Robert John Downey Jr. is an American actor and producer. His films have grossed over USD 14. 4 billion worldwide, making him the sixth-highest-grossing box office star of all-time. Downey gained global recognition for starring as Tony Stark Iron Man in ten films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Iron Man. In 1985, he was hired for the new, younger, cast of the new Saturday Night Live, but following a year of poor ratings and criticism of his comedic talents he was dropped and replaced by John Hughes.
About Robert Downey Jr. in brief
Robert John Downey Jr. is an American actor and producer. His films have grossed over USD 14. 4 billion worldwide, making Downey the sixth-highest-grossing box office star of all-time. At the age of five, he made his acting debut in Robert Downey Sr.’s film Pound. In 1992, Downey portrayed the title character in the biopic Chaplin, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won a BAFTA Award. Downey gained global recognition for starring as Tony Stark Iron Man in ten films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Iron Man. In 1985, he was hired for the new, younger, cast of the new Saturday Night Live, but following a year of poor ratings and criticism of his comedic talents he was dropped and replaced by John Hughes. He was considered for the role of John Hughes’s bully in Pretty Duck in 1988. In 2008, Time magazine named Downey among the 100 most influential people in the world, and from 2013 to 2015 he was listed by Forbes as Hollywood’s highest-paid actor. In 2013, Rolling Stone magazine named him the worst cast member in SNL’s entire run, stating that he sums up everything that makes SNL great. He has maintained his sobriety since 2003, and has been nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his work on Ally McBeal and The Singing Detective. He is the brother of actor Chris Downey and the nephew of actor Tom Hanks. His mother is actress Elsie Ann Downey, who appeared in his father’s films.
His father is of half Lithuanian Jewish, one- quarter Hungarian Jewish, and one-quarter Irish descent, while Downey’s mother had Scottish, German, and Swiss ancestry. He grew up in Greenwich Village, New York City, with his father and older sister Allyson. He moved to California in 1982 to pursue an acting career full-time, but dropped out of Santa Monica High School to pursue acting. In 1983, he began building upon theater theater roles, including in the short-lived off-Broadway musical American Passion, produced by Norman Lear. He had a dramatic breakthrough when he played James Spader’s sidekick in Pinkie Hughes’s Pretty Duck. In 2003, he starred in the film Pretty Duck, which earned him his second Golden Globe Award. He subsequently went on to star in the black comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, the thriller Zodiac, and the action comedy Tropic Thunder ; for the latter he was Nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. In 2004, he appeared in the movie The Reader, which won him an Emmy Award for best supporting actor. He also starred in The Godfather: Part II, which also earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. In 2007, he had a role in the horror film The Great Gatsby, which he also won an Emmy award for best actor in a supporting role. In 2009, he won a Golden Globes Award for his role in The Grand Budapest Hotel.
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