Robert Downey Jr. and Sarah Jessica Parker were one of the hottest couples from the 1980s and early ‘90s. They dated for seven years from 1984 to 1991 and they seemed madly in love with each other.
Parker and Downey met on the set of 1984 drama Firstborn when they were both 18 years old, and moved in two weeks after they started dating. They were aware that their relationship was moving really quickly at that point, so they kept their relationship and living arrangements a secret until filming had wrapped. Although they lived apart for a bit, she moved back in with him after he bought Charlie Chaplin’s old house and they lived there with their two Persian cats, Mr. Smith and Scout.
In 1991, after seven years together (though Parker has said it was closer to eight), the young actors went their separate ways. Though they once joked about sharing a Jewish wedding “at Le Mondrian Hotel with flamenco dancers,” Downey and Parker’s future together was derailed by the elephant in the room, their relationship: RDJ’s addiction.
Speaking to a dark period in his life, Downey told Parade in 2008, “I liked to drink, and I had a drug problem, and that didn’t jibe with Sarah Jessica, because it is the furthest thing from what she is. She provided me a home and understanding. She tried to help me. She was so miffed when I didn’t get my act together. I was in love with Sarah Jessica... and love clearly was not enough.”
Parker and Downey met on the set of 1984 drama Firstborn when they were both 18 years old, and moved in two weeks after they started dating. They were aware that their relationship was moving really quickly at that point, so they kept their relationship and living arrangements a secret until filming had wrapped. Although they lived apart for a bit, she moved back in with him after he bought Charlie Chaplin’s old house and they lived there with their two Persian cats, Mr. Smith and Scout.
In 1991, after seven years together (though Parker has said it was closer to eight), the young actors went their separate ways. Though they once joked about sharing a Jewish wedding “at Le Mondrian Hotel with flamenco dancers,” Downey and Parker’s future together was derailed by the elephant in the room, their relationship: RDJ’s addiction.
Speaking to a dark period in his life, Downey told Parade in 2008, “I liked to drink, and I had a drug problem, and that didn’t jibe with Sarah Jessica, because it is the furthest thing from what she is. She provided me a home and understanding. She tried to help me. She was so miffed when I didn’t get my act together. I was in love with Sarah Jessica... and love clearly was not enough.”
