Robert Downey Sr., the director of the anti-establishment satirical classic Putney Swope and the father of actor Robert Downey Jr., died today in his sleep at home in New York City.
He was 85.His death was announced by reported by wife and author Rosemary Rogers to the New York Daily News. Rogers told the publication that Downey Sr.
had suffered from Parkinson’s for more five years.Born in New York City, Downey Sr. became a significant force in the city’s underground film movement in the 1960s, writing and directing the 1961 short fantasy film Ball’s Bluff in which a Civil War soldier wakes up to find himself in 20th Century Central Park.Other offbeat indie films followed, including 1964’s Babo 73, 1966’s Chafed Elbows and 1968’s No More
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