Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor best known for playing Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As the genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist, Downey Jr. starred in 10 Marvel movies, including 2008’s “Iron Man,” which launched the sprawling, $30 billion-grossing superhero series. Downey launched his acting career with early breakout roles in 1985’s “Weird Science” and 1987’s “Less Than Zero,” an adaptation of the dark Bret Easton Ellis novel. In 1992, he earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Charlie Chaplin in the Richard Attenborough biopic “Chaplin.” Downey’s career became mired in turmoil when the actor’s struggles with substance abuse captured media attention. Though he won a Golden Globe for his work on the legal dramedy series “Ally McBeal,” Downey was fired from the show following drug charges in 2000 and 2001. After numerous run-ins with the law and stints in rehab, Downey made a comeback in Shane Black’s 2005 dark comedy “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” starring as a petty thief posing as an actor, and then in David Fincher’s 2007 crime thriller “Zodiac.” Downey also starred as the titular detective in Guy Richie’s “Sherlock Holmes” movies, and earned another Academy Award nomination for playing an Australian actor portraying a Black man in Ben Stiller’s “Tropic Thunder.” The son of a pioneering underground filmmaker, Downey honored his father in the 2022 Netflix doc “Sr.,” directed by Chris Smith. In 2023, Downey reinvented himself once again, earning Oscar buzz for his transformation into Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan’s atomic bomb drama “Oppenheimer.”