Robert Downey Jr. David Fincher's mystery thriller "Zodiac", which was based on a true story. He played the role of "San Francisco Chronicle" journalist Paul Avery, who was reporting the Zodiac Killer case. With all of the critical success Downey had experienced throughout his career, he had not appeared in a "blockbuster" film. That changed in 2008, when Downey starred in two critically and commercially successful films, "Iron Man" and "Tropic Thunder". In the article Ben Stiller wrote for Downey's entry in the 2008 edition of "The Time 100", he offered an observation on Downey's commercially successful summer at the box office: In
Robert Downey Sr. résumé includes appearances in eight films directed by his father ("Pound", "Greaser's Palace", "Moment to Moment", "Up the Academy", "America", "Rented Lips", "Too Much Sun", "Hugo Pool"), as well as two acting appearances in movies where his father was also an actor ("Johnny Be Good", "Hail Caesar"). Downey has been married three times. His first marriage was to actress Elsie Ann Downey ("née" Ford), with whom he had two children: actress-writer Allyson Downey and actor Robert Downey Jr. The marriage ended in divorce in 1978. His second marriage, to actress-writer Laura Ernst, ended with her 1994 death from Lou Gehrig's