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Following his stint with Our Gang, Downs stayed with the short-subject series until 1927, appearing in twenty-four two-reelers in various roles. He honed his dancing and singing skills on the vaudeville stage, working prominently on Broadway until returning to Hollywood in 1934. Downs became a fixture of the "college musical" movie cycle of the late 1930s, usually cast as a team captain or a cheerleader. His movie career declined just after he returned to Hal Roach to star in a 45-minute feature, All American Co-Ed (1941). From then on he mainly walked the boards in vaudeville, summer stock, and one solid Broadway hit (Are You With It). One of his outstanding cameo appearances is his performance in Rhapsody in Blue: The George Gershwin Story (1945) where he dances to Robert Alda`s piano playing of "Swanee". Downs made a short comeback in doing bit parts in the early 1950s. Despite never making it big, he has almost 100 movie credits to his name.

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