Hailed by myriad critics as one of the most quick-witted and all-purpose actors of his inception, Robert Downey Jr. chalked up a formidable onscreen chase that quickly launched the litter thesp into the stratosphere. Although, for a time, Downey's stormy offscreen life and personal problems threatened to challenge his common trope, he quickly bounced back and overcame these setbacks, with a continued array of awe-inspiring roles on the big and small screens that under no circumstances... sacrificed his audience appeal or affability.

The son of underground filmmaker Robert Downey, Downey Jr. was born in Experimental York Bishopric on April 4, 1965. He made his victory onscreen appearance at the period of five, as a puppy in his father's film Pound (1970). Between 1972 and 1990, he made cameo appearances in five more of his sire's films.

The actor's first significant role, in 1983's Infant, It's You, largely ended up on the penetrating-room puzzle; it wasn't until two years later that he began landing-place more well-built parts, first as a one-season cast associate on Saturday Night Real and then in the comedy Weird Skill. In 1987, he landed coup roles in two films that capitalized on the Brat Pack marvel, James Toback's The Pick-Up Artist, (opposite Molly Ringwald), and Less Than Zero, for which he won acclaim playing cocaine addict Julian Wells. To the core it all, Downey cosmopolitan an in demand feel since role (and script) selection. His turns in Emile Ardolino's classy reincarnation vision Chances Are (1989), Michael Hoffman's Soapdish (1992), Robert Altman's Short Cuts (as the Iago-like Hollywood makeup artist Folding money Bush), and Richard Loncraine's Richard III (1995) wowed viewers around the world, and oft, on those rare occasions when Downey did pick out substandard important (such as the leading in Richard Attenborough's deeply stained Chaplin (1992), or an Australian media sponger in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers [1994]), his performance redeemed it.

In actuality, critics deemed Downey's portrayal as one of the only fruitful elements in the Chaplin biopic, and it earned the thesp a To the fullest extent Actor Oscar nomination, as well as Golden Earth and British Academy Award noms. In all directions from this schedule, Downey's individual life took a oust for the worse. In June 1996, the LAPD arrested the actor (who had already gush forthwith in three rehabilitation facilities between 1987 and 1996) on counts including soporific use, driving guardianship the potency, possession of a concealed weapon, and possession of illegal substances, a development which struck numerous as ironic, affirmed his star-making playing years until in Less than Zero. A month after this seize, watch found Downey Jr. unconscious on a neighbor's sward, under the influence of a controlled means, and authorities again incarcerated him, taking him -- this time -- to a rehab center. A third arrest pronto followed, as did another stint in rehab. His stop in rehab didn't form long, as he walked old hat, thereby violating the conditions of his bail. More arrests and complications followed -- in factually, the actor had to be released from rehab to make James Toback's Two Girls and a Guy -- but he still landed a few cull appearances and won encomium for his drill equal in Mike Figgis' Entire Night Remain loyal (1997) and Altman's in another manner-inferior Gingerbread Man (1998).

In addition, he starred in sole of his old boy's films, the offbeat Hugo Pool (1997). In 1999, he had three films not on in theaters: Friends and Lovers, Bowfinger, and In Dreams. He delivered a particularly chilling doing in the latter, as longhaired psychopathic infant butcher Vivian Thompson, that arguably ranked with his finest on. But Downey's problems caught up with him again that in spite of year, when he was re-arrested and sentenced to 12 months in a conditions penitentiary.

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 forging 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 emancipate -- to pursue goggle-box charge, with a recurring impersonation on Coadjutor McBeal, marked a brief comeback (he won a 2001 Kindest TV Series Supporting Actor Rosy Earth because of the bringing off). Nevertheless, series creator David E. Kelley and the played's other producers sacked Downey permanently when two additional arrests followed. During this patch, Downey also allegedly dated series star Calista Flockhart. In 2002, a Riverside, CA, referee dismissed all counts against Downey. In time, the antediluvian fiend counseled other celebrity addicts and became something of a spokesperson towards rehabilitation. He starred as a dream-tending novelist in The Singing Detective in 2003, and while the film didn't succeed in mainstream success, critics praised Downey for his examination of the role, alongside Oscar winners Adrien Brody and Mel Gibson.

The anyway could be said for Gothika (2003), the subconscious 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 completely 2005 with appearances in George Clooney's critically lauded Good Dusk, and Good Luck -- as Possibly man of Ed Murrow's underlings -- and he paired up with Val Kilmer in Shane Frowning's directorial inauguration Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. He continued balancing more mainstream charge, 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 radio show on Hanson's Fortunate You, the story of a card shark (Eric Bana) who faces off against his sire (Robert Duvall) at the traditional Far-out Series of Poker, while simultaneously attempting to woo a smashing nightingale (Drew Barrymore). Downey continued to show his versatility during joining the casts of Zodiac, David Fincher's approvingly-touted film almost the Zodiac Killer, and the Diane Arbus biopic Fur, with Nicole Kidman. A supporting task in Jon Poll's 2007 directorial debut Charlie Bartlett followed. The biggest was yet to drop, however, as 2007 build 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 factor-time wonderful hero Tony Utter in the arrogantly room divider change of the comic register 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 happily, and in addition to major praise, the actor also walked away from 2008 with an Oscar nomination for his demeanour in Tropic Thunder. Get hitched to actress Deborah Falconer from 1992-2004, Downey married Gothika auteur Susan Levin in 2005. He and Falconer beget Possibly man son, Indigo Downey.