Robert Downey Jr Height Weight Age Biography Family Wiki Net Worth, Affairs, Marriage & much more. Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor and producer. His career has been characterized by critical and popular success in his youth, followed by a period of substance abuse and legal troubles, before a resurgence of commercial success later in his career. In 2008, Downey was named by Time magazine among the 100 most influential people in the world, and from 2013 to 2015, he was listed by Forbes as Hollywood’s highest-paid actor.
At the age of 5, he made his acting debut in his father’s film Pound in 1970. He subsequently worked with the Brat Pack in the teen films Weird Science (1985) and Less Than Zero (1987). In 1992, Downey portrayed the title character in the biopic Chaplin, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won a BAFTA Award. Following a stint at the Corcoran Substance Abuse Treatment Facility on drug charges, he joined the TV series Ally McBeal, for which he won a Golden Globe Award. He was fired from the show in the wake of drug charges in 2000 and 2001. He stayed in a court-ordered drug treatment program and has maintained his sobriety since 2003.
Initially, bond completion companies would not insure Downey, until Mel Gibson paid the insurance bond for the 2003 film The Singing Detective. He went on to star in the black comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), the thriller Zodiac (2007), and the action comedy Tropic Thunder (2008); for the latter he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Downey gained global recognition for starring as Tony Stark / Iron Man in ten films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Iron Man (2008). He has also played the title character in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes (2009), which earned him his second Golden Globe, and its sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011).
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.
As a child, Downey was “surrounded by drugs.” His father, a drug addict, allowed Downey to use marijuana at age six, an incident which his father later said he regretted. Downey later stated that drug use became an emotional bond between him and his father: “When my dad and I would do drugs together, it was like him trying to express his love for me in the only way he knew how.” Eventually, Downey began spending every night abusing alcohol and “making a thousand phone calls in pursuit of drugs”.
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.
Personal life
Downey started dating actress Sarah Jessica Parker in 1984 after meeting her on the set of Firstborn. The couple later separated in 1991 due to his drug addiction.
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 Jr Height Weight Age Body Statistics Biography
Political views
In a 2008 interview, Downey stated that his time in prison changed his political point of view somewhat, saying: “I have a really interesting political point of view, and it’s not always something I say too loud at dinner tables here, but you can’t go from a $2,000-a-night suite at La Mirage to a penitentiary and really understand it and come out a liberal. You can’t. I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone else, but it was very, very, very educational for me and has informed my proclivities and politics ever since.” However, when asked about the quote in a 2015 interview to promote Avengers: Age of Ultron, he denied that his previous statement reflected any longstanding beliefs on his part, and stated: “I wouldn’t say that I’m a Republican or a liberal or a Democrat.”
Downey serves on the board of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition.
In January 2020, during the promotions of his film Dolittle, Downey announced that he had made the decision to adopt a vegan diet, in response to the debate about the climate crisis, stating that “I’m a one-man carbon footprint nightmare colossus” and believes he can do his part to contribute. Downey previously announced his opening of The Footprint Coalition, an organization he launched to reduce carbon footprints around the world using advanced technology. The Footprint Coalition promotes technologies that protect the environment such as French insect-farming startup Ynsect, the bio-based alternative to plastic manufacturer RWDC, and bamboo toilet paper manufacturer Cloud Paper.
Music
Downey has sung on several soundtracks for his films, including for Chaplin, Too Much Sun, Two Girls and a Guy, Friends and Lovers, The Singing Detective, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. In 2001, he appeared in the music video for Elton John’s song, “I Want Love”. He released a CD in 2004 called The Futurist, and while promoting his film Tropic Thunder, he and his co-stars Ben Stiller and Jack Black were back-up singers “The Pips” to Gladys Knight singing “Midnight Train to Georgia”.
Downey’s most commercially successful recording venture to date (combining sales and radio airplay) has been his remake of the 1973 Joni Mitchell Christmas song “River”, which was included on the Ally McBeal tie-in album Ally McBeal: A Very Ally Christmas, released in 2000; Downey’s character Larry Paul performs the song in the Ally McBeal episode “Tis the Season”.
Production company
On June 14, 2010, Downey and his wife Susan opened their own production company called Team Downey. Their first project was The Judge.
Discography
Studio album
- The Futurist (2004)
Soundtrack appearances
| Year | Song | Soundtrack |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | “Smile” | Chaplin OST |
| 1993 | “The Star-Spangled Banner” | Heart and Souls OST |
| 2000 | “White Christmas” | Ally McBeal: A Very Ally Christmas |
| 2000 | “River” | Ally McBeal: A Very Ally Christmas |
| 2001 | “Every Breath You Take” | Ally McBeal: For Once in My Life featuring Vonda Shepard |
| 2001 | “Chances Are” | Ally McBeal: For Once in My Life featuring Vonda Shepard |
| 2001 | “Snakes” | Ally McBeal: For Once in My Life featuring Vonda Shepard |
| 2003 | “In My Dreams” | The Singing Detective OST |
| 2005 | “Broken” | Kiss Kiss Bang Bang OST |
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Pound | Puppy |
| 1972 | Greaser’s Palace | Small Boy in Covered Wagon |
| 1975 | Two Tons of Turquoise to Taos Tonight | Himself |
| 1980 | Up the Academy | Boy on Soccer Team |
| 1983 | Baby It’s You | Stewart |
| 1984 | Firstborn | Lee |
| 1985 | Tuff Turf | Jimmy Parker |
| Girls Just Want to Have Fun | Punk Party Crasher | Uncredited |
| Weird Science | Ian | |
| Deadwait | Short | |
| 1986 | Back to School | Derek Lutz |
| 1987 | The Pick-up Artist | Jack Jericho |
| Less Than Zero | Julian Wells | |
| 1988 | Johnny Be Good | Leo Wiggins |
| Rented Lips | Wolf Dangler | |
| 1969 | Ralph Karr | |
| That’s Adequate | Albert Einstein | |
| 1989 | True Believer | Roger Baron |
| Chances Are | Alex Finch / Louie Jefferies | |
| 1990 | Air America | Billy Covington |
| 1991 | Too Much Sun | Reed Richmond |
| Soapdish | David Seton Barnes | |
| 1992 | Chaplin | Charlie Chaplin |
| 1993 | Heart and Souls | Thomas Reilly |
| The Last Party | Himself | Documentary; also writer |
| Short Cuts | Bill Bush | |
| 1994 | Hail Caesar | Jerry |
| Natural Born Killers | Wayne Gale | |
| Only You | Peter Wright | |
| 1995 | Richard III | Earl Rivers |
| Home for the Holidays | Tommy Larson | |
| Restoration | Robert Merivel | |
| 1996 | Danger Zone | Jim Scott |
| 1997 | One Night Stand | Charlie |
| Two Girls and a Guy | Blake Allen | |
| Hugo Pool | Ahmad Rojikin | |
| 1998 | The Gingerbread Man | Clyde Pell |
| U.S. Marshals | Special Agent John Royce | |
| 1999 | In Dreams | Vivian Thompson |
| Friends & Lovers | Hans | |
| Bowfinger | Jerry Renfro | |
| Black and White | Terry Donager | |
| 2000 | Wonder Boys | Terry Crabtree |
| 2002 | Lethargy | Animal therapist |
| 2003 | Whatever We Do | Bobby |
| The Singing Detective | Dan Dark | |
| Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin | Himself | Documentary |
| Gothika | Pete Graham | |
| 2004 | Eros | Nick Penrose |
| 2005 | Game 6 | Steven Schwimmer |
| Kiss Kiss Bang Bang | Harry Lockhart | |
| The Outsider | Himself | Documentary |
| Good Night, and Good Luck | Joseph Wershba | |
| Hubert Selby Jr.: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow | Narrator | Documentary |
| 2006 | A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints | Dito Montiel |
| The Shaggy Dog | Dr. Kozak | |
| A Scanner Darkly | James Barris | |
| Fur | Lionel Sweeney | |
| 2007 | Zodiac | Paul Avery |
| Lucky You | Telephone Jack | Cameo |
| Charlie Bartlett | Principal Nathan Gardner | |
| 2008 | Iron Man | Tony Stark / Iron Man |
| The Incredible Hulk | Tony Stark / Iron Man | Uncredited cameo |
| Tropic Thunder | Kirk Lazarus | |
| 2009 | The Soloist | Steve Lopez |
| Sherlock Holmes | Sherlock Holmes | |
| 2010 | Iron Man 2 | Tony Stark / Iron Man |
| Love & Distrust | Rob | Segment: “Auto Motives” |
| Due Date | Peter Highman | |
| 2011 | Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows | Sherlock Holmes |
| 2012 | The Avengers | Tony Stark / Iron Man |
| 2013 | Iron Man 3 | Tony Stark / Iron Man |
| 2014 | The Judge | Hank Palmer |
| Chef | Marvin | Cameo |
| 2015 | Avengers: Age of Ultron | Tony Stark / Iron Man |
| 2016 | The Nice Guys | Sid Shattuck |
| Captain America: Civil War | Tony Stark / Iron Man | |
| 2017 | Spider-Man: Homecoming | Tony Stark / Iron Man |
| 2018 | Avengers: Infinity War | Tony Stark / Iron Man |
| 2019 | Avengers: Endgame | Tony Stark / Iron Man |
| 2020 | Dolittle | Dr. John Dolittle |
| 2023 | Oppenheimer | Lewis Strauss |
| TBA | All-Star Weekend | Mexican Stranger |