Portrait · Philip Romano; existing crop by 4TheWynne / CC BY-SA 4.0

Robert Downey Jr.

Actor, producer, musician and author

Born 1965

Robert Downey Jr. is an American actor, producer, musician and author, born in New York City on April 4, 1965. His childhood unfolded around his father’s experimental filmmaking. In his Fresh Air conversation, he recalled an unconventional family setting in which movies were part of everyday life. Work outside acting and the move towards Los Angeles preceded the sustained professional career. Those early experiences help explain the familiarity with performance that existed before his better-known screen roles. At Santa Monica High School he performed in Oklahoma!, Detective Story and The Rivals, playing Captain Absolute in the latter. Ramon Estevez helped him learn tap dancing. He left school in the eleventh grade, but the productions and friendships had already given his interest in acting a practical setting. In his 1989 conversation with Kenneth Turan, Downey described his father’s example through improvisation and spontaneity. He also recalled Cybill Shepherd’s advice to avoid rushing a scene during Chances Are. The account shows an actor learning from collaborators as well as from family. His father’s Pound supplied an early screen appearance in 1970. Adult work moved through youth comedies into the dramatic performance in Chaplin, for which BAFTA recognised him in 1993. Television offered another substantial chapter as Larry Paul in Ally McBeal. The breadth of these roles preceded the large franchises that later made him internationally familiar. Tony Stark in Iron Man became a major screen role in 2008. Sherlock Holmes added a separate franchise and brought a Golden Globe in 2010. The Avengers films eventually reached Avengers: Endgame in 2019, retaining Tony Stark and Iron Man as central parts of his screen identity. Susan and Robert founded Team Downey in 2010. Producing became a professional strand alongside acting, giving their collaboration an organisational home. The Judge combined his performance as Hank Palmer with an executive-producer credit. Sweet Tooth extended that production work into television. Sr. placed him in a documentary about his father while also crediting him as a producer. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer cast him as Lewis Strauss, moving his work into a historical drama with a very different register from Tony Stark. The performance brought the Academy Award for supporting actor in 2024. The Sympathizer subsequently gave him multiple roles in television. McNeal marked his Broadway debut in 2024. He played Jacob McNeal in the production that ran from September 30 to November 24, adding a sustained stage role to a career usually described through film. Music also has its own place in the story: The Futurist, his 2004 debut album, presented songs he wrote and performed. Cool Food, written with Thomas Kostigen, brought environmental questions into a book about everyday food choices in 2024. It represents another form of public work alongside film and production. His marriage to Susan dates to August 27, 2005. The couple celebrated their anniversary in August 2026. Avengers: Doomsday announces Doctor Doom; December 18, 2026 remains forthcoming.

Verified identityCore facts checked against named sources.

Keep exploring

Connected people

ConnectionSusan DowneyWife and Team Downey cofounder.

ConnectionRobert Downey Sr.Father and subject of Sr.

ConnectionThomas KostigenCool Food coauthor.

Selected career chronology

Credits Index

Major screen, stage, music, sport or broadcast work. This is a selected public-career index, not a complete employment history.

Year	Title	Medium	Role	IMDb
1970	Pound	Film	Puppy	IMDb
1985	Tuff Turf	Film	Jimmy Parker	IMDb
1985	Weird Science	Film	Ian	IMDb
1985	Saturday Night Live	Television series	Various characters	IMDb
1986	Back to School	Film	Derek	IMDb
1987	The Pick-up Artist	Film	Jack Jericho	IMDb
1987	Less Than Zero	Film	Julian	IMDb
1989	Chances Are	Film	Alex Finch	IMDb
1989	True Believer	Film	Roger Baron	IMDb
1990	Air America	Film	Billy	IMDb
1991	Soapdish	Film	David Barnes	IMDb
1992	Chaplin	Film	Charles Spencer Chaplin	IMDb
1993	Heart and Souls	Film	Thomas Reilly	IMDb
1993	Short Cuts	Film	Bill Bush	IMDb
1994	Natural Born Killers	Film	Wayne Gale	IMDb
1994	Only You	Film	Peter Wright	IMDb
1995	Home for the Holidays	Film	Tommy Larson	IMDb
1995	Richard III	Film	Lord Rivers	IMDb
1995	Restoration	Film	Merivel	IMDb
1998	The Gingerbread Man	Film	Clyde Pell	IMDb
1998	U.S. Marshals	Film	Royce	IMDb
2000	Wonder Boys	Film	Terry Crabtree	IMDb
2000	Ally McBeal	Television series	Larry Paul	IMDb
2001	Elton John: I Want Love	Music video	Man	IMDb
2003	The Singing Detective	Film	Dan Dark	IMDb
2003	Gothika	Film	Pete Graham	IMDb
2004	The Futurist	Album	Singer and songwriter	—
2005	Kiss Kiss Bang Bang	Film	Harry Lockhart	IMDb
2005	Good Night, and Good Luck.	Film	Joe Wershba	IMDb
2006	A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints	Film	Dito	IMDb
2006	A Scanner Darkly	Film	James Barris	IMDb
2006	Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus	Film	Lionel Sweeney	IMDb
2006	A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints	Film	Co-producer	IMDb
2007	Zodiac	Film	Paul Avery	IMDb
2008	Iron Man	Film	Tony Stark	IMDb
2008	The Incredible Hulk	Film	Tony Stark — uncredited	IMDb
2008	Tropic Thunder	Film	Kirk Lazarus	IMDb
2009	The Soloist	Film	Steve Lopez	IMDb
2009	Sherlock Holmes	Film	Sherlock Holmes	IMDb
2010	Iron Man 2	Film	Tony Stark	IMDb
2010	Due Date	Film	Peter Highman	IMDb
2011	Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows	Film	Sherlock Holmes	IMDb
2012	The Avengers	Film	Tony Stark / Iron Man	IMDb
2013	Iron Man 3	Film	Tony Stark	IMDb
2014	Chef	Film	Marvin	IMDb
2014	The Judge	Film	Hank Palmer	IMDb
2014	The Judge	Film	Executive producer	IMDb
2015	Avengers: Age of Ultron	Film	Tony Stark / Iron Man	IMDb
2016	Captain America: Civil War	Film	Tony Stark / Iron Man	IMDb
2017	Spider-Man: Homecoming	Film	Tony Stark / Iron Man	IMDb
2018	Avengers: Infinity War	Film	Tony Stark / Iron Man	IMDb
2019	Avengers: Endgame	Film	Tony Stark / Iron Man	IMDb
2020	Dolittle	Film	Dr. John Dolittle	IMDb
2020	Dolittle	Film	Executive producer	IMDb
2020	Perry Mason	Television series	Executive producer	IMDb
2021	Sweet Tooth	Television series	Executive producer	IMDb
2022	Sr.	Documentary film	Self	IMDb
2022	Sr.	Documentary film	Producer	IMDb
2023	Downey’s Dream Cars	Documentary series	Self — host	IMDb
2023	Oppenheimer	Film	Lewis Strauss	IMDb
2023	Downey’s Dream Cars	Documentary series	Executive producer	IMDb
2024	The Sympathizer	Television series	Multiple roles	IMDb
2024	The Sympathizer	Television series	Executive producer	IMDb
2024	McNeal	Stage	Jacob McNeal — Broadway debut	—
2024	Cool Food	Book	Coauthor with Thomas Kostigen	—
2025	Play Dirty	Film	Executive producer	IMDb
2026	Avengers: Doomsday	Film	Doctor Doom — forthcoming	IMDb