Rob Lowe
Robert 'Rob' Lowe (born
March 17,
1964) is an
American actor who was a member of the
Brat Pack.
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.
Rehabilitation
Lowe gained notoriety in 1988 after a video of him having sex with two women, one of whom was underage, became public. He had met the women at a bar, Club Rio, while in
Atlanta attending the 1988
Democratic National Convention, and later claimed that he didn't know one of them was underage, and that it was reasonable to assume that someone in a bar was of legal age. The video that was widely circulated was not the one with the underage girl and her lesbian hairdresser girlfriend but that of a threesome with a model called "Jennifer", a young friend called "Justin Morris" and the actor himself, shot in a hotel room in Paris. Lowe was sentenced to twenty hours of community service. He was later committed to a rehabilitation clinic for alcohol and sex addiction.
The West Wing role
He is perhaps best known for playing
Sam Seaborn in the television show
The West Wing, a role which was his 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 Barlett 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. Lowe left the show in a highly publicized exit during the fourth season. His exit was quickly followed by that of series creator and writer
Aaron Sorkin, and director
Thomas Schlamme - a move which saw the show's style change greatly, to mixed reactions from fans. Towards the end of
The West Wing, Lowe returned to his role of Sam Seaborn, appearing in two of the final four episodes of the show.
post-The West Wing Acting Career
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 have worked together since
The West Wing. Although Lowe had expressed unhappiness about his 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 with Sorkin once more, whose talents as a writer he highly regards.
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.
Planning Advocacy
|
Board of the Homeowner's Defense Fund: from left, Roy Gaskin, Treasurer; Doug Herthel; Gary Earle; Rob Lowe, Founder/Director; Sally Jordan; Robert Collector; Judith Ishkanian, President |
Lowe is a founder of the
Homeowner's Defense Fund, a group in
Montecito that opposes the building of new housing in California. The organization argues that dense new housing will degrade existing neighborhoods; the (then) president of the Homeowner's Defense Fund, Sally Jordan, characterized California State advocacy for new housing as `like Hitler';
[Santa Barbara Independent, April 6, 2006] the current president Judith Ishkanian has characterized such housing as `ghettos'
[AM 1290 Travis Armstrong Show, June, 2006]. 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, whose owner has generally supported the Homeowner's Defense Fund, precipitated a mass resignation of senior employees at that newspaper on July 6, 2006.
[LA Times, Friday, July 7, 2006.]* Rob was voted and won most school spirit 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.
Notes
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)
Home is Where the Heart Is (1987)
Square Dance (1987)
Bad Influence (1990)
Wayne's World (1992)
The Stand (1994)
Tommy Boy (1995)
Frank and Jesse (1995)
On Dangerous Ground (1996) (TV)
Contact (1997)
The West Wing (1999-)
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
Proximity (2000)
The Specials (2000)
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)
*
AceShowbiz Database*
Photos from Wireimage*
Bio of Rob Lowe
