Robert Downey Jr. Scroll down for movie list. Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:
The son of once-celebrated independent movie director Robert Downey--and a dead ringer for his father's younger self--this brash young actor debuted on-screen as a puppy in his father's satire Pound (1970). He won small roles in such films as Firstborn (1984), Weird Science (1985), and Back to School (1986). A quick-witted performer with a ready smirk, he outpaced his fellow Brat Packers with performances that stood out in, but didn't quite redeem, spotty-at-best films such as Less Than Zero (1987), The Pick-up Artist (1987), and Johnny Be Good (1988). Following a strong supporting role as a young, idealistic lawyer and foil to James Woods' jaded ex-activist in True Believer (1989), he displayed both charm and comic prowess in the comedy/fantasy Chances Are (1989), and got to play buddies with Mel Gibson in the flop Air America (1990). He seemed ill at ease (and badly miscast) as a slimy soap-opera producer in the ensemble comedy Soapdish (1991), and didn't fare much better in his father's comedy Too Much Sun (also 1991).
He then devoted himself to learning everything he could learn--or absorb in some way--about Charlie Chaplin, in order to play the movies' supreme genius in both onscreen and offscreen guise, from youth to old age. His performance in Chaplin (1992) was nothing short of astonishing, and it earned him an Academy Award nomination. That's a tough act to follow, but he did, by delivering an assured comic performance in the sentimental fantasy Heart and Souls (1993). He participated in the freeform documentary The Last Party (also 1993), set at the 1992 Democratic National Convention; his father appears in the film as well. Recent credits include Short Cuts (1993), Natural Born Killers and Only You (both 1994). |  |