As revealed fairly recently in an Instagram post from Robert Downey Jr, his father Robert Downey Sr. unfortunately passed away on July 7th, 2021 after a battle with Parkinson's disease. This is not only a massive loss for the Downey family but also a huge loss for the movie industry as a whole.
Not a lot of people know this, but Robert Downey Sr. led a career as a pioneer filmmaker, with select movies in his filmography—specifically, one called Putney Swope—being considered as groundbreaking milestones of its era. This is a huge loss, but rather than mourn, it feels more appropriate to celebrate the life and achievements of Robert Downey Sr., as well as educate younger readers on what made Sr. so special, paving the way for the future Iron Man actor to have an exceptional career of his own.
10 Robert Downey Isn't Actually His Birth Name
Robert Downey Jr. is one of the strongest sounding, most memorable names in Hollywood. It's no wonder why he kept his birth name as opposed to working under a pseudonym or a stage name. Funny enough, Robert Downey Jr.'s dad was not born with the name Robert Downey.
Originally, Robert Downey Sr. was born Robert Elias Jr., after his father Robert Elias Sr. He only opted to change his name to Downey—borrowing the surname from his stepfather, Jim Downey, when he wanted to enlist into the army. The name stuck with him for the rest of his career.
9 He Joined The Army While Underage
Speaking of Robert Downey Sr.'s stint in the army, it came at a time when young Robert was too young to legally enlist. Downey Sr. enlisted when he was only 15 years old, but since this was during the '50s, it was a lot easier for soldiers to simply lie their way into the army. All it took was a fake name and a fake age before Downey was enlisted.
Granted, he admittedly spent most of his time in the stockades, where he wound up using his free time to write a novel that never ended up being published. He also wrote a few plays while he was there and the experience convinced him to become a writer, etching out his path for a career in screenwriting and off-Broadway playwriting.
8 He Played Baseball Vs. Yogi Berra
During that army-run at the stockade, young Robert Downey Sr. and co. received a visit from none other than the New York Yankees, who were touring the Far East at the time. Since Downey spent much of his youth playing minor league baseball, he was up for a semi-pro challenge. Keep in mind that this era of the Yankees was led by legendary Hall of Famer, Yogi Berra.
Downey would admit that he actually played an alright game for the first couple of innings. That all changed when Yogi Berra hit a triple, sending Downey right back to the stockades where he came from.
7 He's A Former Golden Gloves Boxing Champion
As if being a writer, playwright, and director—all before the age of 22, no less—wasn't impressive enough, Robert Downey Sr. also dabbled in the art of boxing around this same time period. He didn't have any prior training, but at 6'3 and 149 pounds, he was tall for his weight and decided that he'd offer a tough fight at his stature. Plus, as a boxing fan, he just wanted to try it out.
He had his fair share of wins and losses against men with experience and men who had no idea what they were doing in the ring, but his skills were impressive enough to earn him the Golden Gloves.
6 His Family Tree
It has been well documented that Robert Downey Jr. has led an interesting life of his own, so it should come as no surprise that he's just a chip off of the old block when his dad was born into an interesting life himself.
Born in Manhattan, New York, and raised in Rockville Centre, New York, Robert Downey Sr. was the son of Elizabeth (who had her own modeling career) and Robert Elias Sr. (who worked in motels and restaurants). His lineage is just as fascinating, he had a mother who was half Hungarian-Jewish and half Irish while also having Lithuanian Jewish grandparents.
5 His Best Movie Was Controversial
Today, Robert Downey Sr.'s most popular movie, Putney Swope, is revered as a cult classic, but upon initial release, the movie received controversy for its commentary on race and capitalism within the advertising world. "I had a great time doing it, [but] big trouble when it was done—nobody wanted it," he told Interview Magazine.
Downey Sr. struggled to get the movie in theaters and dealt with controversy regarding its movie poster, presenting a middle finger with the slogan, "Up yours, Madison Ave." The Los Angeles Times refused to publish the poster in their paper while publications like Chicago Sun-Times pulled it from their papers in the wake of the controversy.
4 Jane Fonda Helped The Movie Succeed
During the same Interview Magazine piece, Downey Sr. admits that during his struggles with the movie, Oscar-winner Jane Fonda appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and during her interview, declared that Putney Swope was a masterpiece that everyone should see. Downey Sr. had never met Fonda before or after the interview, but her declaration was enough to give the movie the boost it needed at the box office.
The movie's official box office stats are unknown (box office returns weren't as heavily calculated in 1969 as they are today), but Jane Fonda's co-sign certainly helped get more eyes on the product, paving the way for the movie's 2016 National Film Registry entry.
3 Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights Pay Homage To RDS & Putney Swope
With Paul Thomas Anderson being such a well-documented movie aficionado, it should come as no surprise that the writer/director is actually a huge fan of Putney Swope. As such, his second feature, Boogie Nights, pays homage to the movie by naming Don Cheadle's character "Buck Swope." In addition, Wing Soney (a Chinese businessman in Putney Swope) was PTA's inspiration for Cosmo. In fact, during the DVD commentary, PTA admits to shamelessly ripping off the Soney character to create Cosmo.
Even better, Downey Sr. actually makes a cameo in Boogie Nights as a record exec. During the same commentary track, Anderson reveals that Downey Sr. didn't act often in his career because he can never remember his lines, but he was happy to make an exception for this movie.
2 He & His Son Bonded By Smoking Weed
In an interview with The Guardian, Robert Downey Sr. recalled passing a joint to his future Oscar-nominated son when he was but six years old. "You ought to try a little of this instead of drinking," he told Jr, addressing his own alcohol addiction. Sr. then immediately regretted it. "And suddenly I knew I had made a terrible, stupid mistake."
Despite his regret, this wouldn't be the last time that the father-son duo would partake in taking drugs together. This persisted when Downey Jr. got older. As Robert Downey Jr. revealed in his book The New Breed, "when my dad and I would do drugs together, it was like him trying to express his love for me in the only way he knew how."
1 Jr. & Sr. Have Acted Together Before
Speaking of bonding among the Downey family household, some of Robert Downey Jr.'s earliest appearances onscreen were in movies directed by his old man. The movies in question were Pound (Jr.'s acting debut), Greaser's Palace, Moment to Moment, Up the Academy, America, Rented Lips, Too Much Sun, and Hugo Pool. However, the most interesting about this duo is not the movies where Jr.'s dad was behind the camera, but where they both shared the screen.
Jr. and Sr. did not often act together, but when they did, they made it count. Sr. has a cameo in Johnny Be Good, where Downey Jr. co-stars alongside Anthony Michael Hall. The father-son duo shared the screen once more in 1994's Hail Caesar, another buddy movie starring Hall and Downey Jr.