Robert Downey Jr.

Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor.

His films as a leading actor have grossed over $14 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing actors of all time.

Robert John Downey Jr. was born on April 4, 1965, in Manhattan, New York City, the younger of two children.

His father, Robert Downey Sr., was a 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.

Downey moved often, mainly due to his father's film projects, living in places such as Woodstock, New York, London, New Mexico, California, Connecticut and Greenwich Village.

The family experienced both periods of near-poverty and wealth, depending on the success of the films.

As a child, Downey was "surrounded by drugs".

His father was a drug addict and his mother was an alcoholic.

His father allowed him to use drugs at a young age; he said that he gave Downey marijuana for the first time at age six, and that Downey also "might have had a little coke" as a child.

His father later said that he regretted it.

Downey stated that he and his father did drugs together for the first time when he was eight, and 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".

During his childhood, Downey had minor roles in his father's films.

At the age of five, Downey made his acting debut in his father Robert Downey Sr.'s film Pound in 1970.

He made his acting debut at the age of five, playing a sick puppy in the absurdist comedy film Pound (1970), and then at seven appeared in the surrealist Western film Greaser's Palace (1972).

He went to Stagedoor Manor, a summer acting camp in upstate New York, when he was eleven and twelve.

Downey's parents divorced in 1977, when he was twelve.

He went and lived with his mother, in a fifth-floor walk up in New York, as she "needed" him after the divorce, while his sister went to live with their father in California.

After a few years Downey went to live with his father and began attending Santa Monica High School, but dropped out in 1982.

At the age of 17 he moved back to New York to pursue an acting career full-time.

Downey worked a number of different jobs to support himself while going to auditions, including clearing tables at Central Falls restaurant, working in a shoe store, and performing as "living art" at the nightclub Area.

Meanwhile, Downey got a few parts in local theatre and off-Broadway productions.

He got his first film role in the 1983 film Baby It’s You, however his scenes ended up being cut.

Downey began building upon theater roles, making his debut on stage in 1983 at the Geva Theatre Center in Alms for the Middle Class, for a three-week run.

He also performed in the short-lived off-Broadway musical American Passion at the Joyce Theater in 1983, produced by Norman Lear.

In 1984, Downey got a part in the film Firstborn, where he met Sarah Jessica Parker, and the pair started dating.

He subsequently worked with the Brat Pack in the teen films Weird Science (1985) and Less than Zero (1987).

In 1985, he was part of the new, younger cast hired for Saturday Night Live.

In 1992, Downey portrayed Charlie Chaplin in the biopic Chaplin, for which he 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.

Downey's career has been characterized by some early success, a period of drug-related problems and run-ins with the law, and a surge in popular and commercial success in the 2000s.

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.

Downey starred in the 2003 film The Singing Detective; Mel Gibson paid Downey's insurance bond because completion bond companies would not insure him.

Downey went on to star in the black comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), the thriller Zodiac (2007), and the action comedy Tropic Thunder (2008).

In 2008, Downey was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Downey gained global recognition for starring as Iron Man in ten films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Iron Man (2008), and leading up to Avengers: Endgame (2019).

He has also played Sherlock Holmes in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes (2009), which earned him his second Golden Globe, and its sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011).

From 2013 to 2015, he was listed by Forbes as Hollywood's highest-paid actor.

Downey has also taken on dramatic parts in The Judge (2014) and Oppenheimer (2023), winning an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award for his portrayal of Lewis Strauss in the latter.