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Robert John Downey, Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an Academy Award-nominated and
Golden Globe-winning American actor and musician. He became known during the late
1980s and early 1990s, after a series of well-reviewed performances in Hollywood
films. After a period of drug addiction during the late 1990s, Downey Jr. resumed
his acting career, appearing on the television series Ally McBeal as well as in a
number of supporting and lead film roles, including the upcoming Iron Man.
 Early life and
career
Downey Jr. was born in New York City, New York to Elsie Ford, a dancer and singer,
and Robert Downey Sr., a director of underground films. He has a sister, Alison.
Downey, Jr. is Jewish on his father's side, the original family name being "Elias";
he also has Irish ancestry.
During his childhood, he had a minor role playing a puppy in his father's film
Pound (1970). Downey Jr. grew up in California with his father. At the age of
twenty, he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, but was a cast member for only
one season. He went on to star in The Pick-up Artist in 1987. The same year, he
portrayed the drug-addicted rich boy in Less Than Zero. In 1992, he starred as
Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin, a role which garnered him an Academy Award nomination
for Best Actor. His other films in the 1990s included Heart and Souls, Only You,
Natural Born Killers, and Restoration.
Later
career
In 2000, Downey Jr. became a regular on the television series Ally McBeal. He won a
Golden Globe award and was also nominated for an Emmy. He also appeared as a writer
and singer on Vonda Shephard's "Ally McBeal: For Once in My Life" album and sang in
a duet with Sting on The Police's "Every Breath You Take" hit dating from 1983.
Downey also appeared in Elton John video "I Want Love" in 2001. On November 23,
2004, he released his debut musical album "The Futurist" on Sony Classical, for
which he designed the cover art. He was invited to open for Duran Duran in 2005,
but declined due to film commitments.
He returned to film in the mid 2000s, with three roles in 2005 and seven roles in
2006. Among them are the already-released Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Good Night, and
Good Luck., The Shaggy Dog, A Scanner Darkly, Zodiac and Fur. On September 28,
2006, it was announced that Downey would star in the film Iron Man as the titular
character; the film is currently being filmed and is scheduled for release on May
2, 2008.
Personal
life
Downey Jr. dated actress Sarah Jessica Parker in the 1980s. He married actress
Deborah Falconer on May 29, 1992 and had a son named Indio. They divorced on April
26, 2004. On August 27, 2005, Downey Jr. married producer Susan Levin, (whom he met
on the set of Gothika) in a Jewish ceremony at Amagansett, New York.
Downey practices Wing Chun Kung Fu, which he has credited with helping him beat his
addiction.
Source : Some of the information on this page came
from a Wikipedia article and is licensed under the GNU Documentation
License. ©2008 www.geneticmatrix.com.
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Robert Downey
Jr. - Generator - Biography
