Robert Downey Jr

Robert Downey Jr has been married to producer Susan Downey since 2005. They met on the set of Gothika in 2003 and have two children, Exton and Avri. Downey also has a son, Indio, from his former marriage to singer and actor Deborah Falconer, which lasted from 1992 to 2004.

Downey is the son of filmmaker Robert Downey Sr. and actress Elsie Downey, and the brother of Allyson Downey. Anthony Michael Hall, Downey's fellow actor, is Indio's godfather.

Downey began acting at the age of five, appearing as a puppy in his father Robert Downey Sr.'s film Pound (1970). He grew up in New York City's Greenwich Village in an artistic household and later moved to California with his father after his parents divorced. He returned to New York after dropping out of high school to pursue acting.

His early film appearances included Baby, It's You (1983), Firstborn (1984), Weird Science (1985), and Back to School (1986). He was also a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1986. His first leading film role came in The Pick-up Artist (1987), followed by a breakthrough performance as Julian Wells in Less Than Zero (1987).

Downey received major critical acclaim for playing Charlie Chaplin in Richard Attenborough's Chaplin (1992). The performance earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor. He continued to receive praise for films including Short Cuts (1993), Natural Born Killers (1994), and Restoration (1995).

His career was disrupted by long-running problems with drug and alcohol addiction, arrests, rehabilitation, and incarceration. In 1999, he was sentenced to three years in prison for violating parole from an earlier arrest. After an early release, he joined the cast of Ally McBeal in 2000 and won a Golden Globe Award for his performance as attorney Larry Paul, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award. His substance-abuse problems continued, and his tenure on the series ended in 2001.

Downey began rebuilding his career in 2003. His subsequent films included The Singing Detective, Good Night, and Good Luck., A Scanner Darkly, and Zodiac. His work in Tropic Thunder (2008) earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

He reprised the role in Iron Man 2 (2010), Iron Man 3 (2013), The Avengers (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). The franchise established him as one of the central performers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

He played Sherlock Holmes in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), winning a Golden Globe for the first film. Other notable roles included the journalist Steve Lopez in The Soloist (2009), Hank Palmer in The Judge (2014), and Dr. John Dolittle in Dolittle (2020).

After a three-year break from film acting, Downey returned as Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer (2023). His performance won the Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics' Choice Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2024, he also played five characters in the miniseries The Sympathizer, earning an Emmy nomination for supporting actor.

Marvel Studios announced that Downey would return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Victor von Doom, also known as Doctor Doom, in Avengers: Doomsday.

Downey and Susan Downey established the production company Team Downey in 2010. The company has produced films and television projects including The Judge (2014), Dolittle (2020), Sweet Tooth, and the documentary Sr. (2022), which examines the life and career of Robert Downey Sr.

Downey also served as an executive producer on projects including The Age of A.I., Perry Mason, The Sympathizer, and Downey's Dream Cars. He co-produced A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006).