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Background:
“(Hollywood) is not like that anymore. It’s a lot more strait-laced and they’re
not interested in people who are not going to show up and be healthy.” Robert
Downey Jr.
An American versatile and scornful actor, Robert Downey Jr. has evolved into one
of the most respected actors in Hollywood with his amazingly performances he has
managed to stay new and fresh even after three decades in the industry. Hailed
by many critics as one of the most talented actor of his generation, Downey Jr.
received acclaimed and became famous after portraying the title role in Richard
Attenborough’s Chaplin (1992), where he was awarded a London Critics Circle Film
Award and a British Academy Award, as well as earned an Oscar nomination. The
recipient of the 2004 Hasty Pudding Man of the Year Award and the 2003 Chicago
International Film Festival Career Achievement Award, Downey Jr. picked up a
Golden Globe Award and a Venice Film Festival Award in Robert Altman’s Short
Cuts (1993), won a Saturn Award in Heart and Souls (1993) and was garnered a
L.A. Outfest Award in Wonder Boys (2000). Additionally, he is unforgettable fro
playing roles in such films as Less Than Zero (1987), True Believer (1989),
Chances Are (1989), Natural Born Killers (1994), Richard III (1995), Home for
the Holidays (1995), Restoration (1995), Two Girls and a Guy (1997), The
Gingerbread Man (1998), James Toback’s Black & White (1999) and The Singing
Detective (2003). On the small screen, Robert Downey Jr. is most well-known for
playing the love interest of Calista Flockhart’s titular role in series “Ally
McBeal” (2000-2001). His spectacular supporting turn won the actor two Golden
Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Emmy nod.
“It’s like I have a loaded gun in my mouth, and I like the taste of metal.”
Robert Downey Jr. on his addiction to drugs
In addition to his career impressive achievements, Downey Jr. has also become
famous for his struggle with drugs and troubles with laws. In 1996, he was
arrested for the first of many times for his drug use, and three years later,
his problems culminated with three years jail sentence for repeated parole
violations. The actor went in and out of rehab as a part of his probation. In
2000, he was once again arrested in a California hotel for cocaine and Valium
possession and being under the influence of a controlled substance. He has since
allegedly remained clean and sober.
As for his love life, Downey Jr. has been married twice. He was married to first
wife Deborah Falconer from 1992 and had lived separately four years later. The
marriage finally came to an end when his wife for divorce in 2004. He is now the
husband of producer Susan Levin, whom he wed in 2005. Downey Jr. has also been
romantically involved with Sarah Jessica Parker (together from 1984-1991) and
Kristy Bauer-Jordan (dated in late 2001, no longer together).
Bob
Childhood and Family:
Son to director-actor Robert Downey Sr. (born in 1937) and actress-singer Elsie
Downey, Robert John Downey Jr. was born on April 4, 1965, in New York, New York.
Along with his older sister, Alison, Robert was raised in Greenwich Village
until his parents’ marriage came to an end in 1978. He then relocated to Los
Angeles to live with his father, but three years later moving back to New York
to join his mother. Robert dropped out of Santa Monica High School in 1982, to
pursue an acting career.
As for his private life, Robert Downey Jr., whose nickname is Bob, married
actress Deborah Falconer (born in 1965) on May 29, 1992, and their only son,
Indio, was born in September 1993. The marriage, however, ended in divorce on
April 27, 2004. In August 27, 2005, he was married to his two years fiancé,
movie producer Susan Levin, whom he met while filming Gothika in 2002. Robert,
who refers himself as “half-Jewish,” held the marriage in a Jewish ceremony at
Amagansett, New York. The 5’ 9” actor practices Wing Chun Kung Fu.
Ally McBeal
Career:
Born to an entrainment family, Robert Downey, Jr. was encouraged to perform at a
very young age. When he was five, the son of an avant-garde filmmaker made his
first movie appearance as a puppy in the fantasy Pound, written and directed by
his father, and went on to have uncredited parts in his father’s films Greaser’s
Palace (1972), Moment to Moment (1975) and Up the Academy (1980). After leaving
high school, he began taking various jobs like as a piece of living art in a
SoHo club in NYC. His initial break arrived when his father cast Downey, Jr. in
the small role of Paulie Hackley in comedy film America (1982), released
theatrically in 1986. In between, he appeared in John Sayles’ Baby, It’s You
(1983), Firstborn (1984), Tuff Turf (1985), Weird Science (1985) and Back to
School (1986). In the meantime, he also made his miniseries debut with the NBC
“Mussolini: The Untold Story” (1985), as well as joined the cast of “Saturday
Night Live” in the regular role for a single season from 1985-86.
Downey, Jr. landed his first starring role in a comedy-romance by James Toback,
The Pick-Up Artist (1987), opposite Molly Ringwald. The same year, he delivered
a breakthrough role as drug-addicted wealthy boy Julian Wells in Less Than Zero
(1987).
The drama film starred Andrew McCarthy and Jami Gertz. The strong portrayal was
followed by other mature performances like in True Believer (1989) opposite
James Woods as naïve attorney Roger Baron and Chances Are (1989), where he was
cast as the film’s bewildered romantic hero Alex Finch.
After working with Mel Gibson in Air America (1990) and offering witty turn as a
juvenile TV producer in the satirical Soapdish (1991), Downey, Jr. scored
critical success with his tour-de-force role, as the title character in the
box-office failure Chaplin (1992), a biopic directed by Richard Attenborough.
Perfectly capturing the essence of the world’s darling little tramp, the leading
player received wide recognitions and eventually took home a merited Best Actor
Academy Award nomination. Additionally, he won a London Critics Circle Film for
Actor of the Year and a British Academy for Best Actor Leading. He combined the
victory with others in the next year by netting a Venice Film Festival and a
Golden Globe for Best Ensemble Cast in Robert Altman’s Short Cuts, in which he
was briefly cast as an eccentric make-up artist, and picking up the Best Actor
Saturn Award for his brilliant starring turn as Thomas Reilly in light comedy
Heart and Souls, along side Charles Grodin and Kyra Sedgwick.
Next up for the talented performer, he was positively responded by critics as
Aussie TV tabloid correspondent Wayne Gale in Oliver Stone’s Natural Born
Killers (1994) and turned in a fine romantic lead opposite Marisa Tomei in Only
You, that same year. The following year, he gave attractive performances in
three films: Richard Loncraine’s Richard III (1995, as the brother of Annette
Bening), the Jodie Foster-directed Home for the Holidays (1995, played Holly
Hunter’s hyper gay brother) and the prolific Restoration (1995, starred as the
court physician to King Charles II). Disappearing from the big screen films for
a short time, Downey, Jr. returned with the attention-earning portrayal of a
womanizer tackled by a pair of his girlfriends in James Toback’s Two Girls and a
Guy (1997), opposite Heather Graham and Natasha Gregson Wagner. Also in 1997, he
had a touching performance as an AIDS-stricken gay man in Mike Figgis’ One Night
Stand and played Franz Mazur in Hugo Pool. Despite the fruitful career, the
actor was involved in legal troubles and struggled with his addictions.
The actor continued to give a string of superb performances like in Robert
Altman’s The Gingerbread Man (1998), James Toback’s Black & White (1999, as the
gay husband of a documentary filmmaker) and Wonder Boys (2000), supporting
Michael Douglas as his homosexual editor. For his efforts in the latter, he was
handed a L.A. Outfest for Screen Idol. He also played a serial killer
terrorizing Annette Bening in In Dreams (1999) and made a cameo turn as Jerry
Renfro in Bowfinger (1999).
While enduring to fight with his addictions, Downey, Jr. delivered one of his
best performances as a boyfriend to Calista Flockhart’s titular “Ally McBeal”
(2000-2001). As Larry Paul, he quickly won both the heart of critics and
audience alike. As a result, he nabbed two Golden Globes for Best Actor in a
Supporting Role Television Series in 2000 and 2001, a 2001 Screen Actors Guild
for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series, as well as an
Emmy nomination. Unfortunately, the high-profile turn was cut short due to his
bothered life. In 2001, the series’ producer David E. Kelley abruptly fired him
following a 2000 arrest on weapons and drug possession charge and a 2001 capture
for being under the influence of a controlled substance.
In 2003, Downey, Jr. tried to re-establish his career by joining long-time
friend and collaborator Mel Gibson for Keith Gordon’s comedy The Singing
Detective, a remake adapted from the acclaimed Dennis Potter-scripted British
miniseries of the same name. The film was perfectly cast Downey, Jr. as the
titular hero Dan Dark. He then costarred with Halle Berry and Penélope Cruz in
the supernatural thriller Gothika (2003), appeared in director Steven
Soderbergh’s segment of the anthology film Eros (2004), had supporting role in
Michael Keaton’s vehicle Game 6 (2005) and returned to a starring turn as a
less-than-bright paltry thief in the murder mystery Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang
(2005, with Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan). Still in 2005, he was
additionally featured in George Clooney’s sophomore directorial effort, Good
Night, and Good Luck.
Recently, Downey, Jr. had roles in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006),
Disney’s remake of The Shaggy Dog (2006) and A Scanner Darkly (2006). He has
lately completed two films: the Curtis Hanson-directed Lucky You (2006),
starring Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore, and Steven Shainberg’s biopic Fur (2006),
opposite Nicole Kidman. In 2007, Downey, Jr. is scheduled to star with Jake
Gyllenhaal in David Fincher’s thriller Chronicles, work with ‘Austin Powers
filmmaker John Poll and writer Gustin Nash for Charlie Bartlett and play Edgar
Allan Poe in Sylvester Stallone’s Poe.
Awards:
- Hasty Pudding: Man of the Year, 2004
- Chicago International Film Festival: Career Achievement Award, 2003
- L.A. Outfest: Screen Idol Award - Male, Wonder Boys, 2001
- Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy
Series, Ally Mc Beal, 2001
- Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a
Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made, TV, Ally McBeal, 2001
- Golden Globe: Best Actor in a Supporting Role Television Series, Ally
McBeal, 2000
- Saturn: Best Actor, Heart and Souls, 1994
- Golden Globe: Special Award - Best Ensemble Cast, Short Cuts, 1994
- Venice Film Festival: Best Ensemble Cast, Short Cuts, 1993
- British Academy: Best Actor Leading, Chaplin, 1993
- London Critics Circle Film: Actor of the Year, Chaplin, 1993
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