Robert Downey Jr. was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York, the younger of two children. Robert Downey Jr. father, Robert Downey, Sr., is an actor, writer, producer, cinematographer, and director of underground films, and his mother, Elsie (née Ford), is also an actress and appeared in Downey, Sr.'s films. His paternal grandfather was of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry and his paternal grandmother was of Irish Canadian and Hungarian ancestry. Robert Downey Jr. mother is of Scottish, German, and Swiss German descent. His father was born "Robert Elias", and changed his last name to "Downey" (after his stepfather James Downey), when he was a minor and wanted to enlist in the Army. He and his older sister, Allyson, grew up in Greenwich Village.
