American director Robert Downey served in the Army, pitched in semi-pro baseball and became an actor, all before he was 25 years old. In 1963, he began directing basement-budgeted absurdist films which gained a following in the "underground" cinema circuit: Babo 73 (1963), Chafed Elbows (1965) and No More Excuses (1968). Putney Swope (1969) was the first Downey-directed film to earn a mainstream...
See Full Robert Downey Sr. Biography