Robert Downey Jr. alluded to his “horrible childhood” in his Oscar acceptance speech after host Jimmy Kimmel made a quip about the actor’s drug use. The truth is, how bad were his early years?

 

Robert Downey Jr (58 years old) won the Best Supporting Actor award at the 2024 Oscars (held on March 10) for his role as Lewis Strauss in the movie Oppenheimer.

Robert Downey Jr. received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the movie “Oppenheimer”

He was very happy when he stepped onto the stage after “beating” strong candidates Sterling K. Brown in American Fiction , Robert De Niro in Killers of the Flower Moon , Ryan Gosling and Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things .

Standing on the podium with the trophy in hand, the actor who has spent more than five decades in the acting profession joked: “I want to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy – in that order.”

At the Oscars, MC Jimmy Kimmel teased Downey Jr. about his past addiction. But the joke failed when Downey Jr. looked gloomy and stared at the camera.

But Robert Downey Jr. has never been one to shy away from admitting his turbulent past.

Robert Downey Jr. in the portrait of Lewis Strauss (pictured), movie “Oppenheimer”

Addicted to drugs from… father’s own joke

Downey Jr.’s father first introduced him to drugs when he was just 6 years old and this action sent him down a path of chaos, destroying relationships and eventually landing him in prison.

The youngest of two children, Downey Jr. was born in Manhattan, New York City in 1965 and initially grew up in the bohemian neighborhood of Greenwich Village, where he said he was “surrounded by drugs”. fin” at home.

His parents were disciples of the 1960s protest culture and made underground films. His mother Elsie appeared in everything her husband did – having played all 12 female characters.

Robert Downey Jr. as a child

Although Robert Downey Sr. influenced a generation of young creators, the cult filmmaker’s films were never commercially successful and his family struggled to live in an attic. The cramped loft has been renovated.

And Downey Jr. was just 6 years old when he was introduced to drugs and then his chaotic path to drug addiction.

It all started when his father organized a poker night at his home when he discovered young Downey Jr. sipping a glass of white wine.

But instead of quickly pulling the glass out of his young son’s hand, he gave him a marijuana cigarette and told him to inhale it.

In a 2000 interview with Vanity Fair , Downey Sr – who suffered from Parkinson’s disease and died in July 2021 at the age of 85 – recalled:

“We were all sitting around, smoking weed and playing poker in an old West Village loft, and Robert was staring at me kind of funny. Robert had always been an observer of things, even when he was a kid. very small.

And I said, ‘you know, you should try some of this instead of drinking alcohol. I gave Downey Jr a joint.

And suddenly I knew I had made a stupid, terrible mistake… Giving grass to a child just for fun.”

Hit filmmaker Robert Downey Sr admits giving his 6-year-old son drugs for the first time and later says it was a “terrible, stupid mistake”

Meanwhile, Downey Jr’s 2022 Netflix documentary , titled Sr , includes a clip of a rare interview, apparently from the 1990s, with his father.

“A lot of us think it would be hypocritical not to let our kids do marijuana and things like that,” Downey Sr. admitted.

It was a stupid move on our part to share that with our children.”

When asked if he ever worried that his son might not survive, Downey Sr replied: “Many times.”

Family life that involved “growing up in a family where everyone did drugs” led Robert Downey Jr to become addicted to drugs at the age of eight.

Speaking to a judge about his addiction to cocaine and heroin in 1999, Downey Jr. said “it was like I had a shotgun in my mouth, and I put my finger on the trigger, and I liked the taste of gun metal.” “.

Acting in dad’s disturbing movies

Downey Sr’s parenting style goes beyond drug use.

Downey Jr. was only 5 years old when he had his first screen role in the absurdist comedy “Pound” (1970).

He took his son to see X-rated movies and even cast him in films that were disturbing and far removed from child-friendly films.

Downey Jr. was just five years old when he got his first screen role in the absurdist comedy Pound (1970) – in which the cast played stray dogs waiting to be put down.

Two years later, 7-year-old Downey Jr. appeared in another of his father’s deranged films – a Western called Greaser’s Palace.

In this movie, Downey Jr.’s throat was cut by a missionary and he had to witness his biological mother – also participating in the movie – being brutally beaten.

Downey Jr.’s family moved at least a dozen times – to London, New Mexico, Los Angeles and Connecticut – as his parents pursued their careers at the expense of their children’s education.

Eventually, Downey Jr. said drug use became the only way his father knew to connect with him.

“When my father and I did drugs together,” he explained in a 1988 interview, “it seemed like he was trying to express his love for me in the only way he knew how.” .

Eventually, Downey Jr. said drug use became the only way his father knew to connect with him

His parents divorced in 1978 – when Downey Jr. was 13 years old – and he initially moved with his father to Santa Monica, California.

In high school, however, his drug and alcohol problems escalated as he partied with Hollywood kids.

His fellow students at the time, including Sean Penn, Rob Lowe and Emilio Estevez, were already stars and Downey Jr. was determined to become one too.

Downey Jr. dropped out of school to pursue acting at age 16 and just two years later, he was forced to fend for himself when his father cut him off financially. The aspiring star returns to New York to try his luck on stage.

He quickly found not only work but also romance when – after dating Marisa Tomei, who later won an Oscar.

Downey Jr. dropped out of school to pursue acting at age 16 and quickly landed many roles (pictured in “Weird Science” in 1984)

Losing control due to drug addiction

And he began a serious relationship with co-star Sarah Jessica Parker, who was also 18 at the time and had been a star on Sex And The City for several years.

They lived together for five years before Downey Jr.’s drug addiction destroyed their relationship.

By then, however, he had found his breakthrough role, playing a drug-addicted rich kid in the 1987 film Less Than Zero .

When he was just 18 years old, Downey Jr. was forced to fend for himself when his father cut him off financially

And other big screen opportunities came his way, including co-starring with Mel Gibson in the 1990 action comedy Air America .

He was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Charlie Chaplin in 1992’s Chaplin .

Downey Jr. married model Deborah Falconer in 1992 and they have son Indio. But his drug use and chaotic behavior increased.

In 1996, the star was arrested for speeding while drunk and possessing heroin, cocaine and an unloaded gun.

Downey Jr. repeatedly skipped court-ordered drug tests and was in and out of jail – twice waking up in a pool of his own blood after other inmates attacked him

The following month, while awaiting trial, his neighbors called the police after discovering Downey Jr. had wandered into their house drunk and passed out on his 11-year-old son’s bed. Surname. That same year, his wife finally gave up on him.

A judge ordered Downey Jr. to go to rehab, but he escaped, was recaptured, and sent back to the rehab center.

Even after re-emerging in 2000 and winning a Golden Globe for his role as Calista Flockhart’s boyfriend in the legal drama Ally McBeal , he continued to get into trouble.

Downey Jr. began a serious relationship with co-star Sarah Jessica Parker but their relationship was damaged by his drug use

Police found cocaine and methamphetamine in his hotel room and while on parole, he was found wandering around LA.

Fired from Ally McBeal , Downey Jr. returned to rehab. He finally quit using drugs thanks to producer Susan Levin.

Found glory after recovering from drug addiction

In 2003, he met producer Susan Levin on set. She told him that she would marry him only if he promised to quit drugs forever.

Downey Jr. began therapy including a 12-step program, meditation and kung fu, and now says the strongest drug he uses is caffeine.

Downey Jr. seemed to acknowledge Susan’s longstanding support in his Oscar acceptance speech on Sunday when he said: “I want to thank my vet – I mean wife – Susan Downey over there.