Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor also known as Iron Man (Tony Stark).

His films as a leading actor have grossed over $14 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing actors of all time.

Robert Downey Jr.
Born	Robert John Downey Jr. April 4, 1965 (age 59) New York City, U.S.
Occupations	Actor producer singer
Years active	1970–present
Works	Filmography
Spouses	Deborah Falconer ​ ​ (m. 1992; div. 2004)​ Susan Levin ​ (m. 2005)​
Partner	Sarah Jessica Parker (1984–1991)
Children	3
Parent	Robert Downey Sr. (father)
Signature

 

Downey’s career has been characterized by some early success, a period of drug-related problems and run-ins with the law, and a surge in popular and commercial success since the late 2000s.
In 2008, Downey was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. From 2013 to 2015, he was listed by Forbes as Hollywood’s highest-paid actor.

At the age of five, Downey made his acting debut in his father Robert Downey Sr.’s 1970 film Pound. He subsequently worked with the Brat Pack in the teen films Weird Science (1985) and Less than Zero (1987).

Downey’s portrayal of Charlie Chaplin in the 1992 biopic Chaplin received a BAFTA Award. Following a stint at the Corcoran Substance Abuse Treatment Facility on drug charges, he joined the TV series Ally McBeal in 2000 and won a Golden Globe Award for the role.

Downey was fired from the show in 2001 in the wake of additional drug charges. He stayed in a court-ordered drug treatment program and has maintained his sobriety since 2003.

Downey made his acting comeback in the 2003 film The Singing Detective, after Mel Gibson paid his insurance bond because completion bond companies would not insure him.

He went on to star in the black comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), the thriller Zodiac (2007), and the action comedy Tropic Thunder (2008).

Downey gained global recognition for starring as Iron Man in ten Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films, from Iron Man (2008) to Avengers: Endgame (2019).

He has also played Sherlock Holmes in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes (2009), which earned him his second Golden Globe, and in its sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011).

Downey has also taken on dramatic parts in The Judge (2014) and Oppenheimer (2023), winning an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA Award for his portrayal of Lewis Strauss in the latter.

For playing multiple characters in the black comedy miniseries The Sympathizer (2024), he received a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award.

Early life

Robert John Downey Jr. was born on April 4, 1965, in Manhattan, New York City, the younger of two children.
His father, Robert Downey Sr., was a filmmaker, while his mother, Elsie Ann (née Ford), was an actress who appeared in Downey Sr.’s films.

Downey’s father was one-half Lithuanian Jewish, one-quarter Hungarian Jewish, and one-quarter Irish, while Downey’s mother had Scottish, German, and Swiss ancestry.

Downey moved often, mainly due to his father’s film projects, living in places such as Woodstock, New York, London, New Mexico, California, Connecticut, and Greenwich Village.
The family experienced both periods of near-poverty and wealth, depending on the success of the films. As a child, Downey was “surrounded by drugs.”

His father was a drug addict, and his mother was an alcoholic. His father allowed him to use drugs at a young age; he said that he gave Downey marijuana for the first time at age six and that Downey also “might have had a little coke” as a child.

His father later said that he regretted it. Downey stated that he and his father did drugs together for the first time when he was eight,

And that drug use became an emotional bond between him and his father: “When my dad and I would do drugs together, it was like him trying to express his love for me in the only way he knew how.”

During his childhood, Downey had minor roles in his father’s films.
He made his acting debut at the age of five, playing a sick puppy in the absurdist comedy film Pound (1970), and then, at seven, appeared in the surrealist Western film Greaser’s Palace (1972).

He went to Stagedoor Manor, a summer acting camp in upstate New York, when he was eleven and twelve. Downey’s parents divorced in 1977, when he was twelve.

He went and lived with his mother in a fifth-floor apartment in New York, as she “needed” him after the divorce, while his sister went to live with their father in California.

After a few years, Downey went to live with his father and began attending Santa Monica High School, but dropped out in 1982. At the age of 17, he moved back to New York to pursue an acting career full-time.

Downey worked a number of different jobs to support himself while going to auditions, including clearing tables at Central Falls restaurant, working in a shoe store, and performing as “living art” at the nightclub Area.

Meanwhile, Downey got a few parts in local theater and off-Broadway productions. He got his first credited film role in the 1983 film Baby It’s You; however, his scenes ended up being cut.

 

Music

Downey has sung on several soundtracks for his films, including Chaplin, Too Much Sun, Two Girls and a Guy, Friends and Lovers, The Singing Detective, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

In 2001, he appeared in the music video for Elton John’s song “I Want Love.”
He released a CD in 2004 called The Futurist, and while promoting his film Tropic Thunder, he and his co-stars Ben Stiller and Jack Black were back-up singers for “The Pips” to Gladys Knight singing “Midnight Train to Georgia.”

Downey’s most commercially successful recording venture to date (combining sales and radio airplay) has been his remake of the 1973 Joni Mitchell Christmas song “River,” which was included on the Ally McBeal tie-in album Ally McBeal:
A Very Ally Christmas, released in 2000; Downey’s character Larry Paul performs the song in the Ally McBeal episode “Tis the Season.”

Business

On June 14, 2010, Downey and his wife Susan opened their own production company called Team Downey.
Their first project was The Judge. In 2024, Downey launched a coffee company named Happy with Craig Dubitsky.

Personal life

Relationships and family

Downey started dating actress Sarah Jessica Parker in 1984 after meeting her on the set of Firstborn. They were both 18 and moved in together after eight weeks of dating.
The couple separated eight years later, in 1991, due to his drug addiction.

Downey married actress and singer Deborah Falconer on May 29, 1992, after a 42-day courtship. Their son was born in September 1993.
The strain on their marriage from Downey’s repeated trips to rehab and jail finally reached a breaking point; in 2001, in the midst of Downey’s last arrest and sentencing to an extended stay in rehab, Falconer left Downey and took their son with her.
Downey and Falconer finalized their divorce on April 26, 2004.

In 2003, Downey met producer Susan Levin, an executive vice president of production at Joel Silver’s film company, Silver Pictures, on the set of Gothika.
Though Susan twice turned down his romantic advances, she and Downey did quietly strike up a romance during production.

Despite Susan’s worries that the romance would not last after the completion of shooting given that “he’s an actor; I have a real job,”

The couple’s relationship continued after production wrapped on Gothika, and Downey proposed to Susan on the night before her thirty-first birthday.

In August 2005, the couple were married in a Jewish ceremony at Amagansett, New York. A tattoo on one of his biceps reads “Suzie Q” in tribute to her.

The Downeys’ first child, a son, was born in February 2012, and their second, a daughter, was born in November 2014.

Downey has been a close friend of Mel Gibson since they starred in Air America.
Downey defended Gibson during the controversy surrounding The Passion of the Christ and said “nobody’s perfect” in reference to Gibson’s 2006 DUI.
Gibson said of Downey: “He was one of the first people to call and offer the hand of friendship. He just said, ‘Hey, welcome to the club.

Let’s go see what we can do to work on ourselves.'” In October 2011, Downey was honored at the 25th American Cinematheque Awards.

Downey chose Gibson to present him with his award for his life’s work and used his air time to say a few kind words about Gibson and explain why he chose him to present the award.

Sobriety

Downey says he has been drug-free since July 2003 and credits his wife with helping him overcome his drug and alcohol habits,

Along with his family, therapy, meditation, twelve-step recovery programs, yoga, and the practice of Wing Chun kung fu, the martial art he learned from Eric Oram, who is also a fight consultant in several of Downey’s movies.

Oram was Downey’s personal fight coordinator in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War. In December 2015, Downey was chosen as one of 91 people to be pardoned by the Governor of California, Jerry Brown, for his prior drug offenses.

The pardon does not erase Downey’s criminal record, but it does allow him to serve on a jury. Oram wrote a letter in support of Downey’s pardon to Governor Brown.

When asked on The Oprah Winfrey Show how he was able to make his sobriety stick this time, Downey said, “It’s really not that difficult to overcome these seemingly ghastly problems. What’s hard is to decide to do it.”

Religious beliefs

Downey has described his religious beliefs as “Jewish Buddhist.” In the past, Downey has been interested in Christianity and the Hare Krishna movement.

Political views

In a 2008 interview, Downey stated that his time in prison changed his political point of view somewhat,

Saying: “I have a really interesting political point of view, and it’s not always something I say too loud at dinner tables here, but you can’t go from a $2,000-a-night suite at La Mirage to a penitentiary and really understand it and come out a liberal.
You can’t.I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone else, but it was very, very, very educational for me and has informed my proclivities and politics ever since.”

However, when asked about the quote in a 2015 interview to promote Avengers:
Age of Ultron, he denied that his previous statement reflected any longstanding beliefs on his part and stated, “I wouldn’t say that I’m a Republican or a liberal or a Democrat.”

Downey has shown support for the Democratic Party. He donated to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2012.

In 2014, Downey attended a fundraiser for the Democratic Party and donated to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

In 2016, Downey appeared in an Internet video urging the American public to vote against Donald Trump in the then-upcoming presidential election.

In 2020, Downey took part in a virtual fundraiser for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, with fellow Avengers actors and vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

Downey serves on the board of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, a nonprofit organization that advocates for criminal justice reform to reduce incarceration, improve the outcomes of formerly incarcerated individuals, and build healthier communities.

Environmentalism

In January 2020, during the promotion of his film Dolittle,

Downey announced that he had made the decision to adopt a vegan diet in response to the debate about the climate crisis, stating that “I’m a one-man carbon footprint nightmare colossus” and believing he can do his part to contribute.

Downey previously announced the opening of Footprint Coalition, an organization he launched to reduce carbon footprints around the world using advanced technology. 

The Footprint Coalition promotes technologies that protect the environment, such as French insect-farming startup Ynsect, the bio-based alternative to plastic manufacturer RWDC, and bamboo toilet paper manufacturer Cloud Paper.

In January 2024, Downey stated that he was a pescetarian and had to give up his vegan diet due to low levels of vitamin B12, calcium, and iron.

He co-authored Cool Food: Erasing Your Carbon Footprint One Bite at a Time, which advocates a low-carbon plant-based diet to reduce carbon footprints.

Acting credits and accolades

Robert John Downey Jr.  has appeared in over 70 films over the course of his career. According to Rotten Tomatoes,

Downey’s most commercially successful films include Tropic Thunder, Oppenheimer, the Sherlock Holmes film series, and several Marvel Studios films, including Captain America: Civil War and the Iron Man and Avengers series.

Downey’s films have grossed over $14 billion worldwide, making him the third highest-grossing actor of all time, according to The Numbers.

He was named Hollywood’s highest-paid actor by Forbes from 2013 to 2015. He has received various accolades, including two BAFTA Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and one Academy Award.

• The Futurist (2004)

Year	Song	Soundtrack	Notes
1992	“Smile”	Chaplin OST	On The Futurist
1993	“The Star-Spangled Banner”	Heart and Souls OST	With B.B. King
2000	“White Christmas”	Ally McBeal: A Very Ally Christmas	With Vonda Shepard
	“River”
2001	“Every Breath You Take”	Ally McBeal: For Once in My Life featuring Vonda Shepard	With Sting
	“Chances Are”		With Vonda Shepard
	“Snakes”
2003	“In My Dreams”	The Singing Detective OST
2005	“Broken”	Kiss Kiss Bang Bang OST	On The Futurist