Robert Downey Jr has reportedly signed a £75 million deal, making him the highest-paid film star in history, prompting renewed attention to the actor's remarkable turnaround from a period of serious drug addiction earlier in his career. Central to that recovery, as widely reported, has been his wife, producer Susan Downey, credited with helping steer him away from substance abuse and back into steady, high-profile acting work.

The reported deal underscores how completely Downey Jr has rehabilitated his career and public image since the troubled years that once saw his future in Hollywood seriously in doubt. His comeback, capped by this record-breaking pay packet, is closely tied by commentators to the stabilising influence of his marriage and personal life away from the industry pressures that contributed to his earlier struggles.