Robert Downey Jr Birthday Special: 7 interesting facts about 'Iron Man' actor

Hate the word nepotism as much as you can, but the undeniable fact remains that the same has given us amazing actors like the birthday boy himself. Robert Downey Sr. was a filmmaker and Downey Jr.'s mother was an actress.

RDJ dated Sarah Jessica Parker when they were both just 18. They lived together for eight years.

Robert was arrested in 1996 for possession of heroin, cocaine and an unloaded. He was given three years of probation and required to undergo mandatory drug testing. A year later, he skipped a court-ordered drug test and spent nearly four months in the Los Angeles County jail. He skipped another drug test and was sentenced to three years of prison in 1999. Downey served 15 months in state prison in Corcoran, California.

RDJ had begged Marvel president Kevin Feige to make the Mandarin his nemesis in the first Iron Man movie, but Feige wanted to wait for the right time to introduce the legendary character.

And! He can sing too... Downey released an album titled The Futurist, back in 2004. It debuted at an underwhelming 121 on Billboard's albums chart.

RDJ was married to Deborah Falconer from 1992 to 2004. He later married Susan Downey in 2005. They have a song and a daughter.

Yes he just won an Oscar for Oppenheimer but do you know that RDJ's first Academy Award nomination came from his portrayal of film legend Charlie Chaplin in Richard Attenborough's 1992 biopic Chaplin.