Talk:Robert Downey Jr./Archive 1

Substance abuse writing style
The end of the substance abuse paragraph "Downey decided to quit drugs once and for all while standing on the coast of California, in possession of narcotics. Realizing he was stronger than that which was fueling his addiction,[32] he promptly threw the narcotics into the Pacific Ocean, and has been clean and sober ever since." is written much like a fairytale... should this be changed perhaps? Also since I believe that such statement is not really appropriate for an encyclopaedia.. -- 82.45.125.208 (talk) 17:05, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

Criminal photo
Removed criminal photo of Robert Downey Jnr, by reason that there is already a section on his drug addiction and this is not the most significant aspect of what he is famous for.

Half-Jewish
Removed reference to him considering himself half Jewish. Anyone reading the source can tell he was saying "half" for a play on words; besides he's not religious so it shouldn't matter what he considers himself half of. --68.103.154.140 13:49, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

DRUG ADDICTION
why is there so little information here on downey jr's drug addiction? it is the defining characteristic of his public persona. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.237.212.101 (talk) 23:18, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

The article currently cites a 2003 interview that dates RDJ's sobriety to 2001, but I feel like more recently, he's cited 2003 as the date of his sobriety. See this article, for example http://www.okmagazine.com/news/view/7230. Given how dated the original source is (the interview was done in 2003... if he was still using at that point, he had strong incentive not to admit it), might it be better to push back the sobriety date to 2003? JoelleJ (talk) 14:20, 28 August 2008 (UTC)


 * IIRC, RDJ finished up with rehab in the 2001-2002 timeframe--coming out sober and getting released from probation, which closed out the last of his legal problems--but 2003 was when he gave up drugs for good, tossing them into the ocean according to an article in Esquire magazine, so 2003 is probably the correct date. Scarletsmith (talk) 21:33, 22 September 2008 (UTC)

There is so little talk about his drug addiction because others do not feel that it defines him as a person. It may have helped to form him in positive ways. However, to be reminded of that all the time even by the fans must be aggravating. Move away from that just like he did. Drugs shouldn't be the center of who he is. Monny Mon Mon<3 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.146.10.188 (talk) 23:01, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

"Helped form him"? How come drug addiction is seen as a positive?

How did Downey's role in Less Than Zero (1987) push his "already existing drug habit one step further"? Whatever that means.124.197.15.138 (talk) 06:40, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

Friendships
This will quickly get out of hand. I don't think who he is friends with has any relevance, unless it is stated in a relevant context, such as someone who helped him find work during the dark days. But just general friendships, especially of the fleeting nature found in entertainment, has no relevance to Downey's encyclopedic entry. --DavidShankBone 22:38, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

Profile picture
What's the point of having a profile photo that covers his face?

There should be at least one good photo of him on the page.

Notable roles
How can "tony stark" be a notable role for him, when the film hasn't even been released?  Troubleshooter   23:44, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

The same way "Dagny Taggart" can be a notable role for Angelina Jolie, even though the working draft for Atlas Shrugged: The Movie is probably still a year away: the buzz. First, the visuals we've seen (via a leaked ComicCon trailer) are awesome. Second, the character is one of Marvel's flagships. Third, he will be playing a recovering alcoholic, and the angst he puts on screen will likely be his own. --71.38.212.4 04:44, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

I did a slight correction of Robert Downey Jr plaing Iron Man. The original post said that he is playing the titular character. I changed this to the title character as titular has a slightly different meaning. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.245.84.200 (talk) 01:15, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

"Drug Addiction"
He was a coke head. His problem with cocaine is always refered to as "drug addiction". Some where in this article it should say he was a bonified coke head and he spent HELLA amounts of money on it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.23.246.162 (talk) 19:58, 3 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Thank you for your unvarnished opinion. However, I think that there is enough mention of his addictions in the article. We have to tread lightly, as this is a BLP, and cite everything up the wazoo. Speculation cannot - I repeat, cannot - and will not be allowed here. - Arcayne   (cast a spell)  07:16, 11 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Plus, RDJ wasn't just a coke addict (though it was one of his major demons); he's also a recovering alcoholic, and in at least one arrest, he was found with narcotics on him as well (mostly heroin, but some more legal opiate meds as well). Studies show that an increasing number of stimulant addicts (coke, crack, meth) use either alcohol, opiates, or both to come down from the stimulant high; for example, cocaine + heroin = "speedball" (a.k.a. the drug cocktail that killed John Belushi). Scarletsmith (talk) 07:14, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

Why so much on his drug problem?
His drug problem certainly deserves a paragraph or two but this very long section seems disproportionate--Calan (talk) 03:01, 14 August 2008 (UTC).


 * I don't think it is, considering that Downey Jr.'s father gave him his first joint at age 8, and he spent most of his 20s as a "functioning addict" until he began using drugs on set during the shooting of Home for the Holidays in 1995, according to the RDJ installment of Biography. At one point, he was sentenced to 180 days in jail on drug possession and public intoxication charges (he spent a year in prison, then was let out on bond in 1999, only to turn around and be arrested again in early 2000), and he bounced in and out of rehab and/or prison for most of the 90s and early 2000's before he finally hit rock bottom (including Deborah Falconer leaving him and taking Indio with her in 2001) and committed himself fully to recovery.  I agree that the "Substance abuse" section needs some work, but if anything, the section itself is too short because of the extent of his problems and the sheer number of times Downey bounced through the California courts system between 1996 and 2001. Scarletsmith (talk) 13:58, 29 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Hi Calan, when I wrote that section I tried to be thorough without going into details. The section does not talk only about his drug problem but about that whole period of his life, but if there is something in particular you disagree with please tell us and we'll discuss it.--Yamanbaiia(free hugs!) 17:53, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

this doesnt make sense
These sentences from the opening paragraph don't make sense.

During his period of drug addiction during the late 1990s, Downey Jr. continued his acting career, appearing on the television series Ally McBeal as well as in a number of supporting and lead film roles, including Good Night, and Good Luck, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Zodiac and the upcoming Iron Man.

It talks about roles he completed during drug addiction in the late 90s, however, it mentions upcoming roles(as well as other roles from the 2000s) in the same sentence.

WacoJacko 09:22, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

uhm ya the whole article doesn't make sense. a whole section should be dedicated to his drug addictions and arrests. why is it you fuckos water down the controversy surrounding white actors and blow up all others?? panda —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.193.101.49 (talk) 18:54, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

Wing Chun
Totally unimportant, but does anybody know what branch/lineage of Wing Chun he studied? —Preceding unsigned comment added by BlauNacht (talk • contribs) 20:59, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

Nevermind. Found it here: http://www.cheungswingchun.com/g/4232/a-martial-art-for-the-mind.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by BlauNacht (talk • contribs) 21:02, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

Nick Fury in the Ultimate Universe
The comments about Nick Fury in Marvel's Ultimate universe "referencing" Downey are a bit confusing. I left them in, but if they mean that he was used as the visual model, that is incorrect, as the Ultimate universe character is clearly based on Samuel L. Jackson. Can anybody figure out what the intent was? Maybe it isn't important enough to keep in either way, and it should just be yanked. David A Spitzley (talk) 15:30, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
 * What I understand of that sentence is that the character has mentioned Downey on the comic, which seems trivial. So, I agree with you, unless someone can explain this further it's confusing and unimportant.--Yamanbaiia(free hugs!) 16:14, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Why is there no mention of his recurring role in Grey's Anatomy?
I was wondering why his role in Grey's isn't referenced? 216.161.216.60 (talk) 06:16, 27 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Downey was never on Grey's, you are probably thinking of Jeffrey Dean Morgan.--Yamanbaiia(free hugs!) 08:47, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

The late Morton Downey
Is Robert Downey related to the Morton Downey, the late talk show host? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 166.82.218.97 (talk) 00:03, 22 November 2008 (UTC) DUH! gadfly46 07:26, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

Film Chart
There is a section on the chart that says 2011 the avengers that is put next to 2010, someone needs to put the 2011 the avengers section under the 2010 section, so it looks appropiate and proffessinal, we cant make wikipedia look bad.

Suggestions before GA review
I saw this nominated at GAC and thought I'd make a few suggestions before a reviewer arrives. First, the lead needs to be expanded a good deal per WP:LEAD. The entire article should be summarized; his family/early life, critical acclaim, downfall, comeback, current success, personal life, etc. The lead should turn out to be two-three paragraphs, I think, but it definitely needs to be expanded before it is promoted to GA-class. Also, watch those dashes (en dashes for year spans, i.e. it should be "1992–2004" in the infobox) and newspapers/magazines (Time, The New York Times) should be italicized in the references. María ( habla con migo ) 20:07, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

1st section too long
In biography articles, the first section is usually shorter, between 10-15 lines. Examples: Marlon Brando - 12, Jack Nicholson - 13. In this article it's 26 lines. Keep in mind, everything on the 1st section is elaborated later on. Would you agree? Thanks Kvsh5 (talk) 19:03, 25 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Do you mean the lead? --  ThinkBlue  (Hit BLUE) 00:01, 27 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I think the lead is a good length, considering that RDJ is (whether he likes it or not) the poster boy for Hollywood's rampant drug culture in the '90s as well as the poster boy for finding recovery (five years sober in 2008). There's a lot of stuff there, but I often think the leads of articles on some of the Hollywood legends are too short.  Just a thought... Scarletsmith (talk) 21:23, 13 November 2008 (UTC)

Press Article
I believe a link to this article should be added: to his Wiki page: http://daily.chictoday.com/2009/01/23/inside-the-golden-globes/,

Publisher is: Spotlight TM, Walking the Walk on Chic Today. Article Author: Adrienne Papp

3/26/09 Cheryle Bernard —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cherylebernard (talk • contribs) 17:58, 26 March 2009 (UTC)

I believe a link to this article about Robert Downey, Jr. should be added to his Wiki page:

http://daily.chictoday.com/2009/01/23/inside-the-golden-globes/

Publisher is: Spotlight TM, Walking the Walk on Chic Today. Article Author: Adrienne Papp

3/26/09 Cheryle Bernard —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cherylebernard (talk • contribs) 17:59, 26 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Hi, Cheryle: I like that article, but it doesn't really contain anything about RDJ's experience at the Golden Globes that isn't already mentioned in this entry. But it's a great article, nonetheless.  Scarletsmith (talk) 23:48, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Non-free image
How does File:LessThanZero-Downey.png help "comment on a role which was a breakthrough professionally for Downey, but which caused strain on his personal life"? All it shows is a picture of his face, and doesn't contribute anything to the critical commentary. r ʨ anaɢ talk/contribs 02:14, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

"Downey, Jr." vs. "Downey Jr." – the comma behind the surname
Does anybody know about the conventions / rules with regards to those "Jr. names"? IMDb, for example, doesn't use commas for names like his or Sammy Davis Jr.'s. Here, in this article, on the other hand, both versions are used seemingly interchangeably (plus, sometimes, the "Jun." is left out altogether). So, for consistency's sake, anybody with some knowledge of the issue? – ὁ οἶστρος (talk) 00:38, 30 April 2010 (UTC)


 * I'd say because he is usually credited (on films/press releases) without the comma that's how it should be.173.88.129.35 (talk) 23:32, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
 * RDJ dropped the "," from his credited name I think in the early 2000s; checking credits from films since his return to movies since 2003, the "," is almost never used. 22:01, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

Robert Downey Jr. Hand and Foot print ceremony
From the red carpet http://whatsshakininhollywood.wordpress.com/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tookie Clothespin (talk • contribs) 16:03, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Prophecy in Films
During charactor studiy and thematic material chosen for classes in elementary school, NBK Wayne Gayle was difficult to dismiss. Children are smarter than what is presented as being "allowed" for age groups, especially when grow ups watch smut. Just ask Mr. Rogers Kitty Cat. VH1, beyond musics. Trapeze. Charles, the accuser. Beautiful Mind 75.200.133.15 (talk) 03:58, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Chronological Error
The sentence reads, "After Zero, Downey started landing roles in bigger films such as Air America (1990), Soapdish (1991) and Natural Born Killers (1994). These higher-profile roles eventually led to his being cast as Charlie Chaplin in the 1992 film Chaplin..."

Chaplin was filmed in 1992 according to the statement so Natural Born Killers (1994) could not have influenced any decisions regarding the previous. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Luckydagger (talk • contribs) 04:54, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

Huuuuge Introduction
Isnt the introduction text way too big? I dont expect anyone to DELETE what's written there (in my opinion, everything is important and relevant), but just trying to resume or choose only what matters would be better. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.29.183.148 (talk) 01:27, 3 November 2011 (UTC)
 * In my humble opinion, the article and the references are long also, so what is the problem? . . . Charles Edwin Shipp (talk) 11:31, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

removed reference
The following paragraph has more than once had its footnote removed:
 * The book Conversations with Woody Allen reports that director Woody Allen wanted to cast Downey and Winona Ryder in his film Melinda and Melinda in 2005, but was unable to do so because he could not get insurance on them, stating, "We couldn't get bonded. The completion bonding companies would not bond the picture unless we could insure them. We were heartbroken because I had worked with Winona before [on Celebrity] and thought she was perfect for this and wanted to work with her again. And I had always wanted to work with Bob Downey and always thought he was a huge talent."

It's unclear whether the failed verification refers to the dead link or to the Malaysian Sun (now the Sun Daily) whose online archives that dont reach far enough back to check without tracking down a hard copy. If the paragraph is to be removed as unsourced it will also have to fail Conversations with Woody Allen, apparently the primary source. Sparafucil (talk) 11:25, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

Question about comma in lemma
Hi guys, I hopped over here from the German Wikipedia to ask a quick question, which hopefully someone here can answer. One of our editors noticed that the lemma of this article has a comma in between Downey and Jr., but Imdb list Mr. Downey without that comma. Now we are wondering if we ought to change the lemma on the German wikipedia to include a comma, too (we've been using the version without it so far). Any thoughts on this? What's the wrong/right version? --Feuerrabe (talk) 17:56, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

Television Section
what happened to it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.214.250.194 (talk) 13:53, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

Requested move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the proposal was Keep under current title. — foxj 02:10, 17 May 2012 (UTC)

Robert Downey, Jr. → Robert Downey Jr. – I think this article should be moved to the version without the comma. My reasoning is that the version without the comma is used the most, including in the sources. That's also how it appears in credits, posters, boxes. I think that the comma-less version would be most in line with WP:COMMONNAME and WP:BLP. Ooh Bunnies! Leave a message 09:59, 9 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Comment I don't have an opinion, but whatever it is it should be consistent. http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/CMS_FAQ/Jr.Sr.III/Jr.Sr.III02.html MOS:BIO says Sammy Davis Jr. (even though the page is at Sammy Davis, Jr. In ictu oculi (talk) 14:32, 9 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Weak oppose, as per above - opposing merely due to WP:STABLE.  Nik the  stoned  16:09, 9 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Oppose I don't like it, but that comma is standard usage. See, for example, Cal Ripken, Jr. (another Iron Man!). Since it's mostly inconsequential, that comma may be omitted; and as the MOS realizes, it can chop up sentence flow. But it's not a WP:COMMONNAME issue. --BDD (talk) 20:57, 9 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Support. For what it's worth, it appears that way (commaless) in the credits of the Avengers movie. -- P.T. Aufrette (talk) 05:26, 10 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Possibly not worth much, I don't know, but that's part of my thinking. It appears that way in credits, it appears that way in most sources, which means the actor himself must have chosen for it to appear that way. What's more important, writing it our way, as it is currently, or actually reflecting the sources and the rest of the world? :) Ooh Bunnies! Leave a message 11:35, 10 May 2012 (UTC)
 * It is far more important for us to maintain a consistent style. That's why we have the MOS.  Powers T 16:04, 10 May 2012 (UTC)
 * The MOS isn't policy, it's a guide. It says right at the start that exceptions can be made. Ooh Bunnies! Leave a message 16:26, 10 May 2012 (UTC)
 * I didn't say it was policy. I don't even know if this specific rule is in there.  The point is that we have a MOS so that we can maintain a consistent editorial and orthographical style throughout the encyclopedia.  No manual can anticipate every possible scenario, so occasional exceptions may sometimes be necessary.  But doing so here would be a change with no particular benefit, but with the significant drawback of introducing inconsistency with the style used elsewhere in the encyclopedia.  Powers T 19:22, 10 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Actually, MOS:BIO says you should not use the comma, unless that's the known preference of the person in question. -- P.T. Aufrette (talk) 19:50, 10 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Oppose; maintain standard orthography. Powers T 16:04, 10 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Can you cite a reference stating that using the comma is standard? Our own MOS:BIO says otherwise. -- P.T. Aufrette (talk) 19:50, 10 May 2012 (UTC)
 * The MOS refers to in-line prose usage, where that comma can cause confusion. Out of such context, it's almost always used. Look at our article titles of any junior or senior. Consistency would dictate that we follow suit for all of them, and I'm not sure what benefit we'd gain in doing so. --BDD (talk) 20:00, 10 May 2012 (UTC)
 * I'm all for consistency but I think the names of BLP articles should be treated case by case. I mean, currently, our title is different to the other wikis. Check the Spanish, Italian, French etc. It's different to IMDB. It's different to how it appears in film credits and magazines. It's a minor issue, really, and not one that I'm going to argue to death over or anything, but I believe that it would be better for our readers if we changed it in this instance. Indeed, that's why I started this request - a reader bringing it up as erroneous. It could also be confusing for them to see the title different to how the name appears in the body of the article. Consistency is all well and good, but I'm really struggling to find a reason that consistency should be valued over these other things. Ooh Bunnies! Leave a message 20:13, 10 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Oppose, apparently, per consistency. Consistency is readability, and WP:MOS generally.  I can't believe that there's not a guideline already on this.  The apparent ambiguity of MOS:BIO re titles is unfortunate (and rectifiable?).  Alternatively, WP:PRECISION suggests use of a comma when disambiguation is necessary.  If we're hashing this out, maybe we should put it in guidelines. ENeville (talk) 20:54, 16 May 2012 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Edit request on 4 June 2012
the final comment is utterly irrelevant (in the context of his political views aside which it appears) and peurile and a rubbish way to end the entry

88.209.64.63 (talk) 12:32, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
 * ✅ I removed it. The source only mentioned him once by name, and his presence there shouldn't be construed to mean anything - for us to imply that it does is basically speculation. Ooh Bunnies! Leave a message 15:48, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

Happy Jewish stuff again
Robert Downey Jr. is not, as far an any sources claim, an adherent Jew. If you want to add a category based on his words, create Category:Jewish-Buddhist actors. Furthermore, you can't "identify" with an ethnicity - only a religion. You either are of that ethnicity or aren't. If you're going to add "Jewish actors" on the basis of his ethnic heritage, you need to also add Category:German actors, Category:Irish actors, etc... Otherwise, leave it out. Pretty simple. 72.144.147.8 (talk) 15:05, 8 December 2009 (UTC)7777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777
 * Judaism is a religion. Anyone who is a follower (be it by birth or as a convert) would be considered a jew. Downey was married in a Jewish ceremony, so it's pretty safe to say that he is Jewish. Erzsébet Báthory(talk 16:16, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Did you not read a word of what was written above? 72.144.125.242 (talk) 02:03, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
 * I did, but you don't make a whole lot sense since you bring up ethnicity, and whatnot. What does belonging to a religion have anything to do with your heritage? Downey is a follower of Judaism, hence considered to be Jewish. Simple as that. Erzsébet Báthory(talk 02:15, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Judaism is a religion. Hebrew is an ethnicity. They are different. Just like you don't have to be Arabic to be Muslim or Indian to be Buddhist. Sailorknightwing (talk) 04:37, 5 February 2010 (UTC) Somebody please add him to the category American Jews and Jewish Actors. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.245.21.177 (talk) 23:03, 30 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Downey has self-identified as Jewish on a number of occasions (most recently in interviews done after Mel Gibson's arrest and tirade about Jews--Gibson is one of Downey's closest friends), has a tattoo of his original family name--Elias--on his ankle, and was married in a Jewish ceremony in 2005 to a Jewish movie producer. If he chooses to self-identify as Jewish, that should end any discussion on the matter. Scarletsmith (talk) 23:37, 22 August 2010 (UTC)

Unfortunately for most people, Judaism does not function the way they are used to religions functioning. Unlike almost every other religion on the planet, you can actually be born into Judaism, the obvious other example being Islam: you can be born a Muslim, as well, the difference being that Islam goes by the father, & Judaism the mother. What is frustrating for all concerned is that Judaism also functions as an ethnic group (because it is also a culture (as in "rules for everything"); Hebrew is NOT an ethnicity - it's a language.), which confuses non-Jews into getting the idea that you can be "part Jewish", which is absolutely not true. For more details, see http://www.jewfaq.org/judaism.htm  I, personally, abhor the whole "Jewish descent" thing that creeps into so many Wiki bios, if only because it leads to the irritating "half Jewish" crap, but will forbear to edit it out in deference to the Wikipedia mission of "consensus". But (to get back to the specific topic) if Downey self-identifies as Jewish, it's at least impolite to argue with him. His "being married in a Jewish ceremony" in no way guarantees his Jewishness: people consent to all sorts of things to please their partners. More evidence will have to be presented to make any sort of believable claim to his following Judaism.FlaviaR (talk) 05:47, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

Avengers 2?
The intro lists him as staring in Avengers 2. Last I heard, his contract had not been renewed with Marvel. While it's likely he'll return for at least Avengers 2 we cannot state it as fact until we have sources. I move to have it deleted. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.92.78.133 (talk) 14:01, 14 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Pictogram voting wait.svg Already done by User:Lady Lotus . Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 11:33, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 20 November 2012
They are working on a Sherlock Holmes 3 script that Robert Downey Jr will be in

Lucyyroxx (talk) 18:00, 20 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please be more specific about what needs to be changed. Vacation nine 18:01, 20 November 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 8 March 2013
Hello! The quote concerning the Oprah Winfrey interview is not correct. Please, consider it as subject to change: -the following quote is not correct - meaning the beginning and the end of the quote: "I finally said, 'You know what? I don't think I can continue doing this.' And I reached out for help, and I ran with it. You can reach out for help in kind of a half-assed way and you'll get it and you won't take advantage of it. It's not that difficult to overcome these seemingly ghastly problems...what's hard is to decide to actually do it."[37] -it should rather be something like this: "… and I said, 'You know what? I don't think I can continue doing this.' And I reached out for help, and I ran with it. You can reach out for help in kind of a half-assed way and you'll get it and you won't take advantage of it. It's not that difficult to overcome these seemingly ghastly problems...what's hard is to decide..." -the link for the following reference concerning the quote needs to be replaced since it doesn't work any longer (at least not for me) - with e.g. [skipping to 3:30 min] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_K_3h1KBS8: 37. ^ a b The Oprah Winfrey Show, second segment, November 22, 2004. Retrieved December 11, 2008. Thanks for reading!

Easyforchiesy (talk) 14:31, 8 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Yes check.svg Done - thanks! GoingBatty (talk) 22:01, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

Edit request on 15 April 2013
Please add relese dates for Iron Man 3

117.196.23.229 (talk) 10:32, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: You didn't provide one. § FreeRangeFrog croak 05:40, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

RDJ confirmed for The Avengers 2 and The Avengers 3, should be added to the "Iron Man" section.
Robert Downey, Jr. is confirmed to appear in both of The Avengers sequels, signing a 2-picture deal with Marvel Studios. This SHOULD be included in the Iron Man section of his article, as it is important.

Source: http://marvel.com/news/story/20786/robert_downey_jr_to_return_as_marvels_iron_man — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.91.48.137 (talk) 22:13, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

Thoughts on rewording
The sentence that states "His father, a drug addict, allowed Downey to use marijuana at age six...", is it written in a way to suggest that back then he was a drug addict or should it be stated that he was a drug addict during that time but not anymore? Such as "His father, a then-drug addict, allowed Downey to use marijuana at age six" or "His father, a drug addict at the time, allowed Downey to use marijuana at age six". Just to clarify that his father was a drug addict but not anymore. Thoughts? Lady Lotus • talk 00:39, 15 December 2013 (UTC)

Edit Request RE: Downey/Gibson
"Said Gibson of Downey:[94] "He was one of the first people to call and offer the hand of friendship. He just said, 'Hey, welcome to the club. Let's go see what we can do to work on ourselves.'"[citation needed]" -- Why 'citation needed'? That is in ref[94], which should be moved to the end of that quote. 76.20.210.160 (talk) 21:53, 17 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Done! LADY LOTUS • TALK 21:59, 17 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Thanks 2601:0:8A80:235:0:0:0:1033 (talk) 23:37, 18 January 2014 (UTC)

Minor stuff
Culver City isn't generally considered "outside of Los Angeles." It's part of L.A. county, just like Santa Monica, Glendale, WeHo, etc. Further, a lot of times the article uses the word "parole," but nobody ever gets "parolled" a month into a sentence. The process just takes longer than that. I'm pretty sure it meant "probation," which is *completely different from parole*. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.85.52.73 (talk) 03:40, 23 July 2012 (UTC)

Yes, I have the same note about Culver City. (The line is "In April 2001, while he was on parole, a Los Angeles police officer found him wandering barefoot in Culver City, just outside Los Angeles" under the Career Troubles heading.) The sentence as written implies that Downey had wandered out of town; however, as indicated in Culver City's own Wikipedia article, Culver City is smack dab in the middle of western Los Angeles and home to a major movie studio. It's not only in L.A. County, it's mostly surrounded by the City of Los Angeles itself, one of several independent municipalities contained within L.A.75.85.5.87 (talk) 23:53, 4 March 2014 (UTC)Frank

Uncited material
For an article that has GA status, I was surprised to see so much uncited material. This should be addressed right away. I've placed tags where appropriate. XXSNUGGUMSXX (talk) 01:44, 13 May 2014 (UTC)

Add a second parent.
Add a second parent in the box. At the moment it only has Robert Downey, Sr. as his parent so unless he just mitosed Robert Downey, Jr. one day add his mum into the box. Billgates2 (talk) 05:59, 1 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Per Template:Infobox person, it states "Names of parents, if notable". His mom isn't notable, his dad is. LADY LOTUS • TALK 14:05, 5 August 2014 (UTC)

Edit semi-protected
Here's a ref to replace the [citation needed] in the seventh paragraph of the § Career troubles (1996–2001) section. (No page number; the ref is an e-book.) As a side note, the book's sentence order differs from what's currently cited in the article:

--82.136.210.153 (talk) 01:06, 19 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Yes check.svg Done Thanks for finding that. Not sure if the bit about the insurance companies being prissy is necessary but if anyone else wants to add it in to preserve the preciseness of the quote, that's fine by me Cannolis (talk) 08:59, 24 August 2014 (UTC)

Edit semi-protected
The § Early life and family section says: "[...], allowed Downey to use marijuana at aged six, [...]" --82.136.210.153 (talk) 23:54, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format.. And the reference says he was 6. -- Edgars2007  (talk/contribs) 06:57, 20 August 2014 (UTC)
 * It says "at aged six". I'm not a native speaker of English though, so maybe that's correct after all. --82.136.210.153 (talk) 12:34, 24 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Yes check.svg Done changed to "age six" which I am assuming was the change requested Cannolis (talk) 12:52, 24 August 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 9 September 2014
i want to change the picture of robert downey jr

202.134.180.86 (talk) 16:44, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Not done: Please make your request for a new image to be uploaded to Files For Upload. Once the file has been properly uploaded, feel free to reactivate this request to have the new image used. - Arjayay (talk) 16:50, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Downey Confirmed for 'Captain America: Civil War' and 'Avengers: Infinity War, Part 1'
Here's the source and as stated above, RDJ signed on for 'The Avengers 3', which, would in turn be Avengers, Infinity War, Part 1 2601:C:780:234:BDE9:6D37:3CEC:B05B (talk) 23:53, 28 October 2014 (UTC)

Filmography
Why isn't Wonder Boys listed as a film credit? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.204.56.12 (talk) 04:19, 8 January 2015 (UTC)

Please clarify
From the article:
 * "... and Downey returned to mainstream films in the mid-2000s with Gothika, for which producer Joel Silver withheld 40 percent of his salary until after production wrapped as insurance against his addictive behavior. Similar clauses have become standard in his contracts since then."

Whose contracts are "his contracts"? Downey's or Silver's contracts? Is Downey still considered a risk (or does he consider himself still as a risk to allow such a clause in his contracts) or does Silver want to be sure with all his actors and actresses? (The source here is useless here and points only in general to a talk show in which Downey appeared.) Thanks &mdash; Tauriel-1 ( ☎ ) 10:04, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 5 July 2015
The filmography is missing the 1988 film "True Believer" with James Woods. 119.25.18.187 (talk) 08:08, 5 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Yes check.svg Done Stickee (talk) 22:45, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

Requested move 04 April 2016

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: Not moved. &mdash;  Music1201  talk  02:42, 12 April 2016 (UTC)

Robert Downey Jr. → Robert Downey, Jr. – The previous RM discussion resulted in retaining the comma. The comma was removed without further discussion. RM is needed as soon as possible. – George Ho (talk) 07:34, 4 April 2016 (UTC)
 * (See also Talk:Andrew L. Lewis Jr.. Anthony Appleyard (talk) 08:53, 4 April 2016 (UTC))
 * This is a contested technical request (permalink). Anthony Appleyard (talk) 08:53, 4 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Oppose – Even before WP:JR said that the commaless style is wikipedia's preference, it was pointed out in the old RM above that sources are nearly unanimous in being comma-free for this guy. How does a request to insert a comma here get made with a straight face?  Dicklyon (talk) 15:02, 4 April 2016 (UTC)
 * Mild and Refined Support, this one seems a good candidate to retain the comma, as he is a well-known actor using the full name, and thus could be grandfathered without much fuss. (edit: just tried to find his autograph to see if he adds the comma, and he's one of those millions of people who can't write their name anymore, so illegible). But if he makes one more bad Iron Man film I may be forced to reconsider (joking, just in case). Randy Kryn 16:42, 4 April 2016 (UTC)
 * This would be the opposite of "grandfathering", and there is zero policy basis for the notion anyway, otherwise all our old articles would look like crap and be wildly inconsistent because they would not comply with anything developed in MOS and the naming conventions in the intervening years. The Jr-related RfC closer's comments about maybe "grandfathering" some articles can only pertain things like WP:GAN and WP:FAC – processes where the involved parties can decide whether to make compliance with MOS or other guidelines part of their criteria for awarding a GA/FA label. The idea cannot be used to  other editors from complying with guidelines (see WP:GAMING, especially WP:FILIBUSTER, and WP:WIKILAWYER, WP:OWN, WP:NOT, and WP:COMMONSENSE).  — SMcCandlish ☺ ☏ ¢ ≽ʌⱷ҅ᴥⱷʌ≼  22:58, 4 April 2016 (UTC)
 * Oppose per previous RM, now double-reinforced by the recent RfC and changes to the guidelines. This RM is just patently tendentious. There is no evidence that that current sources overwhelmingly prefer the comma-laden spelling for this subject, nor that the subject insists on the comma and uses it consistently.  — SMcCandlish ☺ ☏ ¢ ≽ʌⱷ҅ᴥⱷʌ≼  23:05, 4 April 2016 (UTC)
 * I found several: book 1, book 2, book 3, Deadline. George Ho (talk) 23:21, 4 April 2016 (UTC)
 * I agree with George; I even found one he didn't find: this book uses his name as an example of using a comma before Jr., presumably to illustrate that the subject's preference is not relevant when you have a house style. That's up to about 1% of all sources.  You'd be hard pressed to find another Jr. that's 99% comma-free in sources.  Dicklyon (talk) 23:53, 4 April 2016 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure I'm following what point the two of you are trying to make. "We found a half-dozen cases of other people using a comma with his name" is basically totally irrelevant. It does not establish that the subject insists it is a required part of his name, like Jennifer 8. Lee insists on "8.", and only that exact construction, as her middle name; and it does not establish that the overwhelming majority of sources use a comma with Downey's name, so we're done here.  — SMcCandlish ☺ ☏ ¢ ≽ʌⱷ҅ᴥⱷʌ≼  10:01, 6 April 2016 (UTC) PS: In light of discussion at WT:MOSBIO, I think I get at least the second part of Dicklyon's post, suggesting that what the subject prefers is not normally relevant to house style. However, most house styles have nothing like WP:BLP, WP:ABOUTSELF, and WP:IDENTITY (while the third of these is not very developed, the intent to accept self-labels, within reason, is clear). Since, of late, we're trying to catch MoS (largely based on sources from the 2000s) up to 2010s mainstream style guides, when they do not conflict with WP's particular needs, some of them (New Hart's Rules, etc.) recommend going with subject preference, so the idea isn't coming out of nowhere. While the RfC closer did not cover it in his muddled attempt to simultaneously summarize and heavily supervote in the RfC, it appears to me that concerns about BLP subjects were the primary motivation for the weird "grandfathering" language. It's actually the only possible interpretation that is consistent with policy, other than that he meant to apply it to GAN/FAC. He may have intended both, but he got so disgruntled about being asked to clarify it that he refused to do so. At WT:MOSBIO, consensus very quickly routed around the confusion in the course of adapting MOS:JR to the RfC outcome, making the issue moot anyway.  — SMcCandlish ☺ ☏ ¢ ≽ʌⱷ҅ᴥⱷʌ≼  10:16, 6 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Support, per my arguments at the RFC. --Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) (talk) 01:44, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
 * What RFC did you comment on? Not the recent one on this topic at WP:VPP, it appears.  Maybe you could just state a reason for putting a comma into a name of a guy that never uses one? Dicklyon (talk) 01:58, 5 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Oppose – This "junior" rubbish is getting tiresome. In this particular case, especially, I do not understand why anyone would oppose the present title, even ignoring the WP:JR recommendation, given that nearly all RS use the comma-less version. Is this just a comma for a comma's sake? I can't support that. There were valid reasons expressed in the RfC for why the comma causes several problems when used. Given that, and given RS usage, there really can't be any advantage to using the comma in this case, can there be? RGloucester  — ☎ 02:39, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
 * Oppose - Per WP:JR and common sense. Fdssdf (talk) 06:15, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
 * Oppose – Per WP:JR and WP:COMMONSENSE, though I'm not sure why the comma was removed in the first place.  4TheWynne (talk) (contribs)  08:13, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
 * Oppose as any comma is not reflected in prosody (linguistics), and additionally calls for a closing comma per WP:Copyedit. (If you ask me, the full stop/period can be dropped too.) HandsomeFella (talk) 09:35, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
 * Oppose per many of the oppose statements, above.  Lugnuts  Dick Laurent is dead 07:06, 6 April 2016 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Eric Oram's work with Downey being hindered on page
On January 27th 2016 my attempt to mention the name Eric Oram has deleted every time I attempted to add references by 4TheWynne (talk) in the chat room this was considered harsh as there is plenty of material on Oram's work with Downey. I had given up until another person added mention of Oram to Downeys page... my attempt to add the fact that Oram wrote to the governor over Downey was again deleted by 4TheWynne (talk) with his comment Not this again. an attempt to change Oram's role from stunt consultant to fight choreographer also reverted... I will now change to fight consultant as stated in the already referenced article. (Australianblackbelt (talk) 15:05, 2 September 2016 (UTC))


 * , you can't just write anything on the page just because it might be sourced. Almost none of your edits regarding this have been written to a neutral point of view, and it makes you out to be an advocate for Wing Chun Kung Fu or "Master Eric Oram" as you put it. You have also been giving misleading edit summaries, including one of your more recent edits on the page, and have had a similar discussion at the William Cheung talk page. While the fact remains that you need to provide a reliable (and recent) source, most of this appears to be redundant, particularly your most recent edit stating that "Oram wrote to the governor over Downey". I am not "hindering" your work, however I don't see why it belongs here. To other editors, please see Talk:William Cheung.  4TheWynne (talk) (contribs)  04:00, 3 September 2016 (UTC)


 * , This is a credible enough and unbiase source => http://www.tmz.com/2015/12/25/robert-downey-pardon-kung-fu-eric-oram/ Short article written by TMZ about regarding Downey's pardon... You simply delete what people spend tie writing don't help and too many times your wrong yet you are surprised when they get annoyed with your ations. I am a Fan of Wing Chun and Bruce Lee, Ip Man it is people like me who are needed to write on here.. we the fans and people who take an interest. (Australianblackbelt (talk) 06:43, 4 September 2016 (UTC))


 * This is exactly the same issue as in the above linked discussion. You are putting in too much information about people that are not the article subject, as was explained to you in said discussion. This will not get anywhere if you don't listen to what's being said to you. As for your last comment, Wikipedia is not a forum, and is not designed to be written or added to by "people like you" (fans). I'm sure we're all here because we take an interest.   4TheWynne (talk) (contribs)  10:01, 4 September 2016 (UTC)


 * Nice twist your insinuating I'm using this as a soap now am I according to you.. I'm a fan of the martial arts in particular what Wing Chun has done for Downey. The is a whole heading on Friendship with Mel Gibson here hence I believe it is hypocritical on your part to state that Oram should be mentioned after all his role in Downey's life is far more encyclopedic than Mel. 7 months ago you blocked me from even writing Oram's name on here until somebody else wrote it, I fail to see what you are doing is constructive. (Australianblackbelt (talk) 12:53, 4 September 2016 (UTC))


 * Look, I'm not going to continue arguing with you. I've rearranged some of the information in the Personal Life section and stripped down the information on Mel Gibson, while also removing the heading. Whether Oram has had a profound impact on Downey's life or not (and you don't need to compare it to that of Gibson in order to make your point), you are still completely ignoring everything else that I'm saying to you and are sounding more and more like an advocate for Oram than simply an admirer of his work, which is why I'm trying to compromise rather than just let you put in information how you want it.  4TheWynne (talk) (contribs)  13:17, 4 September 2016 (UTC)


 * Good that you removed Mel's heading now at least its not so obvious the lack of information on Oram work with Downey, I am in Australia simply an admirer of martial arts in particular WIng Chun, don't have anything to do with Eric Oram and actually not a fan of his grandmaster much prefer Ip Chun among others. I think if the information here can make people with serious issues take up Wing Chun as Downey did then it was worth the months of battling with you (Australianblackbelt (talk) 11:16, 5 September 2016 (UTC))

External links modified
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External links modified
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Semi-protected edit request on 28 April 2018
Change "As of 2017, the U.S. domestic box-office grosses of Downey Jr.'s films total over US $4.2 billion, with worldwide grosses surpassing $9.6 billion, making Downey Jr. the sixth highest-grossing U.S. domestic box-office star of all time." to "As of 2017, the U.S. domestic box-office grosses of Downey Jr.'s films total over US $4.3 billion, with worldwide grosses surpassing $9.6 billion, making Downey Jr. the fifth highest-grossing U.S. domestic box-office star of all time.[5 95.252.194.77 (talk) 16:02, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Yes check.svg Done with thanks, Nici  Vampire  Heart  17:57, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 29 April 2018
Change "As of 2018, the U.S. domestic box-office grosses of Downey Jr.'s films total over US $4.3 billion, with worldwide grosses surpassing $9.6 billion, making Downey Jr. the fifth highest-grossing U.S. domestic box-office star of all time." to "As of 2018, the U.S. domestic box-office grosses of Downey Jr.'s films total over US $4.5 billion, with worldwide grosses surpassing $10.2 billion, making Downey Jr. the fourth highest-grossing U.S. domestic box-office star of all time." 79.42.190.26 (talk) 20:44, 29 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. L293D (☎ • ✎) 21:01, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 5 May 2018
Change "As of 2018, the U.S. domestic box-office grosses of Downey Jr.'s films total over US $4.3 billion, with worldwide grosses surpassing $9.6 billion, making Downey Jr. the third highest-grossing U.S. domestic box-office star of all time.[5]" to "As of 2018, the U.S. domestic box-office grosses of Downey Jr.'s films total over US $4.6 billion, with worldwide grosses surpassing $10.5 billion, making Downey Jr. the third highest-grossing U.S. domestic box-office star of all time.[5]" 87.10.192.15 (talk) 12:29, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
 * ✅ Sock   ( tock talk)  13:13, 5 May 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 13 May 2018
Change "the U.S. domestic box-office grosses of Downey Jr.'s films total over US $4.6 billion, with worldwide grosses surpassing $10.5 billion, making Downey Jr. the third highest-grossing U.S. domestic box-office star of all time.[5]" to "the U.S. domestic box-office grosses of Downey Jr.'s films total over US $4.8 billion, with worldwide grosses surpassing $11.2 billion, making Downey Jr. the third highest-grossing U.S. domestic box-office star of all time.[5]" 213.45.0.95 (talk) 20:43, 13 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Yes check.svg Done with thanks, Nici</b><b style="color:purple">Vampire</b><b style="color:black">Heart</b> 23:34, 13 May 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 4 July 2018
I want to add this sign –  between the net worth. 105.112.23.165 (talk) 22:49, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Your request is unclear. Putting double braces around something on Wikipedia inserts a template, which isn't needed there. Please clarify your request. &#8209;&#8209; El Hef  ( Meep? ) 23:54, 4 July 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 21 August 2018
79.52.184.65 (talk) 22:59, 21 August 2018 (UTC) Change "As of 2018, the U.S. domestic box-office grosses of Downey's films total over US $4.8 billion, with worldwide grosses surpassing $11.2 billion, making Downey the third highest-grossing U.S. domestic box-office star of all time." to "As of 2018, the U.S. domestic box-office grosses of Downey's films total over US $4.9 billion, with worldwide grosses surpassing $11.6 billion, making Downey the third highest-grossing U.S. domestic box-office star of all time."
 * Yes check.svg Done Random character sequence (talk) 17:21, 23 August 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 31 May 2019
His "occupation" in the infobox has accidentally been removed by mistake, if someone can edited it back in there, that would be good. 2600:1000:B03B:234F:9429:7F9D:5200:58E2 (talk) 12:57, 31 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Yes check.svg Done <b style="color:black">Nici</b><b style="color:purple">Vampire</b><b style="color:black">Heart</b> 15:36, 31 May 2019 (UTC)

Stage name
Why did he stop using the stage name - Robert Downey, and instead start using the stage name - Robert Downey Jr. HardeeHar (talk) 19:39, 6 May 2020 (UTC)

Incorrect source number 6
When viewing source 6 Robert Downey Jr. Is not even on the list of highest grossing actors. Rschmitt9 (talk) 07:00, 6 March 2020 (UTC)


 * Seconded. In fact, Source 5 has also moved, and the link left in its place is blocked by a paywall, removing any sourcing of RDJ's box office gross or the ranking thereof. According to Wikipedia's own list of highest grossing actors, RDJ is at #6. I propose we borrow that source, which appears to be more up-to-date, and update this page. --Kalethan (talk) 23:56, 14 May 2020 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 28 November 2020
Just make the page say that He is Ironman Wikimanwookie (talk) 16:12, 28 November 2020 (UTC)
 * ❌ this is covered in the page. Ironman is a fictional character, he isn't actually a superhero bro. Praxidicae (talk) 16:16, 28 November 2020 (UTC)

Citation 72
Note about his contract having pay restrictions until wrapping is listed as still standard and the citation is empty, as it goes to another wiki page that has neither the info claimed or a citation for it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:8080:6303:F3F0:B856:63F4:86EC:3F12 (talk) 03:25, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 28 April 2021
Under '2008–present: Iron Man, blockbuster films and further success', see the following paragraph.

Downey hosted The Age of A.I., a YouTube documentary series released in 2019.[120] In 2020, he starred in Dolittle, playing the titular character, depicted in the film as a 19th-century English physician who can speak to animals. This was the second film from Team Downey. It was a box office disappointment, and received negative reviews from critics, who called it "too long [and] lifeless."[121]

Specifically this sentence;

'depicted in the film as a 19th-century English physician who can speak to animals.'

Please note this contradicts the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolittle_(film) page which describes the following;

"In Victorian era Britain, Dr. John Dolittle is a Welsh veterinarian with the ability to communicate with animals." 2A00:23C5:DD35:CE01:9985:56FF:9C31:DE2 (talk) 21:59, 28 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Yes check.svg Done. Copied verbatim from Dolittle (film).  TG HL ↗  02:18, 29 April 2021 (UTC)

Typo/mistake in article
On the caption under the main picture, it says Iron Man 3 premiered in 2003. This is wrong, it premiered in 2013. Can someone with the proper permissions edit this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.89.71.194 (talk) 05:10, 29 April 2021 (UTC)
 * I see its now been corrected. Thanks for pointing that out! &mdash;  TG HL ↗  14:04, 29 April 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 2 May 2021
Change the spelling of his kids names to the right spellings Minidoll21 (talk) 12:16, 2 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 12:23, 2 May 2021 (UTC)
 * as an added note, an example of properly formatted "change x to y" request would be: "Please change the spelling of John Smith's first name to Jon, per this source: (you would add a link to the source here). Thank you. (signature)". But, that said, I took a look at the spellings for his children and they appear correct, so you would have to be more specific with any additional requests. - wolf  21:35, 2 May 2021 (UTC)

Martial artist
Is Downey Jr. really notable as a martial artist? I understand that he's a practioner and that his study of martial arts has probably helped him in many ways both personally and professionally. Is it, however, something worthy of a separate infobox and using the same martial arts photo twice in the article? The word "martial arts" appears three times in the article and while mentioning it in Robert Downey Jr. seems OK and encyclopedic, I'm not sure can be said about the infobox and images, etc. -- Marchjuly (talk) 01:46, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
 * From my perspective, not notable as a martial artist. Can be mentioned in the body of the article, but an infobox for it is a bit much. For most people, it's a hobby, or an activity, and those typically don't get much spotlight. Cyphoidbomb (talk) 23:24, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
 * I boldly removed the infobox. If it gets restored, WP:BRD will commence. --Animalparty! (talk) 20:29, 8 July 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 30 July 2021
<RDJ school name (school of schooler) 106.66.247.142 (talk) 15:23, 30 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 15:35, 30 July 2021 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 04:47, 20 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Robert Downey Jr. Expo 2011 (cropped).jpg

Semi-protected edit request on 29 September 2021
Change "Downey gained global recognition for starring as Tony Stark / Iron Man in ten films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Iron Man (2008)."

To "Downey gained global recognition for starring as Tony Stark / Iron Man in ten films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Iron Man (2008)."

As RDJ only appears in 9 movies in the MCU MattyP27457 (talk) 22:59, 29 September 2021 (UTC)


 * Let's see. Three Iron Man movies, Four Avengers movies, Civil War and Spider-Man Homecoming. With Tony's appearance in the mid credits of The Incredible Hulk, that's ten. Crboyer (talk) 23:05, 29 September 2021 (UTC)

❌ Technically it's ten if you count his end credits scene for The Incredible Hulk (film) (2008) -  wolf  23:06, 29 September 2021 (UTC)

Semi-Protected Edit Request on 30 December 2021
In a new paragraph at the end of Section 4.4 Political Views, add something along the lines of the following new sentence:

"In October 2020, Downey and his Avengers co-stars hosted an online fundraising event for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden."

Source is as follows: https://variety.com/2020/film/news/avengers-fundraiser-biden-campaign-1234811460/

I think direct fundraising for a presidential candidate is a notable political act and should be included here. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.167.190.94 (talk) 11:15, 30 December 2021 (UTC)

Statement that His father gave him drugs
The claim that Robert Downey Jr became has been addicted at age 8 due to his father giving him drugs isn't supported by the citation, which only states Downey claimed to be have been an addict since age 8, with no mention of his father. 2603:9000:AA04:B1D8:1D14:924C:623:8C95 (talk) 17:22, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

SNL writer James Downey as uncle
I have removed the longstanding assertion that Robert Downey Jr. is the nephew of Illinois Saturday Night Live writer James Woodward Downey.

Despite some published sources stating such, this appears to be incorrect; the actual familial connection is New York writer James Buchanan Downey, who died in October 2022. This obituary maps out the familial connections, and this New York Times article on J.B. Downey describes him as a former actor, copywriter and uncle of Robert—not an SNL writer. If anyone can find a reliable source to counter these, please continue the discussion below. Rift (talk) 22:08, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

Martial Arts infobox
The info box is constructive, in one day viewers have opened it and clicked on Eric Oram's page his stats show a jump from 59 views in a day to 118 just cause of the box. The are over a dozen quality references stating Downey trains Wing Chun he even went on Oprah to discuss it and show where he trains and with who. The photo in the info box show three notable persons so it is relevant. I don't understand what the problem is cause the info box is small and collapsible doesn't take up space but very interesting to fans. Australianblackbelt (talk) 15:12, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 15 February 2023
Other Notable Films

Aside from the "Iron Man" franchise, Downey Jr. has appeared in a number of other successful films. Some of his most notable roles include:

"Tropic Thunder" (2008): Downey Jr. received critical acclaim for his performance as Kirk Lazarus, a Method actor who undergoes skin pigmentation surgery to play an African-American character in a war film.

"Sherlock Holmes" (2009) and "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" (2011): Downey Jr. starred as the famous detective Sherlock Holmes in this action-packed take on the classic stories.

Source : https://www.fameinhistory.com.ng/2023/02/biography-robert-downy-jr-biography.html?m=1 Realest kator (talk) 16:03, 15 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: That is not a reliable source, and copying wholesale would be a copyright violation. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 16:08, 15 February 2023 (UTC)

Citations to AV require noting timestamp
There are various citations appearing here that are to AV sources. These need to include an element akin to the page number that indicates at which precise time or range of times, the facts being drawn appear in the AV production. A simple way to present this is coded into the template. Absent that, it is essentially impossible, practically speaking, to verify content from such a source; this is especially true in cases herein, where the citations to the AV sources are very incomplete (lacking URLs and other standard elements of AV citations), and therefore are not even traceable to any reviewable material. This BLP subject deserves better. Signed, an educator. 2601:246:C700:F5:6815:5539:F874:90A0 (talk) 22:46, 2 March 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 2 March 2023
Replace:
 * Citation currently appearing, and numbered as [22].

Replace with:

Justification:

The problem noted is that the current citation appearing is unnecessarily difficult to verify—it is to a short companion documentary that is accompanied by no URL link, instead pointing readers and verification-seeking editors a particular hardcopy release of the movie and its accompanying special features. Hence it is an AV source, with suggested access being via acquisition of that specific release. Further making verification a challenge is the fact that no } information is provided, such that even if the documentary could be found and viewed, verification would require listening to the whole video. This makes checking for compliance with WP:VERIFY unnecessarily onerous.

The problem is simply solved by substituting the incomplete, tortuous AV citation with a print citation that presents the same information. That is what is proposed, and one is provided.

Note, the sooner this and other restricted articles are returned to general circulation (free of editing restraints), the sooner this time-wasting edit-requesting can be put to rest. One can do a half dozen constructive edits in the time it takes to present a request. Signed, an educator. 2601:246:C700:F5:6815:5539:F874:90A0 (talk) 23:09, 2 March 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ I used a different source than the one recommended. M.Bitton (talk) 23:36, 2 March 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 23 March 2023
I would please like to make some edits to correct some of the information and add more about his current job Mjsebas911 (talk) 04:03, 23 March 2023 (UTC)
 * ❌ You need to make your request in a "please change 'X' to 'Y'" format, and make sure you include sources to support these changes. Thanks - w o lf  04:06, 23 March 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 23 May 2023
Typo fix: Filmogrpahy to Filmography 69.146.86.241 (talk) 06:18, 23 May 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ AnnaMankad (talk) 06:26, 23 May 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 7 September 2023
Remove "1996–2001: Career setbacks." EMMulhall (talk) 06:04, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done for now: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the template.  —  Paper9oll  (🔔 • 📝)  06:26, 7 September 2023 (UTC)