Downey was born in New York City, New York, the younger of two children. His father, Robert Downey, is an actor, writer, producer, cinematographer, and director of underground films, and his mother, Elsie (née Ford), is also an actress and appeared in Downey Sr.'s films. Downey's father is of Irish and Jewish ancestry and his mother is of German and Scottish descent. His father was born "Robert Elias," but changed his last name to "Downey" (after his step-father James Downey) when he was a minor and wanted to enlist in the Army.
During his childhood, Downey had minor roles in his father's films, making his debut at age 5 as a sick puppy in the absurdist comedy Pound (1970), and then at age 7 he was murdered by God in the surrealist Greaser's Palace (1972). He grew up in Greenwich Village and attended the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in upstate New York, as a teenager. When his parents divorced in 1978, Downey moved to California with his father; but, in 1982, he dropped out of Santa Monica High School and moved back to New York to pursue an acting career full time.
Downey started dating actress Sarah Jessica Parker after meeting on the set of Firstborn. They separated in 1991, according to Downey, because of his drug and alcohol abuse. He then dated Marisa Tomei, with whom he appeared together in Only You and Chaplin, in the late 1980s. He married actress Deborah Falconer on May 29, 1992, and had a son with her named Indio Falconer Downey, born on September 7, 1993 in Los Angeles County, California. Downey and Falconer divorced on April 26, 2004. In 2003, while on the set of Gothika, he met producer Susan Levin, who runs Joel Silver's movie company. The two started dating and married on August 27, 2005 in a Jewish ceremony at Amagansett, New York.
Downey says he has been drug free since 2001 thanks to the help of his family, therapy, meditation, twelve-step recovery programs, yoga and the practice of Wing Chun Kung Fu. He has described his religious beliefs as "Jewish-Buddhist," although he has been interested in the past by Christianity and the Hare Krishna ideology.
Quick Info
Born April 4, 1965, New York City, New York, United States
Spouse(s)
Deborah Falconer (1992–2004)
Susan Levin (2005–)
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