Robert Downey Sr.

Robert John Downey Sr. (born Robert Elias Jr.; June 24, 1936 – July 7, 2021) was an American actor, director, producer, writer, cinematographer, and the father of actor Robert Downey Jr. He is known for having written and directed the underground film Putney Swope, a satire on the New York Madison Avenue advertising world. According to film scholar Wheeler Winston Dixon, Downey Sr.'s films during the 1960s were "strictly take-no-prisoners affairs, with minimal budgets and outrageous satire, effectively pushing forward the countercultural agenda of the day."