The son of an underground filmmaker, Robert Downey Jr. was born April 4, 1965, in New York City. His first big-screen part was as a puppy in his father's film Pound (1970).After a series of memorable supporting roles -- including one in Weird Science (1985) -- Downey joined the "Saturday Night Live" cast for one season. He soon moved to Hollywood and landed the lead in The Pick-Up Artist (1987). His turn as a drug addict that same year in Less Than Zero eerily foreshadowed the personal demons that would haunt him later.
Downey moves with ease from comedy (Soapdish) to drama (Short Cuts) to the bizarre (Natural Born Killers). He earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his note-perfect portrayal of the title character in 1992's Chaplin and a second Oscar nod 16 years later for Tropic Thunder. 2009 brought him a Golden Globe win as Best Actor for his performance in Sherlock Holmes.
AddThe SoloistThis true-life drama tells the poignant tale of Los Angeles newspaper reporter Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.), who discovers brilliant street musician Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), and the unique friendship that transforms both their lives. In helping his new friend deal with his demons, Steve ends... Read More
AddA Guide to Recognizing Your SaintsRobert Downey Jr. stars in director Dito Montiel's autobiographical coming-of-age drama set in blue-collar Queens, N.Y. While his young friends all seem to end up as junkies, inmates or corpses, Dito (Downey) miraculously escapes the same fate. He attributes that to divine intervention from a group... Read More
AddChaplin: The MovieThrough flashbacks and other nonlinear devices, director Richard Attenborough recounts comic icon Charlie Chaplin's (Robert Downey Jr.) poignant journey through triumph, failure, infamy and government persecution. The large cast of characters includes George Hayden (Anthony Hopkins), Douglas... Read More
AddHeart and SoulsHollow-hearted yuppie Robert Downey Jr. gets hot-wired to the ghosts of four people who died as he was being born. Their time in limbo is drawing to a close, just when his girlfriend (Elisabeth Shue) grows tired of his commitment phobia. To fend off being dumped, Downey must help the phantasmic four... Read More
AddThe Singing DetectiveA Chicago novelist (Robert Downey Jr.) lies bedridden and feverish with an extreme case of psoriasis. Out of boredom, he reworks (in his own mind) the story of his first novel, The Singing Detective, putting himself in the role of the title character. He concocts a fantasy world in which he's... Read More
