael Hall, as the boy's godfather.
If Downey was ever really grounded by his new status as husband and father, it was short-lived. In June 1996 the actor was stopped by police, driving naked in his Porsche on Sunset Boulevard, and found not only to be without clothes, but in possession of cocaine, heroine, 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 of 2000, Downey was again arrested, this time in a Palm Springs hotel room, where he was discovered with cocaine and a Wonder Woman costume. He was charged with felony drug possession.
Downey's trial, originally set for late January, was delayed for several months while his lawyers negotiated with prosecutors. In March of 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 24th, Downey was arrested for allegedly being under the influence of an undisclosed "stimulant." At home, Downey's personal life was in turmoil, too, as Falconer sued him for divorce in 2004.
Yet Downey continued working despite his personal turmoil. There was a memorable performance in Wonder Boys (2000), as well as roles in several other films (Auto Motives and Lethargy, among others). The same year Wonder Boys was released, Downey made the move to the small screen as a regular cast member of Ally McBeal. There, he once again reminded fans and critics of his talent, likeability and versatility, and Downey picked up a Golden Globe in 2001 (he later won a Screen Actor's Guild award as well).
But Downey's increasingly complicated personal life pressed his employer's patience. After that second arrest in April 2001, Downey was reportedly fired from Ally McBeal as producers decided to wrap production on the final episodes of the season without the actor. Lawyers reached an agreement with prosecutors that required Downey to plead no contest to cocaine-related charges. He was sentenced to three years' probation; the ruling allowed him to continue live-in drug treatment instead of returning to prison.
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