NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — Robert Downey Sr., an actor and a director best known for his 1969 satire Putney Swope has died. He was 85.
His passing was revealed by his son, actor Robert Downey Jr. who said his father died at home after a battle with Parkinson’s.
“Last night, dad passed peacefully in his sleep after years of enduring the ravages of Parkinson’s. He was a true maverick filmmaker and remained remarkably optimistic throughout. According to my stepmoms calculations, they were happily married for just over 2,000 years,” he wrote on Instagram.
A native of New York City, Downey Sr. Developed honed his directorial skills focusing on low budget, underground and counter-culture movies, often shot in 16mm such as ‘Ball’s Bluff’ a 1961 short film about a civil war soldier who awakens in modern times, and ‘Babo 73’ a 1964 comedy featuring Taylor Mead.
Downey was best known for the satirical 1969 film ‘Putney Swope’ Arnold Johnson as the title character, a black advertising executive in a searing send-up of Madison Avenue’s take on consumer culture and racial stereotypes in Hollywood.
He was also an actor and appeared in a number of small roles in films such as Boogie Nights, Live & Die In L.A., The Family Man and Tower Heist.
He is survived by children Allyson Downey and Robert Downey Jr and wife Rosemary Rogers.
