OSCARS 2024
Robert Downey Jr: How old is he, how tall is he, who is his partner and what is his estimated net worth?
The actor had a complicated relationship with drugs and alcohol, which even landed him in jail, but he found a way out with his father as an example.
Will the third time be the charm for Robert Downey Jr.? Downey was nominated twice for an Oscar before this year - once for Best Actor (”Chaplin”) and once for Best Supporting Actor (”Tropic Thunder”). Now, he’s up for another for Best Supporting Actor in “Oppenheimer”. The Oscar is the only award missing from his list of accomplishments after winning a BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild award.
Downey’s road to success hasn’t been an easy one. He began his professional career at just five years old, at the initiative of his father, actor and director Robert Downey Sr. Since then, Downey Jr. tried his luck in all types of films and television shows with mixed success. He was even once named by Rolling Stone magazine as “the worst actor in the history of Saturday Night Live.”
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Robert Downey Jr.’s time in jail
Professional success brought on personal problems. Downey’s first Oscar nomination was for his work in ‘Chaplin’, a success that allowed him to receive other prestigious roles. But that came to a temporary end when he started to have problems with drugs and alcohol, and was arrested for the illegal possession of cocaine, heroin, and a 357-caliber Magnum. In fact, he went to prison several times and even saw his relationships with Sarah Jessica Parker and Deborah Falconer, his first wife, cut short. He also lost custody of his son with Falconer.
His father was his link to addiction and years later, the person who helped him out of it. Downey himself said that the first time he used marijuana was at a party organized by his father when he was only seven years old. Of course, with the passing of years, the incessant increase in wealth and proximity to the upper echelons of society, he began to have access to other illegal substances. One of the times he was arrested was because he entered his neighbor’s house and lay down in one of the beds as a result of confusion due to drug use.
“I was just playing a game of wanting to self-soothe and stay loaded, rather than deal with the fact that I had gone off the tracks a little bit,” Downey said in the documentary “Sr.”, inspired by his father. Rather than resenting his father, he gave him credit.
“I remember it very very very profoundly. Even though it took me another 20 years to get my own shit together, you and Laura became this stable force for me. When you lost her, and you stayed clean, and I was still out there, you were just telling me to stay on the planet, and not give up, and all that. You weren’t exactly some karma-free man. Let me not fucking...let’s not stretch the truth here. But that was a super significant thing.”
If Laura was the light for Robert Downey Sr., producer Susan Levin was the light for Downey Jr. They met during the filming of ‘Gothika’ in 2003 and married in 2005. Together they have two children and sometimes express their love on their respective Instagram accounts.
Downey’s net worth
At 58 years old, the “Iron Man” (who is not as tall as his character appears - just 5′8″!) is not just successful...he’s very successful. According to Celebrity Net Worth, he boasts a massive $300 million net worth, which mainly comes from his work with the Marvel franchise.