Biographic - Sunday May 1, 2016 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

Born in New York City on April 4, 1965, the son of actor parents, Robert Downey Jr. Has been appearing in movies since he was 5 years old. At the age of 20, he joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live" and he soon began to gain attention for his work in such mid-1980s movies as "Weird Science" and "Back To School" starring roles in the likes of "Less Than Zero" and "1969" followed, and by the turn of the decade, he was starring opposite Mel Gibson in the big-budget action comedy "Air America." Robert earned critical acclaim and Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for his portrayal of comedy great Charlie Chaplin in the 1992 biopic, "Chaplin," and cemented his reputation with roles in "Natural Born Killers" and "Richard III" But off screen, he battled personal demons and his life spiraled downward. By the end of the 1990s, the Hollywood superstar was incarcerated in a California State Prison. Following his release, he joined the cast of the hit TV show "Ally McBeal" his performance brought an Emmy nomination and earned him a golden globe- but he was written out after personal problems continued to take a toll. His marriage to actress Deborah Falconer was over and his career seemed dead in the water at his lowest EBB, Robert reached out and sought professional help by 2003, he was clean and sober. With roles in such movies as "The Singing Detective" and "Gothika" he began to win back the trust of the movie industry, and found personal happiness with marriage to producer Susan Levin. His professional rehabilitation was completed with his starring role in the 2008 blockbuster "Iron Man." That same year, he turned in a stellar performance as the pigmentally altered Kirk Lazarus- a "Dude playing the dude disguised as another dude"- in the smash hit comedy "Tropic Thunder" for which he earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. He won a Golden Globe for the 2009 hit "Sherlock Holmes" and revisited the role for the 2011 sequel, "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows." He has reprised the role of Tony Stark, the billionaire inventor of the Iron Man suit, in a number of Blockbusters, including three movies that earned more than $1 billion each at the box office: "The Avengers," "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Iron Man 3." One of Hollywood's highest earners, his fortune will undoubtedly be swelled by the latest Marvel Studios release, "Captain America: Civil War." Robert's journey back from the brink was compelled in 2015, when he received a full and unconditional pardon from California governor Jerry Brown.

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