Robert John Downey, Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning American actor and musician. He became known during the late 1980s and early 1990s after a series of well-reviewed performances in Hollywood films. During a period of drug addiction in the late 1990s, Downey, Jr. continued his acting career, appearing on the television series Ally McBeal. Stated in interview on Inside the Actors Studio, 2006 More recent films include a number of supporting and lead film roles, in Good Night and Good Luck, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Zodiac, and Iron Man.

Robert John Downey Jr. was born in Greenwich Village, New York City at 1.10 pm. He's the son of underground filmmaker Robert Downey Sr.. His first part in a movie was in his father's Pound (1970), where 5-year-old Downey played a puppy. When he was 20 years old, he joined "Saturday Night Live" (1975) for one season. After that, he went to Hollywood. In 1987, he got the leading role in director James Toback's film Pick-up Artist, The (1987), where he was up against Molly Ringwald. The same year, he played drug addict Julian Wells in the movie Less Than Zero (1987). In 1992, he played Charles Chaplin in Sir Richard Attenborough's film Chaplin (1992). For his astonishing performance, he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In the year 2000, guest starred in the comedy series "Ally McBeal" (1997), where he portrayed the attorney Larry Paul, who became Ally's love interest. For that performance, he won the Golden Globe for "best supporting actor in a comedy series". On "Ally McBeal" (1997), Downey got to show he can sing as well as act when he sang Joni Mitchell's "River", "Chances Are" as a duet with Vonda Shepard, and also "Every Breath You Take" together with Sting. He released one song of his own, "Snakes", on the "Ally McBeal" (1997) album "For Once In My Life", and a full album of his work titled "The Futurist" in 2005.