DOWNEY'S LATEST LAPSE ANOTHER JARRING REVERSAL

Drugs: Arrest Shifts The Scene Of The Actor's Personal Life From A Bright
New TV Role To A Police Photo.

Robert Downey Jr. looked healthy and happy when he walked into a fashionable
Sunset Plaza boutique on a Saturday last August, his 7-year old son Indio in
tow.

"He was in great spirits," recalled Karen Zambos, manager of the Tracey Ross
boutique. Downey chatted up the sales staff and purchased a $350 pair of
rhinestone-studded women's tennis shoes as a gift.

He had every reason to be ecstatic: He had just been released from state
prison and was already shooting his new role on the hit TV show "Ally
McBeal." After a year in a prison cell, he was back enjoying his old
celebrity haunts.

Downey appeared to be taking steps to ensure his sobriety. A friend said he
was involved with Walden House, a nonprofit rehabilitation program based in
San Francisco. A person from the program would occasionally accompany him to
the Ally McBeal set in Manhattan Beach, the friend said. Downey submitted to
drug tests every week.

Then how--and why--did he end up in a Palm Springs hotel Thanksgiving
weekend, allegedly with almost five grams of cocaine and methamphetamine
stashed in a brownish pill bottle? Was that his first slip? Or--if rumors
are to be believed--just the slip that got him caught? Once again.

What is clear is this: Less than four months after Downey's Aug. 2 release
from Corcoran State Prison, his apparent respite from addiction was
shattered. He was arrested late Saturday by Palm Springs police at Merv
Griffin's Resort on suspicion of possessing cocaine and methamphetamine,
being under the influence, and committing a felony while out on bail.

Police went to Downey's room after an anonymous 911 call from a phone booth
in Cathedral City east of Palm Springs, Palm Springs Police Sgt. Patrick
Williams said. According to a transcript of the call, a man said, "Uh, yeah,
I'd just like to let you know that in Room 311 at the Merv Griffin Resort
there's a man that has an ounce of cocaine and a couple of guns and is
pretty upset. Thank you."

When police arrived, they say, they found Downey and the illegal drugs, but
no weapons. Downey, who was arrested at 9:45 p.m. and booked three hours
later, was described by police as cooperative. A search of the hotel room
Sunday turned up another half gram of cocaine, Williams said.

[] By Sunday morning, the new image of the talented Downey, resuming his
acting career with an appealing turn as the wisecracking new love interest
of Ally McBeal, was supplanted by the latest police photo--Downey with
bloodshot eyes, bedraggled hair, a dazed smile.

He was released early Sunday on $15,000 bail. He is due in court Dec. 27 in
the desert town of Indio.

Investigators say a woman might have been in Downey's room before police
arrived. "We would protect her identity but we'd like to know what
happened," Williams said.

Police would also like to find the anonymous caller. "They were right about
the drugs, wrong about the weapons," Williams said. "We'd like to know how
they got the information."

That caller did Downey a favor, said a Downey friend who is also a
recovering cocaine addict: "Thank God. I mean, the guy has a death wish. It
totally breaks my heart."

For the actor, an Academy Award nominee who slips easily into different
characters, the role of recovering addict has been been impossible to
maintain. His arrest Saturday was only the latest setback.

"He's obviously demonstrated that he's incapable of staying drug-free
without some significant ongoing help. And I'm talking about more than just
the attendance of 12-step meetings," said James Stillwell, the executive
director of Impact, a drug and alcohol treatment program that operates jail
programs and a residential facility in Pasadena. Downey was enrolled in
Impact's in-jail treatment program in 1999 before beginning his prison
sentence.

"Am I surprised? Of course not," said Stillwell, a recovering addict, clean
for 27 years. "I'm disappointed. Saddened. I don't ever like to see a fellow
addict fall."

The 35-year-old actor got out of prison this summer on $5,000 bail, pending
a state appeal court decision. He was incarcerated twice for violating
probation on earlier drug charges. Downey's attorneys argued last summer
that he had been held in prison too long because of a sentencing error, and
the state appeal court agreed. The state attorney general has challenged the
ruling.

It is unclear whether Downey's arrest Saturday will affect his bail or send
him back to prison.

His television bosses believe he will still be able to work. David E. Kelley
Productions, the company that produces "Ally McBeal" for 20th Century Fox
Television, was so pleased with Downey's work on eight episodes of the show
that he was signed to act in two more. He last worked on the set Nov. 15.
Monday night's episode was his fourth appearance.

"He is expected to return to work over the next two weeks to complete both
episodes," said Chris Alexander, a representative of 20th Century Fox
Television.

The actor, who was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Charlie
Chaplin in the 1992 movie, "Chaplin," has seesawed between jail and drug
rehab for the last four years.

In 1996, he was stopped by police while driving on Pacific Coast Highway in
Malibu. He smelled of marijuana and was carrying an unloaded revolver, as
well as small amounts of crack cocaine, powder cocaine, Valium and heroin.

He later pleaded no contest to various charges.

All told, Downey was in and out of a half a dozen rehabilitation programs
and jail stays until Malibu Superior Court Judge Lawrence Mira, weary of
giving him more chances, sentenced him to state prison in 1999.

From prison, the dry-witted Downey gave several interviews, saying he was on
the path to sobriety. He told Vanity Fair last spring, "I haven't used drugs
since June of 1999--the Thorazine at L.A. County Jail was my swan song. End
of story."

Despite his troubles, the actor continued to get job offers.

"David Kelley's company called before he was even released, saying there was
work for him," said Keith Addis, Downey's manager until the actor fired him
in August. "That was one of about half a dozen calls. There was a tremendous
amount of interest."

Downey also drew tabloid photographers, who shadowed him in the weeks after
his release. Sometimes, a friend said, they would follow him from the
Manhattan Beach production lot.

No one close to Downey would reveal where he has resided since he left
prison, but a friend said he had been living in several places.

Downey started working on "Ally McBeal" Aug. 18, and appeared to embrace a
clean life.

Stillwell, the executive director of Impact, said Downey "started off pretty
good. We heard that he was going to meetings. We heard that he was making an
attempt. I don't know what's been going on lately."

A friend said, "Wherever he has been, it's been a sober environment."

Until last weekend in Palm Springs.

Downey returned to the Los Angeles area after making bail on Sunday and was
immediately in touch with Walden House, a friend said.

"I love him and I couldn't be sorrier," said television producer Norman Lear
who has known Downey since he was a child and who helped start the legal
appeal that got him freed from prison. "You don't cure an illness with a
jail sentence."

Stillwell said Downey seemed to be making "a valiant attempt" to overcome
his addiction when he was participating in Impact rehabilitation program at
County Jail in 1999.

Now, Stillwell said, Downey needs to be involved "in an extremely intensive
after-care program, probably six months to a year."

"Relapse is part of the recovery process," said Stillwell.