Robert Downey Jr. Biography

(1965–)

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  • Films
  • 1970 Pound
  • 1972 Greaser's Palace
  • 1975 Moment to Moment
  • 1980 Up the Academy
  • 1983 Baby It's You
  • 1984 Firstborn
  • 1985 Deadwait
  • 1985 Tuff Turf
  • 1985 Weird Science
  • 1986 Back to School
  • 1986 America
  • 1987 The Pick-up Artist
  • 1987 Less Than Zero
  • 1988 Johnny Be Good
  • 1988 Rented Lips
  • 1969 Ralph Carr
  • 1989 That's Adequate
  • 1989 True Believer
  • 1989 Chances Are
  • 1990 Air America
  • 1991 Too Much Sun
  • 1991 Soapdish
  • 1992 Chaplin
  • 1993 Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country
  • 1993 Heart and Souls
  • 1993 The Last Party
  • 1993 Short Cuts
  • 1993 Volpi Cup
  • 1994 Hail Caesar
  • 1994 A Century of Cinema
  • 1994 Natural Born Killers
  • 1994 Only You
  • 1995 Richard III
  • 1995 Home for the Holidays
  • 1995 Restoration
  • 1997 Danger Zone
  • 1997 One Night Stand
  • 1997 Two Girls and a Guy
  • 1997 Hugo Pool
  • 1998 The Gingerbread Man
  • 1998 U.S. Marshals
  • 1999 In Dreams
  • 1999 Friends & Lovers
  • 1999 Bowfinger
  • 1999 Black and White
  • 2000 Wonder Boys
  • 2000 Auto Motives
  • 2002 Lethargy
  • 2003 Whatever We Do
  • 2003 The Singing Detective
  • 2003 Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin
  • 2003 Gothika
  • 2004 Eros
  • 2005 Game 6
  • 2005 The Outsider
  • 2005 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
  • 2005 Good Night, and Good Luck
  • 2005 Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow
  • 2006 The Shaggy Dog
  • 2006 A Scanner Darkly
  • 2006 A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
  • 2006 Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus
  • 2007 Zodiac
  • 2007 Lucky You
  • 2008 Charlie Bartlett
  • 2008 Iron Man
  • 2008 The Incredible Hulk
  • 2008 Tropic Thunder
  • 2009 The Soloist
  • 2009 Sherlock Holmes
  • 2010 Iron Man 2
» More

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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