Robert Downey Jr. Bio, Wiki, Net Worth, Education, Career and Lifestyle

CHILDHOOD

Born to a father who was also a filmmaker and actor, Robert Downey knew all about the film world long before he ever knew the regular real world. His father, Robert Downer Sr. and his mother Elsie Ann lived with their two children in a ‘comfortable’ home in Manhattan, New York. Not many people know this, but the real name of Robert Downey is Elias. This was later changed at the will of his father to enlist in the Army. Robert along with his elder sister have spent their growing up years in Greenwich Village.

The earliest memories of Robert are those dominated by drugs and the glaring media life of the films. As a drug addict himself, Robert Downer Sr, exposed his young son to the life of drugs at the early age of Six. It was at this time that young Robert would get to experience his very first ‘trip’ after the use of Marijuana. He would spend most of his time with his father doing drugs, a habit that was deeply regretted by the father in the future. In his defence, Robert Downey Sr would go on to explain that this was the only way known to him to express his love for his young son at the time. However, addiction to drugs would soon lead Robert Downey into more troubles in the future than he had bargained for.

Other than drugs, it was also the films that made a major part of Downey’s life. He faced the cameras for the very first time at the young age of five. This was the role of a sick puppy in the film ‘Pound’, followed by another film ‘Greaser’s Palace. His later years as a young child of 10 spent studying classical ballet. Robert Downey later went on to attend the Stagedoor Manor Performing arts Training Centre in New York through his teenage years.

After his parent’s divorce, young Robert moved in with his father. In the quest to pursue a career in acting, he soon dropped out of Santa Monica High School and went back to New York. This would lead to a long road of struggle, victories and future stardom along with some great lows in his life.

EDUCATION

As a child actor, Robert Downey has early exposure to the limelight. However, his actor parents ensured that his education never suffered in any which way. Downey went to Santa Monica High School. He went on to study Ballet, which was a part of the large curriculum. He also attended the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Centre in the city of New York. He went on to study and act in theatre, something that would help him know his craft all the better. Love for the movies and the will to work as an actor was instilled in Robert Downey by his mother who was an actor herself.

CAREER

The start of a lustrous career began with not so promising roles in the theatre in the year 1983. He was also cast in the Saturday Night live in the year 1985, which proved to be a huge disappointment and had to be dropped soon due to low ratings. It took him a year-long to get cast in the breakthrough role in the super hit films Tuff Tuff and Weird Science that finally earned him the great big movie break. Later on various remarkable hits like the Pretty in Pink and The pickup artists have somehow formed the movie genre of the ’80s. This was further propelled by his wonderful performance as a drug addict in the film ‘Less than zero’ that got him the attention he so desired and deserved.

The other films that have gone on to be cult classics are like ‘Chaplin’ in the year 1992. This role earned him the nomination for the best actor for the Academy Award. Robert Downey starred in various movies which proved to be major hits and also highest grosser, which soon cemented his position as an ‘A-lister’.

However, despite a wonderful career graph that saw a huge raise, Downey was soon haunted by the troubled drug problems that got the better of him. He was soon found on the wrong side of the law multiple times on the account of wrongful drug possessions. The duration between 1996 to 2001 saw the worst of Downey’s drug problem, with a constant relapse time and again. The substance abuse got even worse for Robert Downey and he soon found himself behind bars quite a few times. This also led to him losing out on some great projects and also being dropped from a few.

It took him a year to convince the law of his sobriety and was finally granted bail in the year 2000. He was signed up for Ally McBeal’s television series, which went on to be a major hit. This also earned him an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe win for the Best Supporting Actor in a mini-series. However, due to his erratic run-ups with the law once again for substance abuse got him fired from the show for good. This led to a five long year for Robert Downey to get his act together and he finally signed-up for Rehab. Once finally ‘cleaned-up’ his career took-off once again and saw major stardom in the years that followed.

Today Robert Downey is one of the most bankable movie stars and also one of the highest-paid in Hollywood, with the likes of the Iron Man series and many blockbuster films to his credit.

How Much Robert Downey, Jr. Earned From Marvel Universe

Iron Man I: $500 thousand
Iron Man II: $10 million
Iron Man III: $75 million
The Avengers: $50 million ($10 million base + $40 million backend bonus)
Avengers: Age of Ultron: $40 million
Captain America: Civil War: $40 million
Spider-Man Homecoming: $15 million
Avengers: Infinity War: $40 million
Avengers: End Game: $75 million

INVESTMENTS

Net worth $ 300 Million

• Highest paid actor (2016-2017): $ 50 Million
• Total earnings (2017-2018): $ 80 Million
• Total Earnings (2018-2019): $ 65 million
• Total Earnings- Marvel Movies: $ 345 .5 Million
• Santa Monica Home: $ 4 Million
• Malibu estate: $ 13.44 Million
• Malibu Home: $ 4 Million
• Pacific Palisades Home: $ 2.5 Million

Despite several setbacks, Robert Downey has bounced back and is a bankable star today. He is a happily married man to Susan Levin. She is an Executive Vice President of Production at Joel Silver’s production company. The two had met at the sets of the movie ‘Gothika’ and were married just before Levin’s thirtieth birthday. They were soon blessed with a son, whom they named Exton Elias and a daughter Avri Roel followed soon after. He is a family man ever since and has been drug-free for a long time now. He credits his wife to help him cope with his substance issue problem with the help of meditation and Yoga.

AWARDS

With an illustrious career, which has spanned over decades, Robert Downey is a superstar and a known name in Hollywood. He has given some breakthrough performances and several great movies that have been tagged as ‘classics’.

• BAFTA AWARDS- 1
• CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS- NOMINATION (3)
• ACADEMY AWARDS- NOMINATIONS (2)
• GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS- 3, NOMINATIONS (5)
• MTV MOVIE AWARDS- 2, NOMINATIONS (8)
• PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS- 7, NOMINATIONS (21)
• PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS- NOMINATIONS (1)
• SATURN AWARDS – 4, NOMINATIONS (7)
• SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS- 1, NOMINATIONS (4)
• TEEN CHOICE AWARDS- 2, NOMINATIONS (17)

Robert Downey is a well-known name in the film world today. He has reviewed his slacking career and has rediscovered his talents. Some of his works are true masterpieces, like his role in the film ‘Chaplin’. He has been reported to have gone through tough training for the role to be able to play the iconic character including the body language and also being able to pull off playing a tennis left-handed. He has been known to have gone into the skin of the character many times to give a convincing performance, like the ‘Less than zero’ role in which he played an out of control drug addict. This performance was close to his heart, as it somehow managed to offer a reflection into his own life as it then was. It also gave him much of the conviction he so required to be able to pick up his life and try and build back.

His career comebacks have been the ‘right out of the movies’ plot, where the ‘good guy’ gets a happy ending. With some of his closest friends like Mel Gibson standing by his side, he sure was able to strut back to life. However, it was his role as the ‘Iron Man’ that sealed his position on the list of highest-paid celebrities. In fact, the critics went on to declare that Robert Downey is, in fact, the original Iron man in all the senses. He also has various blockbusters like the ‘Tropic Thunder’ which went on to be the highest grosser. The other notable mentions are his title role in the movie Sherlock Holmes which was also the 8^th highest-grossing film of the year 2009. The upcoming projects are some of the most promising ones, with a Sherlock Holmes sequel in the making and he also has a sports comedy-drama to star in.