Robert Downey Junior is an actor, producer and singer. And of course, he is one of the
most famous stars in Hollywood.
He was born on April 4th 1965 in Manhattan, New York. His parents are Robert Downey Senior,
an independent films director, and Elsie Ann Ford, an actress who appeared in many of her
husband’s movies. Robert Junior has an older sister: Her name is Allyson, and they both
have Lithuanian, Hungarian and Irish ancestry from their father's side, and Scottish, German
and Swiss ancestry from their mother's side.
When he was five years old he debuted with a small role in one of his father's films,
with whom he would have a problematic relationship which would mark him for life. When Robert
Junior was 10 years old he was living in England, and there he started his artistic training,
which included ballet dancing. He continued his performance career in the United States,
at a Performing Arts Training Center in New York.
Unfortunately, in 1978 the family was broken up after Robert Senior and Elsie got a divorce.
Robert Junior and his sister went to live with his father in California. When he turned
17 years old, he decided to abandon high school and go back to New York on his own, in order
to pursue his career as an actor.
In the beginning, Robert had to do several odd jobs in order to make a living, such as
being a waiter or a warehouse assistant. And he would invest the remaining time he had
each day to push forward his theatrical training. One of his roommates was Kiefer Sutherland,
protagonist of the TV series "24", who would also
become famous on the big screen years later.
In 1985 Robert managed to make the jump to television, having a slot in the popular comedy
show "Saturday Night Live". However, his performance as a comedian wasn't very well received, and
he abandoned the show a year later. Luckily he made himself known in Hollywood, and started
to get gradually more and more important roles in big productions.
Most of the productions he worked in were teenage movies that talked about stepping
into adulthood. His great performances made him become recognized as a young promise in
the acting world. In 1990 he landed the leading role in the action film "Air America", along
with Mel Gibson. Since then, they both became great friends and would help each other in
many occasions.
His first big success came after he was chosen to play the famous comedian Charles Chaplin
for Chaplin's biopic. Robert prepared intensively for the role, learning not only Chaplin's
characteristic gestures, but also learning to play the violin and playing tennis with
his left hand. His resulting performance was excellent, and made him get nominated for
the Best Actor Academy Award, as well as the BAFTA Award.
For the rest of the 90s he played the leading role in several commercial movies of different
genres: From romantic comedies to historical recreations and thrillers, working with other
stars such as Woody Harrelson, Jodie Foster, Ian McKellen and Michael Douglas. However,
at the same time his personal issues became more and more intense, making him suffer a
crisis that almost ended his career.
In 2001 he went back to television for a role in the "Ally McBeal" show. His performance
was very well received by the audience this time around, but his bad behavior and constant
issues with the rest of the staff ended up getting him fired. That's when he hit rock
bottom, and finally decided to look for professional help.
After his recovery, and with the help of his closest friends, he went back to the big screen
and played the leading role of Halle Berry in the horror thriller film "Gothika". Afterwards,
he performed in other productions along stars such as George Clooney and Nicole Kidman.
He even recorded his first musical album, titled "The Futurist", and even lent his voice
for a character in the "Family Guy" cartoon series.
Robert's career really took a turn in 2006, when he was selected to play Tony Stark in
"Iron Man". The movie was a huge success which guaranteed him two more sequels, and opened
to him the doors of the Marvel Cinematic Universe,
becoming one of the protagonists of the "Avengers" saga.
His image also became viral through various memes!
While working in the action-comedy movie "Tropic Thunder" in 2008, he earned his second Oscar
nomination for Supporting Actor. He also interpreted the other role which made him even more famous:
Sherlock Holmes, in the corresponding movie adaptation of the classic novel. The movie
was another success which brought with it a sequel: "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows",
and a third installment will premiere in 2021.
In his personal life he has three sons: Indio, Exton Elias and Avri Roel. He is married to
the movie producer Susan Levin, who he met when working in "Gothika". With his wife,
they founded their own movie company: Team Downey.
Robert's second project premiered not long ago: The comedy adventure "Dolittle", where
he plays the leading role of a crazy veterinarian capable of communicating with animals. Have
you seen it already, tiktakers? We are sure you will laugh out loud by watching one of
our favorite actors and producers. Robert Downey Jr. is definitely talented, and a great
example of personal improvement.