Robert Downey Jr.

Background

Robert Downey Jr. is celebrated globally. He is known especially for his role as “Tony Stark/ Iron Man”. This is a character he starred as, in the 10 films with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He was born on April 4, 1965, in Manhattan, New York City to his father, Robert Downey Sr., an actor and filmmaker, and his mother, Elsie Ann, an actress featured in Downey Sr.’s films. They were only two siblings, his older sister, Allyson, and himself. They grew up in Greenwich Village. His father introduced him to drugs early on as a child as this is how they bonded. They would abuse marijuana together, something his father later said he regretted doing. It marked the beginning of a long struggle with substance and drug abuse for Downey Jr. which he later overcame.

He started acting at the tender age of five years in his father’s film, “Pound”. He then worked in the teen films, “Weird Science” and “Less Than Zero” in 1985 and 1987. He lived in England briefly at the age of 10 and studied classical ballet as a portion of an extensive curriculum. He also attended the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center which is in upstate New York. In 1992, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor because of the way he portrayed the main character in the biography of Chaplin. This also won him a BAFTA Award.

He gained worldwide recognition because of his role as “Tony Stark/ Iron Man”, debuting in 2008. He also starred in Sherlock Holmes in 2009 and its sequel, “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows”, and this won him his second Golden Globe Award. The first one was for his role in the TV series Ally McBeal. His struggle with substance abuse cost him several projects but after staying in a court-ordered drug treatment program, he overcame it. He has been sober since 2003.