In August 1996, During traffic stop for speeding, he was arrested for drunk driving, possession of heroin, and possession of an unloaded pistol in his pickup truck. This was his first reported brush with the law at age 31. He was given a suspended prison sentence of three years, and granted probation with requirements of random drug testing and drug counselling.
On November 25, 2000 Downey re-arrested on drugs and weapons charges in Palm Springs, California, at the luxurious Merv Griffin resort, after an anonymous tip to police. Downey was found alone, with cocaine and methamphetamines. He cooperated with police, spent the night in jail, and was released the next morning on $15,000.00 bail.
.He dropped out of Santa Monica High School at age 17 and moved to New York to become an actor. First jobs in the city included bussing tables at Central Falls restaurant, working in a shoe store, and performing as “living art” at SohHo’s notorious underground club Area.
He starred in Elton John’s music video for the song “I Want Love”. Downey was let out of rehab for one day in late July specifically to shoot the video (which was filmed in one long continuous take at Greystone Manor in Beverly Hills).
He is the first regular cast member of Saturday Night Live (1975) to be nominated for an Academy Award in the category “Best Actor in a Leading Role”. Joan Cusack and Dan Aykroyd were also nominated for Academy Awards some years before Downey, but both were nominated for supporting roles.
In order to get over his drug addiction, he began studying Wing Chun in 2003 under Sifu Eric Oram, who served as a fight and martial arts consultant on Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes (2009).
He was considered for the lead role in Top Gun (1986), which went to Tom Cruise.
He turned down the lead role in Say Anything… (1989), which went to John Cusack.
He was considered for the title role in Edward Scissorhands (1990), which went to Johnny Depp.
As a five-year-old Robert uttered his very first words of dialog on film in his father Robert Downey Sr.’s Pound (1970): “Have any hair on your balls?”
Source: Cinemaholic.com