Rob Lowe

At 60 years old, Rob Lowe has this physical status:

Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, producer, and director.

He is the recipient of two Screen Actors Guild Awards and has been nominated for six Golden Globes Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. Lowe made his acting debut at the age of 15 with ABC's short-lived sitcom A New Kind of Family (1979–1980).

Following numerous television roles in the early 1980s, he came to prominence as a teen idol and member of the Brat Pack with roles in films like The Outsiders (1983), Class (1983), The Hotel New Hampshire (1984), Oxford Blues (1984), St. Elmo's Fire (1985), About Last Night... (1986), and Square Dance (1987).

The success of these films established him as a Hollywood star. Following a 1988 sex tape scandal, Lowe's public image and film career declined.

By the turn of the millennium, his career saw a resurgence when he ventured back into television, making his breakthrough as Sam Seaborn on the NBC political drama The West Wing (1999–2003), for which he received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards.

His other television roles include Robert McCallister on the ABC drama Brothers & Sisters (2006–2010), Chris Traeger on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation (2010–2014), Ethan Willis on the CBS medical drama Code Black (2015–2018), and the A&E reality series The Lowe Files (2017), in which he appears with his two sons, Matthew and John Owen.

In 2018, he made his directorial debut with the television film The Bad Seed, a remake of the 1956 film of the same name.

Early life

Lowe was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, to Barbara (née Hepler), a teacher, and Charles 'Chuck' Davis Lowe, a trial lawyer. His parents divorced when Lowe and his younger brother Chad Lowe were young. Lowe was baptized into the Episcopal church. He is of German, English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh ancestry. On the show Who Do You Think You Are?, Lowe found out that one of his ancestors, Christopher East, was a Hessian soldier. His ancestor was fighting under the command of Colonel Johann Gottlieb Rall and was captured at the American victory at Trenton, New Jersey, on the morning of December 26, 1776. As an American POW, his ancestor was given a choice, and took the option to stay in the United States.

Lowe grew up in Dayton, Ohio, in a "traditional American setting." He attended Oakwood Junior High School before moving to the Point Dume area of Malibu, California, with his mother and brother. In California, he attended Santa Monica High School, where he met Charlie Sheen. In his autobiography Stories I Only Tell My Friends, he wrote regarding Sheen, "We were both nerds [...] he wanted to be a baseball player."

Personal life

Lowe has been married to makeup artist Sheryl Berkoff since 1991. They met on a blind date in 1983, and again on the set of Lowe's movie Bad Influence. The couple have two sons: Matthew Edward Lowe (b. 1993) and John Owen Lowe (b. 1995).

In 1988, Lowe, who was 24 years old at the time, was involved in a sex scandal over a videotape of him having sex with two women: Tara Siebert who was 22 and her younger friend Lena Jan Parsons who was 16 years old at the time. The three met at Club Rio, an Atlanta nightclub. They were videotaped the night before the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. As the age of consent in Georgia was 14 at the time (until 1995 when it was raised to 16), both were of legal age to engage in sexual activity, although 18 was the legal age to be involved in such a recording. At the time, Lowe was campaigning for Michael Dukakis. Eventually, his career rebounded and Lowe mocked his own behavior during two post-scandal appearances as host of Saturday Night Live.

Lowe began drinking heavily as a teenager. His early fame allowed him to lead a hard-partying lifestyle that was covered extensively in the tabloids. In 1990, two years following the sex tape scandal, Lowe decided to quit drinking and completed an extensive alcohol rehabilitation program. He has maintained sobriety ever since, saying it was the best decision of his life. Adopting a daily Transcendental Meditation practice has been instrumental to his well-being. "It's changed my life," says Lowe.

In April 2008, Lowe filed separate lawsuits against three former employees, accusing them of breach of contract, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Lowe accused an ex‑nanny of engaging in a scheme to hurt him and his wife by spreading "malicious lies". Another former nanny was accused of falsely claiming to have had a personal and intimate relationship with Lowe, and also repeatedly expressing romantic interest in Lowe, claiming Lowe sexually harassed her and that Sheryl Lowe was an abusive employer. Lowe also claimed a former chef engaged in sex on their bed when the family was out of town, stole prescription drugs from the Lowes, broke several security cameras, overcharged them for food, and allegedly made statements to various people that Sheryl was heartless, cold, and unclean.

Jessica Gibson, Lowe's 24-year-old former nanny, made 12 allegations against Lowe involving sexual harassment claims and labor-code violations. On June 19, 2008, Santa Barbara, California, Superior Court Judge Denise de Bellefeuille dismissed two allegations regarding labor-code violations due to lack of legal basis. The legal battle ended in May 2009. The press reported that court records showed that lawsuits filed by both nannies and Lowe were dismissed in Santa Barbara. Attorneys for both women and Lowe sought the dismissals.

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Career

When he was 12 years old and still living in Dayton, Lowe got his first professional acting gig in 1976. In a production of Sherlock Holmes at the Wright State University summer theater, he appeared as an errand boy. He landed the role by calling every local theater and asking if there was a child in a play. Lowe was paid $150 for the job. Lowe appeared in Tony Flanagan's short-lived television comedy A New Kind of Family in 1979.

Lowe's first appearance in the 1983 television film Child, for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film. He appeared in the music video for The Go-Go's album, "Turn to You." He made his big-screen debut in 1983, alongside Emilio Estevez, in Francis Ford Coppola's The Strangers. Sodapop Curtis, the brother of Ponyboy Curtis (C. Thomas Howell) and Darryl Curtis (Patrick Swayze), was played by Lowe. In 1984, he starred opposite Jodie Foster in Tony Richardson's The Hotel New Hampshire. In St. Elmo's Fire, Lowe and Estevez reunited, making them the two most prominent members of the Brat Pack. The last Night... was followed by Demi Moore (who had appeared alongside Lowe in St. Elmo's Fire). He then received his second Golden Globe Award for his work as the mentally impaired Rory in Square Dance (1987). In August 1987, he appeared on stage in Chekov's The Three Sisters at The Williamstown Theatre Festival, playing Baron Tusenbach. He recalled meeting Paul Newman there and that the older actor pushed him to work in the theater in 1993 when filming a British television version of the Tennessee Williams play Suddenly, Last Summer with (the now) Maggie Smith and Natasha Richardson.

Lowe appeared in 1994's The Stand, which was based on Stephen King's book of the same name.

Sam Seaborn appeared in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2003 (and briefly in 2006). Lowe earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination and two Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Drama Series for his role in the series. Lowe was attracted to the role due to his personal passion for politics and his long-term friendship with Martin Sheen, who was portraying President Josiah Bartlet.

Lowe was considered the pilot when the show premiered, and the pilot was centered on his character. Lowe's character was no longer the show's main focus as the cast members included Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, Janel Moloney, Dulé Hill, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford, Martin Sheen (who was originally written as a guest actor) and Stockard Channing (whose First Lady was initially scripted as a guest star) — although the show's cast members were not aware that Lowe's character was no longer the show's principal actor) and Lowe and series creator Aaron Sorkin soon found themselves at odds over the network's meddling with the show, notably the network's demanding that Lowe's character be changed. Lowe left the series shortly after Sorkin and executive producer Thomas Schlamme resigned over a controversies with NBC.

Lowe played Sam Seaborn in two of the final four episodes during the final season of The West Wing. When the other lead characters received a raise and Lowe did not, he said on The Oprah Winfrey Show that he left the show because he did not feel respected.

Lowe, the actor and executive producer of a failed NBC drama, was the star and executive producer of a failed NBC drama, Den (2003). He tried again in a Dr. Vegas serial in 2004, but it was also cancelled right away.

Derek Shepherd of Grey's Anatomy was a character who would later be transferred to Patrick Dempsey.

Lowe, despite two cancelled TV series and flops like View From the Top and the made-for-TV film Perfect Strangers during his post-West Wing tenure, has had a blast in the TV miniseries genre. Lowe appeared in the TNT adaptation of Stephen King's Lot in 2004, which was the highest-rated cable program of the summer and had the highest ratings TNT original programming had at the time.

Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee appeared in A Few Good Men, Sorkin's London West End production, 2005, the first time the two had collaborated together since The West Wing. Despite Lowe's annoyance with his reduced presence on the show at the time of his departure, he has now confirmed that any animosity between them has been put aside and that he was delighted to be working with Sorkin once more.

Lowe appeared in the Lifetime network's miniseries Beach Girls, based on the Luanne Rice novel of the same name. The series premiere received the highest ratings for a movie premiere in Lifetime history. Lowe returned to film in the 2006 independent film Thank You for Smoking, where he played a movie agent.

In 2006, he directed The Perfect Day for TNT, in which he took a pay cut to film in New Orleans in order to assist the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged area. Lowe produced Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming, the sequel to the 1999 Kevin Bacon thriller Stir of Echoes.

Lowe will appear on Brothers & Sisters as a guest performer for many episodes in 2006. Since Lowe's debut on the show in November 2006, the show's highest ratings and demographic performance since its premiere, ABC announced in January 2007. Lowe revealed that he would be back for Brother & Sisters' early season in March 2007. He stayed in the series until the 2009–10 season. Lowe, then, announced that he would leave, dissatisfied with the books and a lack of screen time in the fourth season. In an episode broadcast on May 16, 2010, his character was involved in a multi-vehicle accident involving a large truck and was put into coma. In the first episode of the fifth season, the storyline was told; Lowe did not appear in the episode.

In June 2006, he was the guest host for an episode of The Friday Night Project, the United Kingdom's Channel 4, he was in charge of an episode. Lowe has also appeared in a televised commercial for 'Visit California' and other celebrities, including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. (He was often seen sporting a white tee shirt embroidered with the California state flag in the ad campaign.)

Lowe appeared in the 2009 film The Invention of Lying and he was a supporting actor in Too Late to Say Goodbye.

Where Are They Now? He appeared in the Brat Pack's biography in 2010. Conan O'Brien appeared on The Tonight Show as a host. Lowe is currently working with 44 Blue to produce Potomac Fever, a reality series about young adults in Washington, D.C.

Lowe would be the voice of Captain Marvel in the animated film Young Justice, which was announced in July 2010. Lowe would also be a series regular on the television show Parks and Recreation in July 2010. Chris Traeger, the steadly upbeat city manager of Pawnee, Indiana, for four seasons, was portrayed by him before his story was written out of the program in 2014. He was so impressed with the show and his guest appearances on season 2 that he agreed to be a full-fledged cast member from there on out. He reprised his role in the 2015 series "One Last Ride" and in the forthcoming documentary "A Parks and Recreation Special" (Japan).

Lowe guest appeared on Showtime's comedy Californication in 2011. According to Lowe, Lowe portrayed Hank in a film version of his book, Fucking and Punching, as the struggling but in-demand actor Eddie Nero, who is based on "about ten people."

Lowe wrote Stories I Only Tell My Friends, which was published in May 2011. Lowe told Australian radio show The Kyle & Jackie O Show that he was so affected by painkillers that he forgot to mention, including the Sydney Zoo and getting a tattoo, although he does not remember getting the tattoo. Lowe wrote a second book titled Love Life in 2014, which was released in April that year. In a poignant and amusing collection of true tales about men and women, art and commerce, fathers and sons, heroin and abuse, pregnancy and love, he uses personal experiences from his life.

Lowe appeared in a pilot for the single-camera comedy The Pro as Ben Bertrahm, a former professional tennis player, in 2014. The pilot was not chosen for this series. He also narrated The '90s: The Last Great Decade' On the National Geographic Channel, which aired in July of this year, it was the National Geographic Channel, which was on television. Lowe appeared in Pocket Listing, a satirical thriller starring Josh Lowe in 2015.

Since being a corporate spokesman for DirecTV since 2014, Lowe has been a commercial for the company. Lowe's advertisements compare him to an alternate, less appealing version of Lowe, who instead has cable. In April 2015, the National Advertising Division, acting on a Comcast complaint, discovered DirecTV's allegations regarding its customer satisfaction, value, and ranking to be less than truthful.

Fox also confirmed that they had greenlit a pilot for the comedy The Grinder, starring Lowe and Fred Savage and directed by Jake Kasdan. Lowe's role as a washed-up actor embarking on a new career as a lawyer was cancelled after one season.

Lowe played Simba in the television pilot film The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar, released in November 2015. Lowe also starred Simba in its upcoming series The Lion Guard.

Lowe was named on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in December 2015 as a celebrity on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On Hollywood Boulevard, his actor is found in front of the Musso and Frank Grill.

Lowe introduced ProfileTM, a men's skincare product line, in 2015. The line includes a series of five anti-aging products that have been specifically made for men. It is currently available in Nordstrom stores and online. The product range includes a cleanser, a shaving gel, an aftershave cream, a moisturizer, and an eye serum priced from $24.50 to $59.50. Lowe introduced 18 Amber Wood, a fragrance product line, in 2016 under the ProfileTM brand.

On August 27, 2016, a Comedy Central Roast TV special was filmed and broadcast on September 5, 2016 with Rob Lowe as the Roastee and David Spade as Roast Master. Jewel, Nikki Glaser, Ralph Macchio, Pete Davidson, Peyton Manning, Rob Riggle, Jimmy Carr, Ann Coulter, and Jeff Ross, the "Roast Master General," were among the roasters.

KFC's Lowe campaign portrayed him as astronaut Colonel Sanders delivering a JFK speech spoof/homage to the Zinger chicken sandwich's launch into space on April 21, 2017. In a tweet, Lowe said in a tweet that his grandfather brought him to visit Harland Sanders as a child.

Lowe Files, a late fall 2017 reality show starring Matthew and 22-year-old Jon Owen, was released on A&E. With the exception of the hour-long pilot, the series features 30-minute road trips with the Lowe boys and occasional TV guest stars of the field, debating common urban myths and legends that Rob has adored since childhood and has shared with his boys throughout their lives. Bigfoot/Sasquatch, the suspected unidentified "submerged" objects that may have a base off the coast of Los Angeles, alien abduction, and ghosts' immediate responses to stimuli, are among the issues being investigated. On August 2, 2017, the series debuted.

Atkins Nutritionals introduced Lowe as a new brand ambassador on January 3, 2018. Lowe was chosen for a number of multimedia advertisements that were still airing throughout 2019.

Lowe will appear in "Wild Bill," an American policeman who moves to Boston, Lincolnshire, with his daughter, in October 2018. Although ITV had cancelled the show after one season, there was a suspicion that Netflix or Hulu would purchase it at a later date.

Lowe, a producer who also works as a producer, began hosting Mental Samurai on March 19, 2019.

Literally, Lowe began hosting a podcast. Rob Lowe joined Rob Lowe in the summer of 2020. Chris Pratt and Conan O'Brien were among the guests on the tour. Lowe, a writer and filmmaker, together with Parks and Rec writer and producer Alan Yang, launched Parks and Recollection, a Parks and Recreation recap show in September 2021.

Madness in the Hills, Lowe's short film, was about the mudslides that killed 23 people in Southern California in January 2018, including many friends and neighbors of Lowe. On October 9, 2020, it debuted on Peacock.

A spin-off of the 9-1-1 series 9-1-1 was announced on May 12, 2019. Lone Star's Owen Strand, a starring role, was given a spin-off. The series premiered on January 19, 2020 to generally positive feedback and was resurrecting for its second season, which premiered on January 18, 2021.

Lowe will direct and produce the Netflix film Dog Gone on August 6, 2021.

In The Andy Warhol Diaries, which premiered on Netflix on March 9, 2022, Lowe will provide commentary.

Lowe will star in and executive produce Unstable with Victor Fresco and his son John Owen Lowe for Netflix on April 6, 2022.

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