Robert Downey Jr.

Robert John Downey Jr. (New York, April 4, 1965) is an American actor, voice actor, producer and singer. He began his acting career at an early age, appearing in several films directed by his father, Robert Downey Sr., and in his childhood he studied acting at various New York academies. He moved with his father to California, but dropped out to focus entirely on his career.

After numerous failed projects, Downey gained relevance in the cinema starring in the film Chaplin (1992), a performance with which he won a BAFTA and was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. However, he was involved in a series of legal problems for drug possession that led to his arrest numerous times and in turn the production companies refused to hire him for new roles. Thanks to the support of Mel Gibson, Downey was able to return to acting and in 2001 gained recognition on television with his role in the series Ally McBeal, with which he won a Golden Globe. In 2004 he debuted as singer with the release of his debut album The Futurist. In 2008, he received critical acclaim for his role in Tropic Thunder (2008), a performance for which he would again be nominated for an Oscar. He was also praised for his role in Sherlock Holmes (2009), for which he won a second Golden Globe and made a sequel titled Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011).

Likewise, Downey reached a peak in his career by playing the character Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starring in the films Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), which became huge hits at the box office, being one of the most successful films in history. Thanks to said role, he has been one of the highest-paid actors in the film industry, with Forbes magazine estimating earnings of more than $250 million just from his participation in Marvel movies..

In sum, all of his films have grossed a box office of $14.4 billion, making him the second highest-grossing actor in history, only surpassed by Samuel L. Jackson. On the other hand, Downey has three children and since 2005 he has been married to the producer Susan Levin.

Biography

1965-1991: early years and beginnings in acting

Robert John Downey Jr. was born on April 4, 1965 in Manhattan, New York City (United States), the son of Robert Downey Sr. and Elsie Ann, both actors. He has an older sister named Allyson, and is of Lithuanian, Hungarian, and Irish ancestry through his father, as well as German, Swiss, and Scottish ancestry through his mother. His original family name was Elias, but his father changed it to Downey so he could join the United States Army. United States. He spent most of his childhood in Greenwich Village, a town in Manhattan. Downey assures that since he was little, he was always surrounded by drugs, because his father was an addict. His father made him try marijuana when he was only 6 years old, and according to what he commented, the substances were always a way in which he both could connect, since they spent the nights consuming alcohol and taking different drugs.

Downey at the premiere Air America in 1990.

His father also introduced him to the world of cinema from the age of 5, making him appear in several films and shorts directed by him such as Pound (1970), Greaser's Palace (1972) and Moment to Moment (1975). At the age of 10, his parents sent him to England to study classical ballet in order to improve his presence and body image. Upon returning to the United States, he studied as a teenager at the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center, a performing arts center In 1978, his parents divorced and Downey moved with his father to the state of California, where he studied at Santa Monica High School until 1982, when he decided to drop out to focus entirely on his acting career. After that, he acted in films such as Baby It's You (1983), Firstborn (1984) and Weird Science (1985). In 1985, he joined the new cast of Saturday Night Live, intended by the producers with the idea of attracting a younger audience and freshening up the show. However, the series experienced its worst ratings and was heavily criticized by the press. Rolling Stone magazine named Downey the "worst actor in the history of Saturday Night Live". As a result, he was fired after appearing in 16 episodes.That year he also played Italian military man Bruno Mussolini in the documentary series Mussolini: The Untold Story.

After his firing from Saturday Night Live, Downey continued to appear in films such as Back to School (1986) and The Pick-up Artist (1987), the latter being his first leading role. The press praised his performance for the first time with the film Less Than Zero (1987), and after that, he began to appear in films from larger studios. such as Heaven Was Wrong (1989), Air America (1990) and Soapdish (1991).

1992-2002: Critical acclaim and legal troubles

In 1992, Downey played the character of Charlie Chaplin in the film Chaplin (1992), a role for which he had to learn to play the violin and play tennis. His performance received acclaim for part of the critics and was nominated for the Oscars for the first time in the Best Actor category. He was also nominated for the Golden Globes and won at the BAFTA Awards. Short Cuts (1993) and appeared in other films such as Natural Born Killers (1994), Only You (1994), Ricardo III (1995) and Home for the Holidays (1995).

Photo of Downey harbour in 1999.

In 1996, Downey began having a series of legal problems and addictions. In April of that year, he was arrested in Los Angeles for possession of cocaine, heroin, and a.357 Magnum weapon. A month later, while on probation, he was again arrested for breaking into the house of one of his neighbors while under the influence of narcotics. He was given three years' probation and regular drug tests. In 1997, he refused to take one of the tests and spent six months in a Los Angeles prison. During this time, they released some films he had already recorded, including among these One Night Stand (1997), Two Girls and a Guy (1997) and U.S. Marshals (1998). After his release, Downey was arrested again in 1999 for refusing another drug test. On this occasion, he was sentenced to three years in prison. During this period, they released other of his films that had already culminated in his time in freedom, among these In Dreams (1999) and Bowfinger (1999). However, Downey was fired from several productions for not showing up, and several studios spent large sums on insurance.

After spending a year incarcerated, Downey was paroled on $5,000 bail and released in 2000. Just a week after his release, he joined the cast of the television series Ally McBeal and his performance received praise from the press. For it, Downey won a Golden Globe in the category of Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or TV Movie and also won for Best Actor in a Comedy Television at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. He also received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Despite his success on the series, Downey mentioned that this has been one of his worst roles, and he was at a point in his career. where he no longer cared about acting because he was so immersed in his drug addiction. Downey was arrested on Thanksgiving Day 2000 while staying at a hotel in Palm Springs, after police found cocaine and diazepam in his room.

The actor spent three months in prison before being released in March 2001 on bail. Just a few weeks later, in April, he was arrested again after walking around Culver City barefoot under the influence of cocaine. However, he was released hours later. Following this, the producers of Ally McBeal fired the actor and reshot the episodes of the series involving him. In addition, Downey lost his role in the highly anticipated romantic comedy The Couple year (2001), which would later have a wide commercial success. In July 2001, Downey appealed nolo contendere during his trial and avoided prison time; instead, he was sent to a rehab center and three years on probation, in part supported by a new law passed in the state of California that gave defendants an advantage in seeking rehab instead of prison.

2003-2009: return to critical and box office success

Downey at Comic-Con in July 2007.

Willing to resume his acting career, Downey had complications after getting out of rehab because no production company wanted to risk scrapping projects and therefore paying insurance. Seeing this situation, actor Mel Gibson, a close friend of Downey's, paid the studio's insurance so that he could star in the film The Singing Detective (2003), despite Downey's own legal problems. had caused Gibson to lose millions on a botched 2001 production of the musical Hamlet. Despite the critical and commercial failure of The Singing Detective, Downey was nominated for awards Satellite and Gibson agreed to repay the actor's insurance for the film Gothika (2003), which became a box office success. After this, producer Joel Silver agreed to rehire the actor. actor, this time for the movie Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2003), which had a good response from the press, who began to show interest in Downey, even receiving a nomination for the Satellite Awards. He also developed secondary roles in films such as Good night, and good luck te (2005), The Shaggy Dog (2006) and A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006). Downey broke into the music industry by releasing an album titled The Futurist in 2004, although it was not very successful.

In 2007, Downey was selected to play the character of Tony Stark / Iron Man and with it he starred in Iron Man (2008). The film received critical acclaim, with Downey's performance being considered one of the best of his career. In addition, it was a smash box office success, grossing $585 million, making it the eighth highest-grossing film of 2008. and in the highest grossing of the actor's career up to that moment. After said success, Downey had a brief appearance in The Incredible Hulk (2008) and signed a contract with Marvel Studios to continue playing the character for three more projects, which spawned the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Shortly after his success in Iron Man, Downey appeared in the film Tropic Thunder (2008) and received critical acclaim for his performance, earning him his second Oscar nomination, this time in the category of Best Supporting Actor. The film was also a box office success with a collection of $195 million. In 2009, Downey starred in the film Sherlock Holmes (2009) with the role of the homonymous character. His performance received praise from the press and with it he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical. Likewise, the film was a success at the box office with a collection of $524 million, which made it the eighth most popular film in the world. hit of 2009.

2010-2019: Marvel Cinematic Universe and industry consolidation

Downey at the premiere Iron Man 3 in Paris.

In 2010, Downey starred in Iron Man 2 (2010), which earned critical acclaim and grossed $624 million, becoming the seventh highest-grossing film of the year. He also starred in Due Date (2010), which was also a box office success grossing $211 million. The following year, he starred in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), which did well critical response and grossing $545 million. Shortly after he would play Iron Man for the fourth time in The Avengers (2012), a film that received critical acclaim and also became the highest grossing 2012, with grosses of $1.5 billion.

After the success of The Avengers, Downey closed his character's trilogy with Iron Man 3 (2013), which received good reviews from critics and became a hit. a success after grossing $1.2 billion, being the second highest grossing film of 2013. In 2014, he appeared in Chef (2014), which was a commercial and critical success, as well as The Judge (2014), which had mixed reviews but grossed well. The following year, he reprized Iron Man in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), which did well. received by critics and was also a great success at the box office, grossing $1.4 billion, which made it the fourth most successful film of 2015. Later, he would appear in Captain America: Civil War (2016), which was critically acclaimed and grossed $1.1 billion, making it the highest-grossing film of 2016. He had a supporting role in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), which was equally critically acclaimed and was another box office success after grossing $880 million, being the sixth highest-grossing film of 2017.

For the ninth time, Downey played Iron Man in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), which continued his run of critical and box office success, after grossing $2 billion, making it a the highest-grossing film of 2018 and the first superhero film to exceed the $2 billion mark. The following year, he stars in Avengers: Endgame (2019), which became his highest grossing film. acclaimed, as well as the highest-grossing film of 2019 and the second highest-grossing film of all time with a gross of $2.7 billion. His last performance as Iron Man earned him his fourth best actor award at the Saturn Awards.

2020-present: future projects

In 2020, Downey starred in Dolittle (2020), his first project outside of Marvel in six years. The film, however, met with harsh criticism and was a box office flop, costing Universal Studios up to $100 million in losses. In addition, it was the most Razzie-nominated film of 2021, with two nominations for Downey for Worst. actor and worst couple for his "lame Welsh accent".

Personal life

Downey and Susan Levin at the Oscar Awards in March 2010.

Downey began dating actress Sarah Jessica Parker in 1984 after the two met on the set of the film Firstborn (1984). They ended their relationship in 1991 due to Downey's drug addiction. Shortly thereafter, he began dating actress Deborah Falconer, whom he married on May 29, 1992. The couple had their first child in September 1993., a male they named Indio Falconer Downey. The relationship between the two began to get complicated due to Downey's constant arrests for drug possession, until Falconer finally filed for divorce and full custody of her son; Both things were granted and the divorce was made official in April 2004. After that, Downey began dating producer Susan Levin, whom he met in 2003 during the filming of Gothika (2003). The two married in August 2005. In February 2012, they had their first child together, a son named Exton Elias. Later, in November 2014, they had their first daughter, Avri Roel. According to Downey, he has he has been sober since 2003. In 2015, he received a full pardon from Jerry Brown, the then-governor of California, for his drug history.

On the other hand, Downey has been one of the highest paid actors in the industry since his inclusion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For his role in Iron Man (2008), he earned a salary of $4 million, the most earned by any actor in the year for a single film. In 2010, he was the fifth highest-paid actor with a salary of $22 million and ranked 73rd on the Celebrity 100 list. In 2013, he became the top-earning actor of the year for the first time, with a salary of $75 million. In 2014, he again led the list of the highest-paid actors, with earnings of $75 million. In 2015, he was named for the third consecutive year as the highest-paid actor, with $80 million. In 2016, he was the eighth highest-paid actor, with $33 million. In 2017, he ranked as the sixth highest paid, with $48 million. In both 2018 and 2019, he was the third highest paid, with a salary of $81 million and $66 million, respectively.

Filmography

Discography

Study album

• The Futurist (2004)

Apparitions in soundtracks

Awards and nominations

Oscars

BAFTAs

Golden Globe Awards

Screen Actors Guild Awards

Satellite Award

Saturn Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards

People's Choice Awards

Teen Choice Awards

Golden Raspberry Awards