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Robert Downey Jr. - Biography

Actor. Born on April 5, 1965, in New York City, New York. The son of director Robert Downey, he made his screen debut at age five in the dog-theme film, Pound, and later appeared in several other of his father's films. He spent much of youth hopping from coast to coast. At 15, he moved to Los Angeles and attended Santa Monica High School. But he dropped out of the 11th grade and returned to New York, where he worked as a shoe salesman and as a busboy at a SoHo restaurant while auditioning for roles. In 1985-1986, he was a regular on TV's "Saturday Night Live", a prelude to a hectic movie career that saw him appear in an amazing number of films of the late 80's, at first in juvenile support, then as an exuberant, uninhibited leading man, particularly adept at physical humor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in the title role in Chaplin (1992). He also contributed an original song for the Chaplin soundtrack.

The twelve-step programs that Downey participated in apparently didn't take: in June of 1996, he was arrested for driving while under the influence, for possession of controlled substances (crack cocaine, powder cocaine, and black-tar heroin), and for possession of a concealed weapon (an unloaded .357 Magnum handgun). Spending time in jail wasn't enough to teach him a lesson--less than a month after his arrest, a trespassing Downey was found passed out, under the influence of a controlled substance, in a home several blocks away from his own residence. Owners of the Malibu property notified police, who hauled the interloper off to the jail ward of a local hospital, where his condition was stabilized and monitored.

Downey invited a third arrest when he violated the conditions of his bail by walking away from a rehabilitation center in a Los Angeles suburb; he was subsequently placed in a lock-and-key drug-rehab center. Downey pled "no contest" in September 1996 to the initial set of charges, and was freed on bail. Instead of receiving the three-year prison term the judge could have handed down, his November sentencing yielded three years probation and a $250 fine. Since his release from rehab, the Chaplin star has completed work on two films: James Toback's Two Girls and Robert Altman's The Gingerbread Man.