Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor and producer. His films as a leading actor have grossed more than $14.3 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing actors of all time, and he was the world's highest-paid actor every year from 2013 to 2015.

Born in Manhattan, New York City, he is the son of filmmaker Robert Downey Sr. and made his acting debut at the age of five in his father's film Pound. He rose to prominence in the 1980s through teen films with the Brat Pack such as Weird Science (1985) and Less than Zero (1987), and his portrayal of Charlie Chaplin in the biopic Chaplin (1992) earned him the BAFTA Award for Best Actor and an Academy Award nomination.

From 1996 he was arrested several times on drug-related charges and served time in prison. After his release in 2000 he joined the television series Ally McBeal, winning a Golden Globe, but he was dismissed from the show in 2001 after further drug-related arrests. He then entered a court-ordered rehabilitation program, has remained sober since 2003, and revived his career with films such as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Good Night, and Good Luck and Zodiac.

Beginning with Iron Man in 2008, he played Iron Man in ten Marvel Cinematic Universe films, and the same year he earned his second Academy Award nomination for Tropic Thunder. He also starred in the Sherlock Holmes films and in Dolittle (2020). For his portrayal of Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer (2023) he won the Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild awards for Best Supporting Actor in 2024. That year he was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for the HBO miniseries The Sympathizer, made his Broadway debut in McNeal, and was announced as returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the villain Doctor Doom.

He married film producer Susan Levin in 2005, and together they co-founded the production company Team Downey.