As we get closer to the 96th Academy Awards, it’s worth looking at this year’s nominees and how they’ve fared at previous ceremonies.
Veteran actor Robert Downey Jr. has been working in show business for four decades now, spanning from the 1980s teen dramas to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and last summer’s blockbuster epic Oppenheimer.
Has Downey Jr. ever won an Oscar in his prolific career? Not yet, but it might not be long until he wins his first. He’s now been nominated three times, his first nomination coming in 1993.
Downey Jr. was nominated for Best Actor that year for his portrayal of silent film legend Charlie Chaplin in Richard Attenborough’s biopic Chaplin, but he lost to Al Pacino and his performance in Scent of a Woman.
He’s wait until the 2009 Oscars for his next nomination for the Hollywood satire Tropic Thunder, where his performance of the imbecilic fictional character actor Kirk Lazarus earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
However, the late, great Heath Ledger won that year posthumously in the category for playing the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.
Downey Jr. now looks poised to win his first Oscar for his portrayal of Lewis Strauss in Nolan’s Oppenheimer in this year’s Best Supporting Actor category.
Downey Jr. has already won the SAG Award, the BAFTA, the Critics’ Choice Award and the Golden Globe in those supporting actor categories this awards season. An Oscar looks to be in short order.
