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Robert John Downey Sr. ( Elias Jr.; June 24, 1936 – July 7, 2021) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He was known for writing and directing the underground film '' Putney Swope'' (1969), a satire on the New York
Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stree ...
advertising world. According to film scholar Wheeler Winston Dixon, Downey's films during the 1960s were "strictly take-no-prisoners affairs, with minimal budgets and outrageous satire, effectively pushing forward the countercultural agenda of the day." He was the father of American actor Robert Downey Jr.


Early life

Robert John Downey Sr. was born Robert John Elias Jr. in the
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
borough of New York City, on June 24, 1936. He was the son of Elizabeth "Betty" McLauchlen, a model and magazine editor, and Robert John Elias Sr., who worked in management of motels and restaurants. His paternal grandparents were Lithuanian Jews, while his mother was of half Hungarian Jewish and half Irish ancestry. He grew up in Rockville Centre, New York. He changed his surname to Downey after his stepfather, when he wanted to enlist in the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
while being underage. Downey later said he wrote an unpublished novel during his time in the army, though he spent much of his military career "in the stockade".


Career

Downey initially made his mark creating very low-budget independent films aligning with the absurdist movement, in line with
counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...
, anti-establishment, 1960s America. His work in the late 1960s and 1970s was quintessential anti-establishment, reflecting the nonconformity popularized by larger counterculture movements and given impetus by new freedoms in films, such as the breakdown of film censorship codes. In keeping with the underground tradition, his 1970s films were independently made on shoestring budgets and were relatively obscure in the Absurdist movement, finding cult notoriety. In 1961, working with film editor Fred von Bernewitz, Downey began writing and directing low-budget
16mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 mm and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It ...
s that gained an underground following, beginning with ''Ball's Bluff'' (1961), a fantasy short about a Civil War soldier who awakens in
Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
in 1961. He moved into big-budget filmmaking with the surrealistic '' Greaser's Palace'' (1972). His last film was ''Rittenhouse Square'' (2005), a documentary capturing life in a Philadelphia park. Downey's films were often family affairs. His first wife appears in four of his films ('' Chafed Elbows'', '' Pound'', '' Greaser's Palace'', ''
Moment to Moment ''Moment to Moment'' is a 1966 American neo-noir psychological thriller film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Jean Seberg, Honor Blackman and Sean Garrison. Plot Kay Stanton lives on the French Riviera with her psychiatrist husband Neil Sta ...
''), as well as co-writing one (''Moment to Moment''). Daughter Allyson and son Robert Downey Jr. each made their film debuts in the 1970 absurdist comedy ''Pound'' at the ages of 7 and 5, respectively; Allyson would appear in one more film by her father, '' Up the Academy''. Robert Jr.'s lengthy acting résumé includes appearances in eight films directed by his father (''Pound'', '' Greaser's Palace'', ''Moment to Moment'', '' Up the Academy'', ''America'', '' Rented Lips'', '' Too Much Sun'', '' Hugo Pool''), as well as two acting appearances in movies where his father was also an actor (''
Johnny Be Good ''Johnny Be Good'' is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Bud S. Smith, starring Anthony Michael Hall as the main character, Johnny Walker. The film also features Robert Downey Jr., Paul Gleason, Steve James (actor), Steve James, Jennifer Ti ...
'', '' Hail Caesar''). Unmade projects include a script written in the 1980s for Hal Ashby to direct, variously referred to under the titles ''Victor Hiatus'' and ''Almost Together'', and a film set to be executive produced by Paul Thomas Anderson in the 2000s, ''Forest Hills Bob''.


Personal life and death

Downey was married three times. His first marriage was to actress Elsie Ann Ford (1934–2014) in 1962, with whom he had two children: actress-writer Allyson (b. 1963) and actor Robert Jr.. (b. 1965). The marriage ended in divorce in 1975. His second marriage, to actress-writer Laura Ernst, lasted until her death on January 27, 1994, from
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...
. In 1998, he married his third wife, Rosemary Rogers, humorist and co-author of ''Saints Preserve Us!'' and other books. They lived in New York City. Downey died of complications from
Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...
in his sleep at his home in Manhattan, on July 7, 2021, thirteen days after his 85th birthday.


Legacy

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of art film, arth ...
released five of his films (the
National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...
inductee ''Putney Swope'', ''Babo 73'', ''Chafed Elbows'', ''No More Excuses'' and ''Taos Tonight'') as part of the Eclipse Series. A 2022 documentary film simply called '' "Sr."'' was made by Chris Smith of '' American Movie'' fame and was produced by his son. It won the National Board of Review Award for Best Documentary Feature.


Filmography


Film


Filmmaking credits


Acting credits


Television


References


External links

*
Eclipse Series 33: Up All Night with Robert Downey Sr. on The Criterion Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downey, Robert, Sr. 1936 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent American people of Irish descent American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent American Ashkenazi Jews Deaths from Parkinson's disease in New York (state) Film directors from New York City American comedy film directors Jewish American male actors Male actors from Manhattan Military personnel from Manhattan People from Rockville Centre, New York United States Army soldiers 21st-century American Jews Jewish American film people Jews from New York (state)