Robert Downey Jr.'s attempted acting comeback ran aground again on Wednesday as state prison officials ordered him confined for at least six months to a drug rehabilitation facility for violating the terms of his parole with his latest drug arrest, Reuters reports.
Downey, 36, checked into a drug detoxification facility after being arrested early Tuesday morning outside a $45-per-night motel in the Los Angeles suburb of Culver City on suspicion of taking drugs. It was his second arrest on drug charges since his release from prison for a 1999 conviction on similar charges last August.
Producers of Ally McBeal, which relaunched Downey's career revival following his release from prison, said Tuesday his role on the popular Fox network series would be cut short. A spokesman for 20th Century Fox Television said on Wednesday that production of the show's crucial season finale would be completed without Downey but insisted he had not been fired by executive producer David E. Kelley.
