Why He's No. 7

When Downey was 20 years old he joined Saturday Night Live for one season. After that he went to Hollywood. In 1987 he got the leading role in director James Toback's film "The Pick-Up Artist", where he was up againt Molly Ringwald. The same year he played drug addict Julian Wells in the movie "Less Than Zero". In 1992 he played Charlie Chaplin in Sir Richard Attenborough's film "Chaplin". For that astonishing performance he received an Oscar nomination for "best actor" which he unfortunately did not win.

Back Stage

Downey Jr. was born in New York City, New York to Elsie (Ford), a dancer and singer, and Robert Downey Sr., an actor, writer, producer, cinematographer, and director of underground films. He has a sister, Alison. Downey, Jr.'s mother was German and Scottish, and his father was Irish and Jewish. His father changed his surname from Elias to Downey, the name of his stepfather, so he could feign being older and join the army underaged. The new book Conversations With Woody Allen reports that Film director Woody Allen wanted to cast Robert Downey Jr. and Winona Ryder in his film Melinda and Melinda in 2000, but was unable to do so because he could not get insurance on them. "I couldn't get insurance on them . . . We couldn't get bonded.



The completion bonding companies would not bond the picture unless we could insure them," said Allen. "We were heartbroken because I had worked with Winona before and thought she was perfect for this and wanted to work with her again. And I had always wanted to work with Bob Downey and always thought he was a huge talent," Allen added. These complications led to the actor's removal from the cast of the summer 2001 Julia Roberts/Billy Crystal comedy America's Sweethearts and his removal from a stage production of longtime friend Mel Gibson's +Hamlet, although a memorably manic performance in Curtis Hanson's Wonder Boys made it to the screen in 2000. Downey's decision -- after release -- to pursue television work, with a recurring role on Ally McBeal, marked a brief comeback (he won a 2001 Best TV Series Supporting Actor Golden Globe for the performance). Nevertheless, series creator David E. Kelley and the show's other producers sacked Downey permanently when two additional arrests followed. During this period, Downey also allegedly dated series star Calista Flockhart.



In 2002, a Riverside, CA, judge dismissed all counts against Downey. In time, the former addict counseled other celebrity addicts and became something of a spokesperson for rehabilitation. He starred as a hallucination-prone novelist in The Singing Detective in 2003, and while the film didn't achieve mainstream success, critics praised Downey for his interpretation of the role, alongside Oscar winners Adrien Brody and Mel Gibson. The same could be said for Gothika (2003), the psychological thriller that placed him opposite Hollywood heavyweight Halle Berry. In 2004, Downey appeared in Steven Soderbergh's portion of the film Eros. Downey achieved success throughout 2005 with appearances in George Clooney's critically lauded Good Night, and Good Luck -- as one of Ed Murrow's underlings -- and he paired up with Val Kilmer in Shane Black's directorial debut Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. He continued balancing more mainstream fare, such as Disney's Shaggy Dog remake, with challenging films such as Richard Linklater's rotoscoped adaptation A Scanner Darkly.



That same year, Downey wrapped production on Hanson's Lucky You, the story of a card shark (Eric Bana) who faces off against his father (Robert Duvall) at the legendary World Series of Poker, while simultaneously attempting to woo a beautiful singer (Drew Barrymore). Downey continued to show his versatility by joining the casts of Zodiac, David Fincher's highly-touted film about the Zodiac Killer, and the Diane Arbus biopic Fur, with Nicole Kidman. A supporting role in Jon Poll's 2007 directorial debut Charlie Bartlett followed. The biggest was yet to come, however, as 2007 found Downey taking on the roles that would make him an even bigger star than he'd been in his youth, as he took on the leading role of sarcastic billionaire and part-time super hero Tony Stark in the big screen adaptation of the comic book Iron Man, as well as self-important actor Kirk Lazarus in the comedy Tropic Thunder. Both films turned out to be not just blockbuster successes at the box office, but breakaway hits with critics as well, and in addition to major praise, the actor also walked away from 2008 with an Oscar nomination for his performance in Tropic Thunder.

Forcaste

Downey went on to appear in Elton John's video for the single "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.