Robert Downey Jr.

A detailed Summary of Robert Downey Jr.

Ten years he could have done without personally. Ten years his career could not have done without. Robert Downey Jr. seems just the latest poster boy for an over indulgent, self-destructive generation. The 90's showed more than a few shoots and ladders for Downey.

It's 1993, and it looks like he is on top of the world. There's a loving wife, a newborn son, and an Oscar nomination for his performance as Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin. But there's more to this story. "I'm starting to think, you know maybe I better start thinking about the marathon instead of the sprint," says Downey.

Robert Downey Sr., his father, is the one who first introduced his six-year-old son to marijuana. "I think a lot of us did things and thought it would be hypocritical not to have our kids participate in marijuana, and so we thought it was cute to let them smoke it and all. It was an idiot move on our parts." Downey Senior admits.

Until 1996, none of his problems had become public. But the carefully constructed image was beginning to shake. His wife, model/actress Deborah Falconer, moved out in April, taking their two-year-old son with them. Falconer, a former addict herself, later said that part of it was because of his drug abuse.

"...Addiction is a brain disease. It may start with the voluntary act of taking drugs...but you can't just tell the addict 'Stop' anymore than you can tell the smoker 'Don't have emphysema'. Starting may be volitional, but stopping isn't." says a friend of Downey's.

On July 16, only three weeks later, police receive a 911 call from a woman claiming a strange man had passed out in her child's bed. Police arrive to find Robert Downey Jr., indeed passed out in a child's bedroom. Apparently under the influence, he wandered into his neighbor's Malibu home, believing it was his own. He is revived by paramedics and taken to the prisoner's ward at USC medical center.

He appears before Judge Lawrence Mira, in the Malibu Municipal Court. "I have been addicted to drugs in one form or another since I was eight years old. When I was fifteen, I started to try to get help." He tells Mira. The judge sends him to a live in drug rehab center.

In December '97, he is back before Judge Mira. This time, Mira is not so soft on him, sentencing him to 108 days in the LA County Jail. Supporters protest the sentence, professing that Downey is a victim, not a criminal. Robert is first held in a communal area, until he is attacked by a fellow inmate on February 13th, 1998, receiving a gash through his left eyebrow.

on June 23rd Downey was pulled over on the Pacific Coast Highway for speeding. Malibu police found heroin and cocaine in his black Ford Explorer. He was arrested, and charged with two felony counts of drug possession, alo

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Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People