Robert John Downey Sr. (born Robert Elias Jr.; June 24, 1936 – July 7, 2021) was an American actor, director, producer, writer, and cinematographer. His son is actor Robert Downey Jr. He is known for writing and directing the underground film Putney Swope (1969), a satire on the New York Madison Avenue advertising world. According to film scholar Wheeler Winston Dixon, Downey Sr.’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.”
Other notable films he directed include Up the Academy (1980), with Ron Leibman, Ralph Macchio, Tom Poston, King Coleman, and Barbara Bach; Rented Lips (1988), with Martin Mull, Dick Shawn, Jennifer Tilly, Downey Jr., Kenneth Mars, Edy Williams, June Lockhart, and Tony Coz; Too Much Sun (1991), with Downey Jr., Eric Idle, Andrea Martin, Allan Arbus, Macchio and Howard Duff; and Hugo Pool (1997), with Alyssa Milano, Patrick Dempsey, Downey Jr., Richard Lewis, Malcolm McDowell, Cathy Moriarty, and Sean Penn.
Each review will be linked to the title below.
(*seen originally in theaters)
(**seen rereleased in theaters)
- The American Road (1953) – cinematographer – short
- Balls Bluff (1961) – director, writer, producer, actor – short
- A Touch of Greatness (1964) – director, producer, cinematographer – documentary
- Babo 73 1964) – director, writer, producer
- Sweet Smell of Sex (1965) – director, writer, cinematographer
- Chafed Elbows (1966) – director, writer, producer
- Literature Au-Go-Go (1966) – directed by Albert Callum – cinematographer, editor – short
- 1968
- No More Excuses (1968) – director, writer, producer, actor
- Putney Swope (1969) – director, writer, uncredited voice
- Naughty Nurse (1969) – directed by Paul Bartel – actor – short
- Pound (1970) – director, writer
- You’ve Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You’ll Lose That Beat (1971) – directed by Peter Locke – actor
- Is There Sex After Death? (1971) – directed by Alan & Jeanne Abel – himself – mockumentary mondo film
- Cold Turkey (1971) – directed by Norman Lear – second unit director
- Greaser’s Palace (1972) – director, writer
- Sticks and Bones (1973) – director, writer – TV movie
- Two Tons of Turquoise to Taos Tonight (1975) – director, writer – aka Moment to Moment
- Up the Academy (1980) – director
- The Gong Show Movie (1980) – directed by Chuck Barris – co-writer
- Rage (1983) – directed by Pablo Ferro – co-writer
- To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) – directed by William Friedkin – actor
- America (1986) – director, co-writer – filmed in 1982
- Rented Lips (1988) – director
- Moving Target (1988) – directed by Chris Thomson – TV movie
- Johnny Be Good (1988) – directed by Bud S. Smith – actor
- Too Much Sun (1991) – director, co-writer
- Hail Caesar (1994) – directed by Anthony Michael Hall – actor
- Sunchaser (1996) – directed by Michael Cimino – voice
- Hugo Pool (1997) – director, co-writer
- Boogie Nights (1997) – directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
- Magnolia (1999) – directed by Paul Thomas Anderson – actor
- The Family Man (2000) – directed by Brett Ratner – actor
- From Other Worlds (2004) – actor
- Rittenhouse Square (2005) – director – documentary
- Tower Heist (2011) – directed by Brett Ratner – actor
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