Robert Downey Jr. (Ironman) – Biography, Career, Personal Life & Physical Characteristics

“I am Ironman” a famous dialogue from a very popular actor, Robert Downey Jr..A talented actor who showed his acting skill in different movies and performed in versatile character. Many ups and downs happen in his career and he overcomes his bad time very successfully. He is not only an actor, a talented singer too.

Though he faced lots of criticism and abusive words in the middle of his career finally he finds himself as successful over the last decade. He was born in Manhattan, New York City in 1965. He is the youngest family member of Robert Downey Sr. and Elsie Ann. His father is an actor as well as a filmmaker and his mother is an actress performed in Downey Sr.’s film.

Robert Downey Jr. and Wife Susan Downey
Robert Downey Jr. and wife Susan Downey

Robert Downey Jr. Latest Info

  • Real Name: Robert Downey Jr.
  • Nick Name: Rob, Downey, RJD
  • Profession: Actor
  • Date Of Birth: 4th April 1965
  • Robert Downey Jr. Age: 58 years
  • Net Worth: $300 million (Estimated) in 2019.
  • Height: 174 cm, 5’8”
  • Weight: 72 KG, 172 lbs
  • Body Measurements: Chest > 43 inches, Waist > 32 inches, Biceps > 15 inches
  • Eye Colour: Dark Brown
  • Hair Colour: Dark Brown
  • Robert Downey Jr. Wife/ Spouse: Susan Downey (m. 2005), Deborah Falconer (m. 1992–2004)
  • Parents: Father Robert Downey Sr. (Actor and Filmmaker), Elsie Ann (Actress)
  • Wiki Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Downey_Jr.
  • Facebook profile or page: https://www.facebook.com/robertdowneyjr/
  • Twitter profile: https://twitter.com/RobertDowneyJr
  • Official Website: https://robert-downeyjr.com/

Early Life

He debuted in his father’s film in a minor role in the year of 1970 named “Pound”. It is very unfortunate that, when he was only 6 years of age, his father made him interested in drugs and he became seriously addicted to it.

Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr.

He started taking marijuana but later his father regretted his approach towards kid Robert Downey Jr. Downey Jr. said later that drug created an emotional love connection between him and his father. He stated, “When I and my father used to take the drug, to him it was like expressing his love for me which was the only way to express for him.” In time, he became addicted to alcohol and making phone calls to different areas in search of drugs.

At 7, he appeared in a cultural event which named surrealist western Greaser’s Palace. In 1975, he moved to England and took Classical Ballet as his curriculum subject. He participated in the Stagedoor Manor acting Arts Training Center in upstate New York at his teenage.

Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr.

In 1978, his parents got divorced and he moved with his father in California. He started his education in Santa Monica High School and dropped out of this school in 1982 after 4 years of his parents got divorced and then he goes back to New York to follow acting as his career.

Robert Downey Jr. Movies and Career

From 1985 to 1986, Downey continued as a daily cast member of Saturday’s Night Live which was a popular sketch comedy-program. Downey’s first leading role movie was “The Pick-Up Artist” in 1987, a romantic comedy movie written and directed by James Toback. He got his breakthrough in 1987, performed as a drug-addicted, party-loving character in “Less Than Zero” movie where he co-starred with Andrew McCarthy.

Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr.

In 1988, he shared his room in Hollywood with Emmy Award winner English-Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland and together they worked in a Drama film named “1969”.

Unfortunately, as he was introduced to drugs at his 6, it developed as full-fledged addiction when he turned to 20. He was taking drugs after finishing acting as well as during weekends. He said, “Maybe I’d turn up hungover on the set, but no more so than the stuntman. That changed on Less Than Zero. I was playing this junkie-faggot guy, and, for me, the role was like the ghost of Christmas future. The character was an exaggeration of myself. Then things changed, and, in some ways, I became an exaggeration of the character.

That lasted far longer than it needed to last.” Moreover, he had been taken to drug rehabilitation but struggles against drugs and alcohol continued. This movie gave him much popularity and he started working on big-budget movies with big names character named “Chances Are (1989)” with Cybill Shepherd and Ryan O’Neal, “Air America (1990)” with Mel Gibson, and “Soapdish (1991)” with Sally Field, Kevin Kline, and Whoopi Goldberg.

Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr.

By this time, he got his biggest breakthrough by the “Chaplin” movie in 1992. He prepared himself extensively for this movie. He learned the violin as well as started playing left-handed tennis to break himself for this character. He appointed a personal coach to help him duplicate to Charlie Chaplin. He nominated for Best Actor in 65th Academy Award.

In 1992 during Presidential Election, he anchored a documentary called “The Last Party”. In 1994, he performed in two films named “Only You” a romantic comedy with Marisa Tomei and “Natural Born Killer” with Woody Harrelson. Then he respectively starred in “Restoration” and “Richard III” in 1995, “Two Girls and a Guy” in 1997 also as Special Agent John Royce in “U.S. Marshals” in 1998 and in “Black and White” in 1999.

Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr.

Over this time, he got married to actress Deborah Falconer and in 1994, he got two responsibilities, a Father and a Husband. He became a father of a baby boy named “Indio”. 

From 1996 to 2001, he faced real difficulty in his life. A real surprising incident happened in June 1996. Police found him in his Porsche car on Sunset Boulevard. Also, Police found.357 g Magnum, Cocaine and heroin in the car. Just after one month, on one sunny day, he was found passed out in one of his neighbor’s house. During these five years, he came to headline due to so many misbehaves, mistakes and drug problems. He stayed at the prison for 12 months and visited a drug rehabilitation center. Again he arrested in 2000 in Palm Spring Hotel Room with cocaine.

Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr.

Hence, in 2000, he performed in “Ally McBeal” television series and nominated for Best Actor in Emmy Award as “Best Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series” Category and Won Golden Globe Award in “Best Supporting Actor in a mini-series or television film” for starring in this television series in the following year. But he was not happy with his performance in this series and said his performance had been pointed as overrated by himself. Moreover, his personal life becomes full of disorders and finally in 2004 Falconer and Downey got divorced.

His career changed drastically from 2001 to 2007. During this time, he recovered himself from drugs and other bad addictions with a lot of hard work. During this period, he performed in several box office hits. “Gothika” in 2003 with Halle Berry, “Good Night and Good Luck” in 2005, “Zodiac” in 2007.

Robert Downey Jr. and Wife Susan Downey
Robert Downey Jr. and Wife Susan Downey

In 2008, he started passing the most successive time and it continues till now. In that year, he started his career with Marvel Cinematic Universe to play the comic book character “Iron Man”. In the same year, he starred in the “Tropic Thunder” movie and both movies got commercial success. After a successful film with MCU, he decided to go with the sequel of “Iron Man 2” in 2010 and “Iron Man 3” in 2013 and The Avengers. 

In 2009, he came up with a different character in the film “The Soloist” where Downey is a Los Angeles Journalist and his co-star Jamie Fox is a homeless Juilliard-trained musician. The movie’s story is about true friendship between two different living people and both of their performances gained a lot of praise from critics. In the same year, he performed in the lead role of “Sherlock Holmes” with Jude Law as Dr. Watson. This duo perfectly matched in the film and got together again in the sequel “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” in 2011.

Robert Downey Jr. and Wife Susan Downey
Robert Downey Jr. and wife Susan Downey

In the next few years, it is all about “The Avengers” franchise. Downey returned as Tony Stark as well as Iron Man in “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015); “Captain America: Civil War” (2016); “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (2017); “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018) and “Avengers: Endgame” (2019). Iron Man’s character ended up after putting lots of tears to his fans.

He just finished his work on the classic children’s book series by British author Hugh Lofting named “Dolittle” which will be released on 17th January 2020.

His personal life also becomes stable during this time. He got married to Susan Levin in 2005. They welcomed their first baby boy named Exton Elias on 7th February 2012 and on 4th November 2014 they welcomed their second baby girl named Avri. In December 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown forgave Downey for the 1996 drug persuasion that sent him to prison for a year.

Robert Downey Jr. Family
Robert Downey Jr. Family

Even, he showed his talent in singing also. He has sung several soundtracks for his movie Chaplin, Too Much Sun, Two Girls and a Guy, Friends and Lovers, The Singing Detective, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. He performed in a music video of Elton John song named “I Want Love”. “The Futurist” is his first album released in 2004.

He and his wife together opened a Production Company named “Team Downey.” The Judge is their first project work.

Robert Downey Jr. Net Worth

Robert Downey Jr.’s movies have grossed nearly $6-billion! he’s worth about $300-million.

Success and Awards

He provides a lot of successful movies that are hard to forget. Despite his hard life between 1996 to 2001, he showed his class in terms of acting. Below are some significant achievements of Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr
Robert Downey Jr
Year Award Category Nominated Work Result
1993 BAFTA Awards Best Actor in a Leading Role Chaplin Won
2001 Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Ally McBeal Won
2014 Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards: The Winners Best Male Butt Kicker Iron Man 3 Won
2014 People’s Choice Award Favorite Action Movie Actor Iron Man 3 Won
2013 MTV Movie Awards Movie of the Year The Avengers Won
2013 MTV Movie Awards Best Fight The Avengers Won
2019 MTV Movie Awards Best Hero Avengers – EndGame Won

 

Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr.

Summary of Robert Downey Jr.’s Career Award wins and nominations

Award Wins Nominations
Academy Awards 0 2
BAFTA Awards 1 2
Critics Choice Awards 0 3
Golden Globe Awards 3 5
MTV Movie Awards 2 8
People’s Choice Awards 5 17
Primetime Emmy Awards 0 1
Saturn Awards 4 7
Screen Actors Guild Awards 1 4
Overall 16 49

 

Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr.

Commercially Hit Robert Downey Jr. Movies List

Released Date & Year Movie Name Earnings (Worldwide)
26-Apr-19 Avengers: Endgame $2,797,800,564
27-Apr-18 Avengers: Infinity War $2,048,359,754
4-May-12 The Avengers $1,518,812,988
1-May-15 Avengers: Age of Ultron $1,403,013,963
3-May-13 Iron Man 3 $1,215,392,272
6-May-16 Captain America: Civil War $1,153,284,349
7-Jul-17 Spider-Man: Homecoming $880,166,350
7-May-10 Iron Man 2 $621,156,389
2-May-08 Iron Man $585,171,547
16-Dec-11 Sherlock Holmes: A Game of … $535,663,443
25-Dec-09 Sherlock Holmes $498,438,212
13-Jun-08 The Incredible Hulk $265,573,859
21-Nov-03 Gothika $141,484,812
2-Mar-07 Zodiac $83,080,084
10-Oct-14 The Judge $76,119,388
24-Apr-09 The Soloist $38,522,450
25-Dec-92 Chaplin $9,289,349

 

His life is full of challenges, opportunities, hard work. He developed himself to a strong, durable, disciplined and charismatic person. Even though he has to face a lot of struggles and challenges but he overcomes everything and made himself one of the leading actors in the Hollywood industry. He quoted, “Discipline for me is about respect. It’s not even about self-respect; it’s about respect for life and all it offers.”

Read More: Bankable Star Matt Damon’s Full Biography

Rakibul Hasan

Mack Azad, the visionary behind Wcelebrity, is a seasoned expert in celebrity culture with over a decade of experience in the entertainment industry. Mack's passion for storytelling and in-depth research is evident in every piece of content he produces, earning him a reputation as one of the industry's leading voices.

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