Biography - Robert Downey Jr.

Born April 4, 1965 in New York City, Robert Downey Jr. has had an illustrious if at times tumultuous career as an actor, singer, and comedian. Though intense media attention over his battles with drug addiction eclipsed his acting career in the late 90s, Downey has come back to prove that his considerable talents are what attracted audiences to the actor in the first place.

The son of independent filmmaker Robert Downey Sr., the young actor dropped out of high school when he was 17 to pursue acting in New York. He landed small parts in several films, including John Hughes’s “Weird Science”, before joining the cast of “Saturday Night Live” where he remained for one season. Downey then began his Hollywood career with James Toback’s 1987 romantic comedy “The Pick-Up Artist” and a meaty role as a young drug addict in the ill-fated 1988 adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s novel “Less than Zero”.

Continuing to work in major Hollywood productions, Downey found little mainstream success until 1990’s “Air America” (with Mel Gibson) and the all-star 1991 comedy “Soapdish”. Sir Richard Attenborough’s biopic of Charlie Chaplin in 1992 brought Downey major critical acclaim as well as an Oscar nomination for his detailed and precise performance in the title role. Though “Chaplin” was a commercial failure, it brought Downey considerable attention and he began working regularly in films such as “Home for the Holidays”, “Only You”, “Restoration”, and “Natural Born Killers”. Downey’s drug troubles began in 1996, but after a period of little work he starred in “Two Girls and a Guy”, a racy relationship drama directed by his good friend and frequent collaborator James Toback.

The following years were difficult for the star as he juggled his career with an increasingly troubled personal life. During this time, however, Downey gave impressive performances in Curtis Hanson’s “Wonder Boys”, Toback’s “Black and White”, and played a guest lead on the hit series “Ally McBeal”, which earned him a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy nomination.

Since 2003, when the actor starred with Halle Berry in the hit thriller “Gothika”, Downey has emerged from personal tumult and impressed the world with a string of excellent performances (including George Clooney’s “Good Night, and Good Luck.”), an album, and an awe-inspiring slate of upcoming films. These include Richard Linklater’s “A Scanner Darkly”, the Nicole Kidman vehicle “Fur”, and a rumored Sylvester Stallone-directed biopic of Edgar Allan Poe. At only 40 years old, Downey has already had a long and impressive career, and he’s promising a lot more to come.