Robert Downey Jr.'s Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Ally McBeal Larry Paul

Main Movie Roles

BIOGRAPHY:

Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) in Greenwich Village, New York City. He's the son of underground filmmaker Robert Downey Sr.

His first part in a movie was in his father's Pound (1970), in which 5-year-old Downey played a puppy. When he was 20 years old, he joined Saturday Night Live (1985) for one season. After that, he went to Hollywood. In 1987, he got the leading role in director James Toback film The Pick-up Artist (1987), co-starring with Molly Ringwald. The same year, he played drug addict Julian Wells in the movie Less Than Zero (1987).

In 1992, he played Charles Chaplin in Sir 'Richard Attenborough's film Chaplin (1992). For his astonishing performance, he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In the year 2000, he guest-starred in the comedy series Ally McBeal (1997), where he portrayed the attorney Larry Paul, who became Ally's love interest. For that performance, he won the Golden Globe for "best supporting actor in a comedy series". On Ally McBeal (1997), Downey got to show that he can sing as well as act, when he sang Joni Mitchell's "River," Chances Are as a duet with Vonda Shepard, and "Every Breath You Take" together with Sting. He released one song of his own, "Snakes," on the Ally McBeal (1997) album "For Once in My Life," and a full album of his own work entitled "The Futurist" in 2005.


TRIVIA:

• Godfather of his son 'Indio Falconer Downey' (qv) is close friend 'Anthony Michael Hall' (qv).
• Was roommates with 'Kiefer Sutherland' (qv) in the early '80s.
• (6 August 1999) After Downey's three violations of probation for drug and alcohol abuse in a three-year span of time since he was spared a prison sentence and placed on probation, Malibu Judge Lawrence Mira stated that he was out of options. He was sentencing Downey to prison, he said, to save his life, because he would not take the responsibility of refraining from alcohol and drug use on his own. The Judge invoked the three years' sentence in state prison that had been suspended in 1996. Downey, Dept of Corrections #P50522, spent two weeks in a state prison reception center at Wasco, California, for orientation. On 8/25/99, he was transferred to a Dept. of Corrections prison named "SATF" (Substance Abuse Treatment Facility) for drug dependent prisoners in Corcoran California. Scheduled release date: 11/2/2000. SATF is across the street from the other Corcoran Prison, where inmates were shot to death on the exercise yard during fights in the 1990s. Downey's lawyers have approached the Malibu judge several times in the last 11 months to request Downey's release, but the Judge has refused.
• Kept a lot of the authentic vintage clothing he wore in the movie _Chaplin (1992)_ (qv).
• (25 November 2000) Downey re-arrested on drugs and weapons charges in Palm Springs, California, at the luxurious 'Merv Griffin' (qv) resort, after an anonymous tip to police. Downey was found alone, with cocaine and methamphetamines. He cooperated with police, spent the night in jail, and was released the next morning on $15,000.00 bail. Downey had been on a career upswing with his successful stint on _"Ally McBeal" (1997)_ (qv), and his upcoming stage performance as Hamlet, set for January, 2001 in Los Angeles, to be directed by his friend 'Mel Gibson (I)' (qv).
• Was in attendance at 'Chris Penn (I)' (qv)'s funeral
• He took daily drug tests during the filming of _Two Girls and a Guy (1997)_ (qv).
• Close friends with 'Anthony Michael Hall' (qv) and 'Ramon Estevez' (qv).