Robert Downey, Jr.

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Robert Downey Jr.

Downey, Jr. at an Iron Man photo call in Mexico City, April 2008
Born April 4, 1965 (1965-04-04) (age 43)
New York City, New York, United States
Spouse(s) Deborah Falconer (1992-2004)
Susan Levin (2005-)
Official website

Robert John Downey, Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning American actor and musician. He became known during the late 1980s and early 1990s after a series of well-reviewed performances in Hollywood films. During a period of drug addiction in the late 1990s, Downey continued his acting career, appearing on the television series Ally McBeal.[1] More recent films include a number of supporting and lead roles, in Good Night, and Good Luck, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Zodiac, A Scanner Darkly and Iron Man.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life and family

Downey was born in New York City, New York, the younger of two children. His father, Robert Downey Sr., is an actor, writer, producer, cinematographer, and director of underground films, and his mother, Elsie (née Ford), is also an actress and appeared in his father's films. Downey's father is of Irish and Jewish ancestry and his mother is of German and Scottish descent.[2] His father was born "Robert Elias", but changed his name when he was a minor and wanted to enlist in the Army.

During his childhood, Downey had minor roles in his father's films, making his debut at age 5 as a puppy in the absurdist comedy Pound (1970), and then at age 7 he was murdered by God in the surrealist Greaser's Palace (1972).[1] He grew up in Greenwich Village, and as a teen, attended the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in upstate New York. When his parents divorced in 1978, Downey moved to California with his father, but in 1982 he dropped out of Santa Monica High School and moved back to New York to pursue an acting career full time.[3]

[edit] Beginnings and critical acclaim

At the age of twenty, he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, but was a cast member for only one season. His SNL recurring characters included Jimmy Chance, a hipster movie critic (paired with Nora Dunn's Ashley Ashley) and Rudy Randolph III: Son of Randy Quaid's Rudy Randolph Jr. He did a number of celebrity impersonations, including Elvis Presley, George Michael, John Cougar Mellencamp, Sean Penn, Paul Simon, and John Oates from Hall and Oates (Darryl Hall was played by Anthony Michael Hall).

Downey and James Spader in Less Than Zero (1987)
Downey and James Spader in Less Than Zero (1987)

Downey's breakthrough happened during the last half of the eighties, when in 1985 he played James Spader's sidekick in Tuff Turf and then the villain in John Hughes' Weird Science. He was considered for the role of Duckie in John Hughes' film Pretty in Pink (1986)[4][5], but his first lead role would be next to Molly Ringwald in The Pick-up Artist (1987). The same year he appeared in Less Than Zero, where his portrayal of a drug-addicted rich boy was described as "desperately moving".[6] Downey has said that for him "the role was like the ghost of Christmas Future", since his drug habit resulted in him becoming an "exaggeration of the character" in real life.[7]

In 1992, he starred as Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin, a role which garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.[1] His other films in the 1990s included Heart and Souls, Only You, Natural Born Killers, and Restoration. Downey is sometimes named as a member of the Brat Pack,[3][8].

[edit] Substance Abuse

From 1996 until 2001 Downey was arrested numerous times on drug-related charges and went several times through drug treatment programs unsuccessfully, explaining in 1999 to a judge: "It's like I have a loaded gun in my mouth and my finger's on the trigger, and I like the taste of the gunmetal".[9] He also explained his relapses by claiming to be addicted to drugs since the age of eight,[10]

In April 1996 Downey was arrested for possession of heroin, cocaine and an unloaded .357-caliber Magnum, while he was speeding down Sunset Boulevard. A month later, when on parole, he trespassed into a neighbor's home while under the influence of a controlled substance, falling asleep in one of the beds.[11][12] He was sentenced to three years of probation and required to undergo mandatory drug testing. In 1997 he missed one of the court-ordered drug tests and had to spend four months in the Los Angeles County jail. The same happened in 1999, only this time he had to spend nearly a year in a state prison in Corcoran, California when he was released on $5,000 bail.[13] For his 1999 defense, Downey's lawyer assembled the same team of lawyers that successfully defended O. J. Simpson during his criminal trial for murder.[10]

A week after being released in 2000, Downey joined the cast of the hit television series Ally McBeal, playing the new love interest of Calista Flockhart's title character.[14] His performance was praised and the following year he was nominated for an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category and won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a mini-series or TV Film.[15][16] He also appeared as a writer and singer on Vonda Shepard's Ally McBeal: For Once in My Life album and sang with Sting a duet of "Every Breath You Take". Despite the apparent success, Downey claims that his performance on the series was overrated and that "It was my lowest point in terms of addictions. At that stage, I didn't give a fuck whether I ever acted again."[7] In January 2001, Downey was scheduled to play the role of Hamlet in a Los Angeles stage production directed by Mel Gibson.[17]

Before the end of his first season on Ally McBeal, Downey was arrested during Thanksgiving 2000, when his room at Merv Griffin's Hotel and Givenchy Spa in Palm Springs, California was searched by the police who were responding to an anonymous 911 call. Downey was under the influence of a controlled substance and in possession of cocaine and Valium.[18][19] Despite the fact that if convicted he could face a prison sentence of up to four years and eight months, he signed on to appear in at least eight more Ally McBeal episodes.[20] In April 2001, while he was on parole, a Los Angeles police officer found him wandering barefoot in Culver City, near southwest Los Angeles. He was arrested for suspicion of being under the influence of drugs but was released a few hours later,[21] even though tests showed he had cocaine in his system.[22] After this last arrest producer David E. Kelley and other Ally McBeal executives ordered last-minute re-writes and re-shoots, and dismissed Downey from the show, though Downey's character had resuscitated Ally McBeal's ratings.[23] The Culver City arrest also cost him a role in the high-profile film America's Sweethearts.[22] In July 2001, he pleaded no contest to the Palm Springs charges, avoiding jail time. He was instead sent into drug rehabilitation and put on a three-year probation, benefiting from the California Proposition 36, which had been passed the year before and aims to help non-violent drug offenders overcome their addictions instead of sending them to jail.[13][24]

The book Conversations With Woody Allen reports that director Woody Allen wanted to cast Downey and Winona Ryder in his film Melinda and Melinda in 2000, but was unable to do so because he could not get insurance on them, stating, "We couldn't get bonded. The completion bonding companies would not bond the picture unless we could insure them. We were heartbroken because I had worked with Winona before [on Celebrity] and thought she was perfect for this and wanted to work with her again. And I had always wanted to work with Bob Downey and always thought he was a huge talent."[25]

[edit] Career comeback

Downey, Jr. at the premiere of Air America, 1990
Downey, Jr. at the premiere of Air America, 1990

Downey's first acting job after being ordered into a drug treatment program in July 2001 was a month later, when Sam Taylor-Wood suggested to Elton John the idea of having an actor lip-syncing to the song in the video for the single "I Want Love". John thought Downey would be perfect, and the video ended up being a one-shot video centered on Downey.[26][27] Downey was able to return to the big screen only after Mel Gibson, who had been a close friend to Downey since both had co-starred in Air America, paid Downey's insurance bond for the 2004 film The Singing Detective.[28] On November 23, 2004, Downey released his debut musical album, The Futurist, on Sony Classical, for which he designed the cover art.[1] That year he was also named "Man of the Year" by Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.[29] He returned to mainstream films in the mid 2000s with Gothika, for which Joel Silver withheld 40 percent of his salary until after production wrapped, as insurance against his addictive behavior; similar clauses have become standard in his contracts since then.[30] After Gothika Downey appeared to have become a more reliable actor and was cast in a number of leading and supporting roles, including the well received semi-independent films Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Good Night, and Good Luck. and A Scanner Darkly, Disney's poorly received The Shaggy Dog, the mainstream Zodiac and Steven Shainberg's fictional biopic of Diane Arbus, Fur, where Downey's character represented the two biggest influences on Arbus's professional life, Lisette Model and Marvin Israel.[31]

Downey also guest starred on Family Guy, voicing Lois Griffin's long lost, mentally disturbed brother Patrick Pewterschmidt. One of his most recent starring roles is as Principal Gardner in the teen comedy Charlie Bartlett (2008).

In 2006 Downey was surprisingly cast for the title character in the film Iron Man,[32] with director Jon Favreau explaining the choice by stating: "Downey Jr. wasn't the most obvious choice but he understood what makes the character tick. He found a lot of his own life experience in Tony Stark".[33] Favreau even insisted in having Downey as he claimed numerous times Downey would be to Iron Man what Johnny Depp is to the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, a lead actor that could both elevate the quality of the film and increase the public's interest on it.[34][35][11][36] For the role Downey had to gain more than 20 pounds of muscle in five months so as to look like he "had the power to forge iron".[37] The film was globally released between April 30 and May 3, 2008 grossing over $100 million in the United States and Canada,[38] and receiving rave reviews which cite Downey's performance as a highlight of the film.[39][40] As a result, both Downey and Favreau have already stated their interest in making Iron Man a trilogy.[41] He will also make a small appearance as Iron Man's Tony Stark in the upcoming film The Incredible Hulk as a part of Marvel Studios' attempt to depict the same Marvel Universe on film.[42]

Downey wears controversial blackface makeup for new film, Tropic Thunder, starring with Ben Stiller and Jack Black. He is "virtually unrecognizable with afro hair and brown skin."[43] Reports of the movie screenings from African-Americans have had positive responses.[44]

Stiller says that he and Downey always stayed focused on the fact that they were skewering insufferable actors, not African-Americans. 'I was trying to push it as far as you can within reality,' Stiller explains. 'I had no idea how people would respond to it.' He recently screened a rough cut of the film and it scored high with African-Americans. He was relieved at the reaction. 'It seems people really embrace it,' he says.

—Entertainment Weekly- First Look: 'Tropic Thunder'

[edit] Personal life

Downey started dating actress Sarah Jessica Parker after meeting on the set of Firstborn. They separated in 1991, according to Downey, because of his drug and alcohol abuse.[45] He then dated Marisa Tomei, with whom he appeared together in Only You and Chaplin, in the early 1990s. He married actress Deborah Falconer on May 29, 1992, and had a son with her named Indio Falconer Downey, born on September 7, 1993 in Los Angeles County, California. Downey and Falconer divorced on April 26, 2004. In 2004, while on the set of Gothika, he met producer Susan Levin, who runs Joel Silver's movie company.[28] The two started dating and married on August 27, 2005 in a Jewish ceremony at Amagansett, New York.

Downey says he has been drug free since 2001 thanks to the help of his family, therapy, meditation, twelve-step recovery programs, yoga and wing chun.[7] He has described his religious beliefs as "Jewish-Buddhist," although he has been interested in the past by Christianity and the Hare Krishna ideology.[46]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Television

Year Show Role Other notes
1985-1986 Saturday Night Live 18 episodes
2000-2002 Ally McBeal Larry Paul 15 episodes
2005 Family Guy Patrick Pewterschmidt voice, episode "The Fat Guy Strangler"

[edit] Film

Year Film Role Other notes
1970 Pound a puppy Directed by Robert Downey Sr.
1972 Greaser's Palace uncredited Directed by Robert Downey Sr.
1975 Moment to Moment uncredited Directed by Robert Downey Sr.
1980 Up the Academy Caleb Yoon Directed by Robert Downey Sr.
1983 Baby It's You Stewart
1984 Firstborn Lee
1985 Deadwait (short subject)
Tuff Turf Jimmy Parker
Weird Science Ian
1986 Back to School Derek
America Paulie Hackley
1987 The Pick-up Artist Jack Jericho
Less Than Zero Julian Wells
1988 Johnny Be Good Leo Wiggins
Rented Lips Wolf Dangler
1969 Ralp Carr
1989 That's Adequate Albert Einstein
True Believer Roger Baron
Chances Are Alex Finch
1990 Air America Billy Covington
1991 Too Much Sun Reed Richmond
Soapdish David Seton Barnes
1992 Chaplin Charlie Chaplin
1993 Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country documentary
Heart and Souls Thomas Reilly
The Last Party himself documentary written by Downey
Short Cuts Bill Bush
1994 Hail Caesar Jerry
A Century of Cinema documentary
Natural Born Killers Wayne Gale
Only You Peter Wright, alias Damon
1995 Richard III Lord Rivers
Home for the Holidays Tommy Larson
Restoration Robert Merivel
Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree (TV) Mr. Willowby
1997 Danger Zone Jim Scott
One Night Stand Charlie
Two Girls and a Guy Blake Allen
Hugo Pool Franz Mazur
1998 The Gingerbread Man Clyde Pell
U.S. Marshals Special Agent John Royce
1999 In Dreams Vivian Thompson
Friends & Lovers Hans
Bowfinger Jerry Renfro
Black and White Terry Donager
2000 Wonder Boys Terry Crabtree
Auto Motives Rob short subject
2001 Last Party 2000 documentary
2002 Lethargy Animal therapist short subject
2003 Whatever We Do Bobby short subject
The Singing Detective Dan Dark
Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin documentary
Gothika Pete Graham
2004 Eros (segment "Equilibrium") Nick Penrose
2005 Game 6 Steven Schwimmer
The Outsider documentary
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Harry Lockhart
Good Night, and Good Luck. Joe Wershba
Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow documentary
2006 The Shaggy Dog Dr. Kozak
A Scanner Darkly James Barris
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints Dito Montiel
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus Lionel Sweeney
2007 Zodiac Paul Avery
Lucky You Telephone Jack
2008 Charlie Bartlett Principal Gardner
Iron Man Tony Stark/Iron Man
Tropic Thunder Kirk Lazarus awaiting release
The Incredible Hulk Tony Stark/Iron Man cameo
The Soloist Steve Lopez post-production
2010 Iron Man 2 Tony Stark/Iron Man pre-production

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Stated in interview on Inside the Actors Studio, 2006
  2. ^ Diamond, Jamie.. "FILM; Robert Downey Jr. Is Chaplin (on Screen) and a Child (Off)", New York Times, 1992-12-20. 
  3. ^ a b "CNN People In The News - Profile of Robert Downey Jr.", CNN.com, 2002-08-17. Retrieved on 2008-05-02. 
  4. ^ Manning, Jason (2000). 13. The Brat Pack. Material Things. The Eighties Club. Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  5. ^ Pretty in Pink, (1986), John Hughes, notes from: Special feature "Zoids and Richies". Paramount Home Entertainment, B00006JY0R,  (2002).
  6. ^ Maslin, Janet. "Film: 'Less Than Zero,' Young Lives", The New York Times, 1987-11-06. Retrieved on 2008-05-02. 
  7. ^ a b c Wilde, Jon. "More than skin deep", Guardian, 2003-11-08. Retrieved on 2008-05-02. 
  8. ^ Germain, David. "Downey riding high on the comeback trail", The Seattle Times, 2005-10-23. Retrieved on 2008-05-02. 
  9. ^ Reaves, Jessica. "Will Robert Downey Jr.'s Case Spark a Change in Drug Sentencing?", Time, 2001-02-07. Retrieved on 2008-05-01. 
  10. ^ a b "Addicted Downey Jnr jailed", BBC news, 1999-08-06. Retrieved on 2008-05-01. 
  11. ^ a b Carr, David. "Been Up, Been Down. Now? Super.", The New York Times, 2008-04-20. Retrieved on 2008-05-01. 
  12. ^ Winters Keegan, Rebecca. "Robert Downey Jr.: Back from the Brink", Time, 2008-04-16. Retrieved on 2008-05-01. 
  13. ^ a b "Actor's toughest role", CNN, 2004. Retrieved on 2008-05-01. 
  14. ^ "Downey Jr lands McBeal role", BBC News, 2000-08-11. Retrieved on 2008-05-01. 
  15. ^ "Bada Bing! Sopranos Leads Emmy Pack", Fox News, 2001-07-12. Retrieved on 2008-05-01. 
  16. ^ "Downey Jr's Golden acting career", BBC News, 2001-01-22. Retrieved on 2008-05-01. 
  17. ^ "Gibson Downey Jr becomes Hamlet", BBC, 2000-09-21. 
  18. ^ Baron, James. "Boldface Names", The New York Times, 2001-07-17. Retrieved on 2008-05-01. 
  19. ^ Angluo, Sandra P.. "Arrested Development", EntertainmentWeekly.com, 2001-04-24. Retrieved on 2008-05-01. 
  20. ^ "Downey Jr signs McBeal deal", BBC News, 2001-02-15. Retrieved on 2008-05-11. 
  21. ^ Associated Press. "Robert Downey Jr. Fired From Ally McBeal After Another Arrest", Fox News, 2001-04-25. Retrieved on 2008-05-11. 
  22. ^ a b Reuters. "Robert Downey Jr.'s Drug 'Deal'", Wired, 2001-05-31. Retrieved on 2008-05-11. 
  23. ^ Carter, Bill. "This Season to Be Last for 'Ally McBeal'", The New York Times, 2002-04-18. Retrieved on 2008-05-11. 
  24. ^ "Robert Downey Jr. to Enter Plea Agreement on Drug Charges", CNN.com, 2001-07-16. Retrieved on 2008-05-11. 
  25. ^ "When Woody Allen couldn't cast Winona, Downey due to lack of insurance", Malaysian Sun, 2007-08-12. 
  26. ^ Rankin, Rebecca. Elton John: California Love (Interview). MTV.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
  27. ^ Schumacher-Rasmussen, Eric (2001-08-03). Elton John Casts Robert Downey Jr. In His New Video. MTV.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
  28. ^ a b Friedman, Roger. "Mel Gibson's New 'Passion' Is Robert Downey Jr.", Fox News, 2003-10-14]]. Retrieved on 2008-05-11. 
  29. ^ Rabinowitz, Nancy. "Robert Downey Jr. Gets Hasty Pudding Pot", The Washington Post, 2004-02-19. Retrieved on 2008-05-11. 
  30. ^ "Robert Downey Jr.". Shootout. AMC. 2006-07-14.
  31. ^ Frey, Jennifer. "A 'Fur'-Fetched Portrait Of Arbus? Precisely! Says the Filmmaker", The Washington Post, 2006-11-12. Retrieved on 2008-05-15. 
  32. ^ "Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man", Marvel, 2006-09-29. Retrieved on 2006-09-29. 
  33. ^ O'Loughlin, Lucy (2008-05-02). Robert Downey Jr.'s heroic comeback. List.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  34. ^ Anderson, John (2008-04-16). Jon Favreau rose from obscurity to direct ‘Iron Man’. KansasCity.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  35. ^ Hartlaub, Peter (2008-05-05). Indie cred gave 'Iron Man' filmmaker his shot. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  36. ^ Anderson, John (2008-05-01). Nerve Of Steel. Washington Post. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  37. ^ Masuda, Sylvia (2008-05-02). Robert Downey Jr. has reforged his career in 'Iron Man'. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  38. ^ Iron Man (2008) - Iron Man King Of the Box Office. Gamer Center Online. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  39. ^ Hornaday, Ann (2008-05-02). 'Iron Man' Shows Strength of Character. Washington Post. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  40. ^ Ansen, David (2008-05-01). Putting the Irony in ‘Iron Man’. Newsweek. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  41. ^ Quint. "Quint visits the IRON MAN production offices! Art! Favreau speaks about sequels (?!?), casting and more!!!", AICN, 2007-02-09. Retrieved on 2007-02-10. 
  42. ^ Larry Carroll. "William Hurt Says New Hulk Is More Heroic, Reveals Iron Man Crossover Scene", MTV. Retrieved on 2008-04-22. 
  43. ^ Race row as actor Robert Downey Jr 'blacks up' for new film. Daily Mail (2008-03-07).
  44. ^ Adam B. Vary. "First Look: 'Tropic Thunder'", Entertainment Weekly, 2008-03-05. Retrieved on 2008-03-05. 
  45. ^ "Drugs ruined my relationships, Downey says", Stuff.co.nz, 2008-04-22. Retrieved on 2008-05-02. 
  46. ^ De Vries, Hilary. "Robert Downey Jr.: The Album", New York Times, 2004-11-21. 

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Awards
Preceded by
Anthony Hopkins
for The Silence of the Lambs		 BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1992
for Chaplin		 Succeeded by
Anthony Hopkins
for Shadowlands