His most recent film success has been as wealthy industrialist Tony Stark in the Iron Man movies. He played the title role in Sherlock Holmes in 2009 and again in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows in 2011. he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1992 for his role as the title character in Chaplin. The award went to Al Pacino for Scent of a Woman.
Downey has and extensive past with drug abuse and arrests. He said that after his last arrest in 2001 he 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 do it.”
In 2003, Downey’s friend Mel Gibson paid Downey’s insurance bond for the film The Singing Detective which paved the way for Downey’s comeback.
Source: Wikipedia