Biography
Described by an associate as "a big jovial bear," Robert Downey Sr translated his irreverent, mordant humor to the screen as the writer-director of several experimental cult classics of the late 1960s and early 70s. He first became known for the experimental short "Chafed Elbows" (1966), an hour-long film composed almost entirely of still photographs overdubbed with dialogue that was a success on New York City's underground and art-house cinema scene. Downey had worked in advertising and lampooned that business in the movie everyone associates with him, "Putney Swope" (1969), about the hilarious changes made by a token black member of an ad agency after he is accidentally elected Chairman of the Board. Downey's next film, the absurdist "Pound" (1970), in which human actors play animals awaiting euthanasia at a city animal shelter, included the first screen performance by his son, future Hollywood star Robert Downey Jr. A super-offbeat Jesus Christ parody with a Western setting, "Greaser's Palace" (1972) offers some wonderful performances by Allan Arbus as a zoot-suited Jesus, Albert Henderson as head Greaser and Stan Gottlieb as the "wife" of a deformed Mexican with a lecherous yen for the Saviour. With Chuck Barris, Downey co-wrote "The Gong Show Movie" (1980) and also directed "Rented Lips" (1988), scripted and produced by Martin Mull. Though his acting appearances were few, he did play an ad agency head in "You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat" (1971), an NCAA investigator in "Johnny Be Good" (1988) and a recording studio manager in "Boogie Nights" (1997). Downey wrote and directed "Too Much Sun" (1991), a farce about a competition between a brother and sister (both gay) to have a child first, so as to inherit a fortune from their father. He returned with "Hugo Pool" (1997), co-written with his late wife Laura, about a dedicated, beautiful and lonely Beverly Hills pool cleaner (Alyssa Milano) who becomes involved in the lives of her clients, particularly Floyd, an attractive man afflicted with ALS (the same disease that had felled Laura Downey). His son Robert Downey Jr appeared in "Hugo Pool," the seventh of his father's films in which he acted. Robert Downey Sr. died on July 7, 2021 at the age of 85.
