Robert Downey, Jr.

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Robert Downey, Jr.

American actor

Also known as: Robert John Downey, Jr.

Written by John M. Cunningham

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Oct 29, 2024 • Article History

Quick Facts

In full:: Robert John Downey, Jr.

Born:: April 4, 1965, New York, New York, U.S. (age 59)

Also Known As:: Robert John Downey, Jr.

Awards And Honors:: Academy Award (2024); Golden Globe Award (2024); Golden Globe Award (2001); Golden Globe Award (2010): Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy; Golden Globe Award (2001): Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television

Married To:: Susan Downey (2005–present); Deborah Falconer (1992–2004)

Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In):: "Dolittle" (2020); "Avengers: Endgame" (2019); "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018); "Spider-Man: Homecoming" (2017); "Captain America: Civil War" (2016); "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015); "The Judge" (2014); "Chef" (2014); "Iron Man 3" (2013); "The Avengers" (2012); "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" (2011); "Due Date" (2010); "Iron Man 2" (2010); "Sherlock Holmes" (2009); "The Soloist" (2009); "Tropic Thunder" (2008); "Iron Man" (2008); "Charlie Bartlett" (2007); "Lucky You" (2007); "Zodiac" (2007); "Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus" (2006); "A Scanner Darkly" (2006); "The Shaggy Dog" (2006); "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" (2006); "Family Guy" (2005); "Good Night, and Good Luck." (2005); "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" (2005); "Game 6" (2005); "Eros" (2004); "Gothika" (2003); "The Singing Detective" (2003); "Ally McBeal" (2000–2002); "Wonder Boys" (2000); "Black and White" (1999); "Bowfinger" (1999); "Friends & Lovers" (1999); "In Dreams" (1999); "U.S. Marshals" (1998); "The Gingerbread Man" (1998); "Hugo Pool" (1997); "Two Girls and a Guy" (1997); "One Night Stand" (1997); "Danger Zone" (1996); "Restoration" (1995); "Home for the Holidays" (1995); "Richard III" (1995); "Only You" (1994); "Natural Born Killers" (1994); "Hail Caesar" (1994); "Short Cuts" (1993); "Heart and Souls" (1993); "Chaplin" (1992); "Soapdish" (1991); "Too Much Sun" (1990); "Air America" (1990); "Chances Are" (1989); "True Believer" (1989); "That's Adequate" (1989); "1969" (1988); "Rented Lips" (1988); "Johnny Be Good" (1988); "Less Than Zero" (1987); "The Pick-up Artist" (1987); "America" (1986); "Back to School" (1986); "Saturday Night Live" (1985–1986); "Mussolini: The Untold Story" (1985); "Weird Science" (1985); "Tuff Turf" (1985); "Firstborn" (1984); "Baby It's You" (1983); "Pound" (1970)

News •

Robert Downey Jr. says he 'intends to sue' all future executives who use his AI replica • Oct. 29, 2024, 7:18 PM ET (AP)

Robert Downey, Jr. (born April 4, 1965, New York, New York, U.S.) is one of Hollywood’s most gifted and versatile actors. He earned acclaim for such early films as Chaplin (1992) and later found considerable fame as the superhero Iron Man in the Marvel film franchise. In 2024 Downey won the Academy Award for best supporting actor for his performance in Oppenheimer (2023).

Early life and first films

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. Supporting roles in several movies, including the cult hit Weird Science (1985), led to a stint (1985–86) on the television comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live.

With his boyish looks and raffish charm, Downey then scored the lead in the romantic comedy The Pick-up Artist (1987) and broke out further with his visceral performance as a cocaine addict in Less Than Zero (1987).

USA 2006 - 78th Annual Academy Awards. Closeup of giant Oscar statue at the entrance of the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, film movie hollywood

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Chaplin, drug addiction, and comeback

Steady work followed, but much of it went unnoticed until Downey’s appearance in 1992 as the title character in Richard Attenborough’s Chaplin biopic, which earned him numerous plaudits and an Academy Award nomination for best actor. By this time, however, Downey had developed a substance-abuse problem, and, despite impressive turns in films ranging from the violent media satire Natural Born Killers (1994) to the costume drama Restoration (1995), his frequent skirmishes with the law and his public struggle with drug addiction often overshadowed his on-screen successes. He reached a low point in 1999, when he was sentenced to three years in prison for having violated parole from an earlier arrest.

In 2000, after being granted an early release, Downey was cast in a recurring role on the television series Ally McBeal, and he won a Golden Globe Award for his work on the show. His drug problems continued, however, and he was arrested several times. In 2003 Downey seemed to turn his life and career around, and he thrust himself into his work, appearing in 13 feature films over the next five years, including The Singing Detective (2003), Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and Zodiac (2007).

Iron Man series and Oppenheimer

*Tropic Thunder*(From left) Jack Black, Robert Downey, Jr., and Ben Stiller in *Tropic Thunder* (2008).

In 2008 Downey won acclaim for his roles in two summer blockbusters. In Iron Man he portrayed Tony Stark, a billionaire inventor with a superhero alter ego, and in the satiric comedy Tropic Thunder he starred as a self-important movie star who dons blackface to land the role of an African American soldier in the Vietnam War. For the latter role Downey received an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor. He next appeared in The Soloist (2009), portraying a journalist who befriends a homeless man (played by Jamie Foxx) who was a classically trained cellist. Downey then assumed the title role in Sherlock Holmes (2009), a film featuring a visceral reimagining of the central character from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective series, and won a Golden Globe Award for his performance; a sequel followed in 2011.

*The Avengers*(From left) Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Robert Downey, Jr., as Iron Man, and Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk in *The Avengers* (2012), directed by Joss Whedon.

Having emerged, somewhat surprisingly, as one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, Downey was cast as an anxious father-to-be in the road-trip comedy Due Date (2010). He took a supporting role in Iron Man director Jon Favreau’s pet project, Chef (2014), before playing a lawyer defending his father (Robert Duvall), who is accused of vehicular homicide, in The Judge (2014). He reprised the role of Tony Stark in the Iron Man sequels (2010 and 2013), The Avengers (2012) and its sequels (2015, 2018, and 2019), Captain America: Civil War (2016), and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). In 2020 he starred in the family comedy Dolittle, which was based on the character created by Hugh Lofting.

Downey took a three-year hiatus from acting in films before appearing in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (2023), a historical epic about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the development of the atomic bomb. For his performance as Oppenheimer’s antagonist Lewis Strauss, Downey won an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award for best supporting actor.

John M. Cunningham The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica