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Robert 'Rob' Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor who was a member of the Brat Pack.

Biography

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Family

Born to Charles Lowe and Barbara Hepler in Charlottesville, Virginia and raised in Dayton, Ohio and Los Angeles, Lowe became famous after appearing in a string of popular movies that included other members of the Brat Pack, the most notable being St. Elmo's Fire.

Lowe and his brother and fellow actor Chad Lowe grew up on the Westside of Los Angeles and attended Santa Monica High School where one of their classmates was fellow Brat-Packer Emilio Estevez. Lowe's sister-in-law is two time Academy Award winning actress Hilary Swank who is married to Chad, although in May 2006 the couple announced their intention to divorce. Today Lowe makes his home with his wife Sheryl Berkoff and children in Montecito, California.

Early career

Rob Lowe's early career included such hit films as The Outsiders, St. Elmo's Fire, and About Last Night. Rob Lowe was one of the most popular members of the Brat Pack, partially because of his good looks, which made him a popular actor with many.

Sex Tape Controversy

Rob Lowe's career in Hollywood was on the fast track until 1988, when Lowe was caught in a sex scandal involving him videotaping himself having sex with two women, one of whom was only 16 http://wcbstv.com/slideshows/photoalbum_slideshow_324160333/view?slide=5 , in Atlanta while attending the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Lowe has asserted that he did not know that the second girl was underaged (a fact later confirmed, as the two had met at a bar, which the girl entered by lying about her age).

Further complicating the issue was yet another sex tape controversy that leaked at the same time, as a home video starring Lowe, a model called "Jennifer", and a young friend called "Justin Morris" having a three-way in a hotel room in Paris was made commercially available. This sex tape would be sold as one of the first commercially available "celebrity sex tape", lending a black eye towards Rob Lowe's public image.

Rob Lowe's career was damaged by the scandal, as the actor entered a rehabilitation clinic for alcohol and sex addiction. As the scandal faded from the public's memory, Lowe's career rebounded and Lowe himself has mocked his own irresponsible behavior during two post-scandal appearances as host of Saturday Night Live. In one appearance, Rob appeared in a "Church Lady" sketch, where in exchange for the Church Lady not mentioning the sex tape scandal during their interview, Lowe would allow the Church Lady to spank him on live TV. At the end of the sketch, when it comes time for Rob's spanking, Rob takes a great deal of sexual pleasure from being spanked, much to the Church Lady's horror as she starts screaming for Satan to leave Rob Lowe's butt.

In his next appearance on the show, Rob Lowe read from a faux-diary where he humorously talks about his days in the "Brat Pack" and how the last diary entry has him talking about how he was heading off to the 1988 Democratic National Convention, where he expects to have a memorable "night to remember".

The West Wing role

Lowe is perhaps best known for playing Sam Seaborn in the television series The West Wing from 1999-2003. When the show premiered, Seaborn was considered the lead, and the pilot centered on the character. But the acclaimed cast — including Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford, Martin Sheen (whose President Bartlet was initially scripted as a small role) and Stockard Channing (whose First Lady was initially scripted as a guest role) — soon made the show into the hottest ensemble drama on TV, and Sam Seaborn could no longer be considered the lead character.

While he reluctantly accepted his demotion, Lowe and series creator Aaron Sorkin soon found themselves at odds over the network's meddling with the show, most notably the network demanding changes in the Sam Seaborn character. Eventually, Lowe left the series, not long before Sorkin and director/executive producer Thomas Schlamme unceremoniously quit over a dispute with NBC - a move which saw the show's style change greatly, resulting in decreased ratings and mostly negative reactions from critics and fans. During the final season of The West Wing, Lowe returned to his role of Sam Seaborn, appearing in two of the final four episodes.

After The West Wing

After leaving, he was star and executive producer of a failed NBC drama, The Lyon's Den (2003). In 2004, he tried again in a series entitled Dr. Vegas, but it also was quickly cancelled.

In 2005 he starred as Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee in a London West End production of Sorkin's play A Few Good Men, the first time the two had worked together since The West Wing. Although Lowe had expressed unhappiness about his decreased role on that show at the time of his departure, he has now repeatedly said that any animosity between them is over and that he was pleased to be working once more with Sorkin, whose talents as a writer Lowe highly regards.

In 2006 it was announced that Lowe would join the cast of Brothers & Sisters for a guest run of several episodes.

Breast cancer advocate

Lowe was the first male spokesperson for the 2000 Lee National Denim Day fundraiser which raises millions of dollars for breast cancer research and education. His grandmother and great-grandmother both suffered from breast cancer. His mother succumbed to the disease in late 2003.

Planning Experience

Lowe is a founder of the Homeowner's Defense Fund, a Santa Barbara County non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to local control of land use planning and transparency in government. www.homeownersdefensefund.org The average price of tract homes in Santa Barbara in early 2006 is $1,500,000, which has motivated some to propose denser housing on existing lots. At the same time Lowe opposes new housing for others, he has sought to build a very large mansion for himself at 700 Picacho Lane in Montecito.Santa Barbara News-Press, June 22, 2006, p. A7; Montecito Planning Commission Lowe's protest over the appearance of the address in the Santa Barbara News-Press precipitated a mass resignation of senior employees at that newspaper on July 6, 2006.LA Times, Friday, July 7, 2006.

Trivia

• Rob was voted most spirited in high school.
• Assistant Little League baseball coach in and around the Carpinteria, California, area, which is near his home in Montecito.
• Richard Phillips based his "Portrait Of God" (oil, 1998) on a photo of Lowe.
• Took part in an infamous duet with Snow White at the 1989 Academy Awards.

Notes

Selected filmography

• Schoolboy Father (1980)
• Class (1983)
• The Outsiders (1983)
• Oxford Blues (1984)
• The Hotel New Hampshire (1984)
• St. Elmo's Fire (1985)
• Youngblood (1986)
• About Last Night... (1986)
• Square Dance (1987)
• Masquerade (1988)
• Bad Influence (1990)
• Wayne's World (1992)
• The Stand (1994)
• Tommy Boy (1995)
• Frank & Jesse (1995)
• On Dangerous Ground (1996) (TV)
• Contact (1997)
• The West Wing (1999-2006)
• Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
• Proximity (2000)
• The Specials (2000)
• The Christmas Shoes (TV Film) (2002)
• Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
• View from the Top (2003)
• Framed (2003)
• Salem's Lot (2004)
• Beach Girls (TV Miniseries) (2005)
• Thank You for Smoking (2006)

External links

• Official Rob Lowe website
• Photos from Wireimage
• Bio of Rob Lowe

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