About ten years I would have bet at least one full paycheck that Robert Downey, Jr. would be either dead or in jail. I never would have considered that he actually still had many years of great performances ahead of him, but there you go. As they say in football, that’s why they play the games. People can surprise you. The folks who run the ShoWest entertainment exhibition in Las Vegas also noticed that Downey was still alive and free. According to HR they are going to give him the “Male Star of the Year” award at ShoWest 2008 in March.

It seems odd to name the “Male Star of the Year” before the year is even a month old and the actor involved hasn’t released any films. Hey, I guess that’s Hollywood. The reason Downey is being singled out is his upcoming role as Tony Stark in Iron Man, which has comic book geeks, well, geeking. I’m even geeking a little and I’d never heard of the character before the movie was announced. So, in addition to buying new popcorn machines and hiring prostitutes, attendees will see a guy we all thought was going to be on Skid Row get some recognition for something he hasn’t done yet. Good for him.