Robert Downey Jr.

Downey was born in New York City, New York, the younger of two children. His father, Robert Downey, is an actor, writer, producer, cinematographer, and director of underground films, and his mother, Elsie, is also an actress and appeared in Downey Sr.'s films. Downey's father is of Irish and Jewish ancestry and his mother is of German and Scottish descent. His father was born "Robert Elias," but changed his last name to "Downey" (after his stepfather James Downey) when he was a minor and wanted to enlist in the Army.

During his childhood, Downey had minor roles in his father's projects, making his debut at age 5 as a sick puppy in the absurdist comedy Pound (1970), and then at age 7 he was murdered by Jesus Christ Superstar God in the surrealist Greaser's Palace (1972). He grew up in Greenwich Village and attended the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in upstate New York, as a teenager. When his parents divorced in 1978, Downey moved to California with his father, but in 1982 he dropped out of Santa Monica High School and moved back to New York to pursue an acting career full time.

At the age of twenty, he joined the cast of the weekly television comedy show Saturday Night Live, but was a cast member for only one season. After leaving SNL during the last half of the eighties, Downey had his breakthrough when in 1985 he played James Spader's sidekick in Tuff Turf and then a bully in John Hughes's Weird Science. He was afterwards considered for the role of Duckie in John Hughes's film Pretty in Pink (1986), but his first lead role would be with Molly Ringwald in The Pick-up Artist (1987). Because of these and other coming of age films Downey did during the 1980s he is sometimes named as a member of the Brat Pack. In 1992, he starred as Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin, a role for which he prepared extensively, learning how to play the violin and tennis. He even had a personal coach in order to imitate Chaplin's posture and way of carrying himself. The role garnered Downey an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor at the Academy Awards 65th ceremony, losing to Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman. His other films in the 1990s included Heart and Souls, Only You, Natural Born Killers, Restoration, and The Last Party, which is a documentary written by Downey.

From 1996 through 2001, Downey was arrested numerous times on drug-related charges and went several times through drug treatment programs unsuccessfully, explaining in 1999 to a judge: "It's like I have a loaded gun in my mouth and my finger's on the trigger, and I like the taste of the gunmetal." He also explained his relapses by claiming to be addicted to drugs since the age of eight. Downey's first acting job after being ordered into a drug treatment program in July 2001 was a month later, when Sam Taylor-Wood suggested to Elton John the idea of having an actor lip-syncing to the song in the video for the single "I Want Love". John thought Downey would be perfect, and the video ended up being a tracking-shot video centered on Downey. Downey was able to return to the big screen only after Mel Gibson, who had been a close friend to Downey since both had co-starred in Air America, paid Downey's insurance bond for the 2003 film The Singing Detective.

In 2004, Downey was named "Man of the Year" by Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theatricals. In 2006, Downey returned to his television roots as he guest-starred on Family Guy in the episode "The Fat Guy Strangler", which originated when Downey telephoned the show production staff and asked if he could produce or assist in an episode creation, as his son is a fan of the show. The producers of the show accepted and created the character of Patrick Pewterschmidt, Lois Griffin's long lost, mentally disturbed brother, for Downey. Downey signed on with publishers HarperCollins to write a memoir, which in 2006 was already being billed as a "candid look at the highs and lows of his life and career". In 2008, however, Downey returned his advance to the publishers and cancelled the book without further comment. In 2006, Downey was surprisingly cast for the title character in the film Iron Man, with director Jon Favreau explaining the choice by stating: "Downey, Jr., wasn't the most obvious choice but he understood what makes the character tick. He found a lot of his own life experience in 'Tony Stark.'" Favreau insisted in having Downey as he repeatedly claimed that Downey would be to Iron Man what Johnny Depp is to the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, a lead actor that could both elevate the quality of the film and increase the public's interest on it.

Downey started dating actress Sarah Jessica Parker after meeting on the set of Firstborn. They separated in 1991, according to Downey, because of his drug and alcohol abuse. Downey also dated Marisa Tomei in the late 1980s, whom he appeared with in Only You and Chaplin.

He married actress Deborah Falconer on May 29, 1992 after a 42-day courtship, and had a son with her named Indio Falconer Downey, born on September 7, 1993 in Los Angeles County, California. The strain on their marriage from Downey's repeated trips to rehab and jail finally reached a breaking point; in the midst of Downey's last arrest where he was sentenced to an extended stay in rehab, Falconer left Downey in 2001 and took Indio with her. Downey and Falconer finalized their divorce on April 26, 2004.

In 2003, while on the set of Gothika, Downey met producer Susan Levin, who runs Joel Silver's movie company, Silver Pictures. Levin and Downey started dating on the set, and continued their relationship after the film wrapped. Downey proposed to Levin the night before her thirtieth birthday; the couple were married on August 27, 2005 in a Jewish ceremony at Amagansett, New York. Downey now sees his son Indio frequently after settling custody arrangements with Falconer.

Downey says he has been drug-free since July 2003, thanks to the help of his family, therapy, meditation, twelve-step recovery programs, yoga and the practice of Wing Chun Kung Fu. He has described his religious beliefs as "Jewish-Buddhist," although he has been interested in the past by Christianity and the Hare Krishna ideology.

Downey has been the best friend of Mel Gibson since they starred in Air America. He defended the actor/director during the controversy surrounding The Passion of the Christ, and argued that "nobody's perfect" regarding Gibson's DUI.

Downey has alleged he is, at least after his prison experience, no longer a liberal in both his "proclivities and politics."