and I assume he went to rehab. I'm not sure that Whitney Houston ever did. She should have gotten help.

but I forgot about his prison stay. That can wake a person up.

than being a diva. Downey is quite talented, but nobody wants to hire an actor to work on a film if he is known to have a drug problem and be unreliable because of it. Downey had more motivation from his career to get clean and stay clean than she would have. Whitney could pretty much work for herself and make her own excuses.

that he trusted completely, and who helped him stay sober.

I don't think Whitney Houston ever left the party scene. Like Lindsey Lohan, some addicts just can't stay away from the party till they've changed their behavior. They were/are always surrounded by their fellow addicts so its easy to fall back into negative behaviors. I believe the jail stint and the help of someone like Downey's wife helped him kick the habit.

I'm a huge fan. I've always thought he was a great actor but he seems to have not taken the track I expected he would... I thought he'd become like a Deniro or Pacino.

and he has battled these demons more than once in his lifetime.

Hemodialysis, I think it is....

Was it Bill Hicks that had that routine about Keith Richards, cockroaches, and surviving a direct nuclear blast?

Something about Richards looking around at the resulting fiery conflagration and total destruction and saying, "Did anyone else just see a bright light?".

I've thought that he could be a mentor to many a struggling actor. Lindsay Lohan came to mind as one needing a mentor, because I think she has a bit of talent but is so screwed up.

Disney found out too late that fueling their prototype with sex, booze, and drugs was a really bad idea.

Less Than Zero

Apparently that was not that far off from where Downey was at the time. Great actor - should have won the Oscar for "Chaplain".

Strangely he became a right winger while in prison. Hard core right winger - the scene at the beginning of "Iron Man 2" about privatizing war and peace is, I think, right in line with his thinking. I suspect that Jon Favreau (the director) has like thinking.

(the right winder stuff)