Brooke+Doyle

__Robert Downey Jr. __ 

 Background > His breakthrough screen role and first critical accolades came later that year, however, with his portrayal of tragic, cocaine-addicted Julian in "Less Than Zero" (1987). It was no coincidence that Downey so convincingly embodied the jittery and dangerously out of control character - by the time the film was released he was going through his first rehab program for cocaine addiction. In fact, in light of his future heartbreaking run-ins with the law over his addiction, watching the film years later would prove too close for comfort for family, friends or even fans. > > Interest in the actor's unpredictable off-screen life was fueled by the end of his seven-year relationship with Sarah Jessica Parker in 1991 - due to his drug usage - and his marriage to actress Deborah Falconer in 1992 after dating her for only 42 days. In 1993, the couple had a son, Indio. > >
 * Robert Downey, Jr. was born on April 4, 1965, in New York City's Greenwich Village.
 * His father, who had changed his surname from Elias as a teen in order to sneak into the Army underage, was a boxer, minor league ball player and playwright before gaining notoriety as an underground filmmaker.
 * Downey's mother Elsie was a writer and an actress whom he credited with instilling his love of performing. During Downey's bohemian upbringing, he enjoyed the colorful cast of downtown counter-culture types that congregated in the family apartment, and appeared in his father's films, "Pound" (1970) in which he played a puppy, and "Greaser's Palace" (1972), a Western in which he had his throat slit by God. His older sister Alison was the academic kid in the family, while it was clear that the hyperactive son was headed for a life in the arts. His parents encouraged this interest by sending him to a performing arts camp, Stagedoor Manor, for several summers.
 * When Downey was 13 years old, his parents divorced. He had a relationship with Sarah Jessica Parker.