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Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and entertainment host. Following numerous television roles in the early 1980s, he came to prominence as a teen idol and member of the Brat Pack with starring roles in The Outsiders (1983), Class (1983), The Hotel New Hampshire (1984), Oxford Blues (1984), St. Elmo's Fire (1985), About Last Night... (1986), and Masquerade (1988). Lowe was involved in a sex tape scandal in 1988, which stymied his career for many years afterward. His notable credits during this time were supporting roles in comedy films such as Wayne's World (1992), Tommy Boy (1995), and (1999).
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 (2010–2015), and as Captain Owen Strand on the Fox drama (2020–2025). In 2018, he made his directorial debut with the television film The Bad Seed, a remake of the 1956 film of the same name.
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. Vanity Fair, Rob Lowe on His Early Years as an Actor, His Friendships with the Sheens and Tom Cruise, and the Movie that Launched His Career, The Outsiders March 29, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2012.New York Times, He's Handsome – You Noticed? – but Not Just on April 20, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2012. 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." On a March 25, 2019, episode of the ‘WTF!? With Marc Maron’ podcast, Lowe boasted that he was once capable of bench pressing 135 pounds as a senior member of Santa Monica High School's baseball team, which has become a reoccurring punchline on his ‘Literally’ podcast.
His breakthrough role, however, was as Sodapop Curtis in Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 cinematic adaptation of S. E. Hinton's novel, The Outsiders, where he shared the screen with an ensemble cast that included Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Leif Garrett, C. Thomas Howell, Diane Lane, Ralph Macchio, and Patrick Swayze. Next in 1984, he starred opposite Jodie Foster in Tony Richardson's The Hotel New Hampshire. Lowe and Estevez reunited in St. Elmo's Fire, making them the two more prominent actors from the group known as the Brat Pack. About Last Night... followed, with Demi Moore (who had starred alongside Lowe in St. Elmo's Fire). He then received his second Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the mentally disabled Rory in Square Dance (1987).
In August 1987, he performed on stage, playing Baron Tusenbach in Chekov's The Three Sisters at The Williamstown Theatre Festival. In 1993, while filming a British TV production of the Tennessee Williams play Suddenly, Last Summer with Maggie Smith and Natasha Richardson, he recalled in an interview that he had run into Paul Newman four years earlier at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and that Newman had encouraged him to continue to work in theatre. In 1989, as part of the opening ceremony for the (critically derided) telecast of the 61st Academy Awards produced by Allan Carr, Lowe made his musical debut singing a reworked duet of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" alongside actress Eileen Bowman, who was dressed as an unauthorized depiction of Snow White. Lowe appeared in 1992's Wayne's World and 1994's The Stand, based on Stephen King's book of the same name.
When the show premiered, Lowe was considered the lead, and the pilot centered on his character. But as other members of the cast —including Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, Janel Moloney, Dulé Hill, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford, Martin Sheen (who was initially scripted as a small role), and Stockard Channing (whose First Lady was initially scripted as a guest role)— grew more popular, Lowe's character no longer served as the show's main focus. 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 Lowe's character. Eventually, Lowe left the series, not long before Sorkin and director/executive producer Thomas Schlamme resigned over a dispute with NBC.
During the final season of The West Wing, Lowe returned to his role of Sam Seaborn, appearing in two of the final four episodes. In 2011, Lowe stated on The Oprah Winfrey Show that he left the show because he did not feel he was being respected, when the other lead characters received a raise and he did not. After leaving The West Wing, Lowe was the 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 canceled.
Lowe passed on the role of Derek Shepherd on Grey's Anatomy, which eventually went to Patrick Dempsey. Despite his two canceled TV series and flops like View From the Top and the made-for-TV movie Perfect Strangers during his post– West Wing run, Lowe found success in the TV miniseries genre. In 2004, Lowe starred in the TNT remake of the Stephen King miniseries Salem's Lot, which was the highest-rated cable program of that summer and the highest ratings TNT original programming had at the time. In 2005, he starred as Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee in Sorkin's London West End production of 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. That same year, Lowe starred in the miniseries Beach Girls on the Lifetime network, based on the Luanne Rice novel of the same name. The series premiere received the highest ratings for a movie premiere in Lifetime history. Later, Lowe filmed his supporting role as a movie agent in the 2006 independent film Thank You for Smoking.
In 2006, he filmed The Perfect Day for TNT, in which he took a pay cut to film in New Orleans in order to help the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged area. That same year, Lowe filmed , the sequel to the 1999 Kevin Bacon thriller Stir of Echoes, and it was announced that Lowe would join the cast of Brothers & Sisters for a guest run of several episodes. In January 2007, ABC announced that Lowe would be staying on Brothers and Sisters as a "special guest star" for the rest of Season 1 after Lowe's initial appearance on the show in November 2006 brought the best ratings and demographic showing for the show since its premiere. Soon after ABC announced an early Season 2 renewal for Brother & Sisters in March 2007, Lowe announced he would be returning for the show's second season. He continued to appear in the series until the end of the 2009–10 season. Then, Lowe announced he would leave, unhappy with the stories and his lack of screen time in the fourth season. In an episode broadcast on May 16, 2010, his character was part of a multi-vehicle crash involving a large truck and was put into a coma. The storyline was wrapped up in the first episode of the fifth season; Lowe did not appear in the episode.
In June 2006, he was the guest host for an episode in the third series of The Friday Night Project for the United Kingdom's Channel 4. Lowe has also appeared in a televised advertisement for 'Visit California' with other celebrities, including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. (In the advertisement campaign, he was usually pictured in a white tee-shirt printed with the California state flag.) Lowe had a supporting role in the 2009 movie The Invention of Lying and a leading role in Too Late to Say Goodbye.
In 2011, Lowe guest starred in a recurring role on Showtime's comedy Californication. Lowe featured as the troubled but in-demand actor Eddie Nero – a character based upon "about ten people," according to LoweArchived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: but somewhat contradicted by sources at Showtime itself – employed to portray Hank in a film version of his book, Fucking and Punching. In 2011, Lowe wrote a memoir titled Stories I Only Tell My Friends, which was released in May 2011. During his promotional tour for Stories I Only Tell My Friends, Lowe told radio show The Kyle & Jackie O Show that during his five-day press visit to Australia in 1990, he was so badly affected by the overuse of analgesic that the only two things he remembers from the trip were being at the Taronga Zoo and getting a tattoo, although he states in his book that he does not remember getting the tattoo. In 2014, Lowe wrote a second book titled Love Life, which was released in April that year. He uses stories and observations from his life in a poignant and humorous series of true tales about men and women, art and commerce, fathers and sons, addiction and recovery, and sex and love.
In 2014, Lowe starred in a Television pilot for the single-camera comedy The Pro as Ben Bertrahm, a former professional tennis player. The pilot was not picked up for series. He also narrated The '90s: The Last Great Decade? on the National Geographic Channel, which aired in July of that year. In 2015, Lowe starred in the satirical thriller Pocket Listing Lowe has been a commercial spokesman for DirecTV since fall 2014. Commercials featuring Lowe contrast him with some alternate, less appealing form of Lowe, who instead has cable television. Grey NY introduces yet another Rob Lowe for DirecTV . Mediabistro.com. Retrieved January 11, 2015. The advertisements were pulled in April 2015 after the National Advertising Division, acting on a complaint by Comcast, found DirecTV's claims about its customer satisfaction, quality, and ranking to be less than truthful. In February 2015, Fox announced they had greenlit a pilot for the comedy The Grinder starring Lowe and Fred Savage, and directed by Jake Kasdan. The series, in which Lowe starred as a washed-up actor starting a new career as a lawyer, was cancelled after one season. In November 2015, Lowe voiced Simba in the television pilot movie The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar. Lowe continued to voice Simba for its subsequent series The Lion Guard. In December 2015, Lowe was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His star is located in front of the Musso and Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard. In 2015, Lowe launched Profile™, a men's skincare product line. The line features a collection of five antiaging products specially formulated for men. It is currently sold at Nordstrom stores and online. The product collection includes a cleanser, a shave gel, an aftershave serum, a moisturizer, and an eye serum in the price range of $24.50 to $59.50. In 2016, Lowe launched a fragrance product line called 18 Amber Wood with the Profile™ brand.
On August 27, 2016, a Comedy Central Roast TV special was recorded and aired on September 5, 2016, with Rob Lowe as the Roastee and David Spade as Roast Master. Amongst the Roasters were Jewel, Nikki Glaser, Ralph Macchio, Pete Davidson, Peyton Manning, Rob Riggle, Jimmy Carr, Ann Coulter and the "Roast Master General" Jeff Ross. "ALL THE ROB THAT'S FIT TO ROAST" Retrieved September 6, 2016. On April 21, 2017, KFC released a campaign featuring Lowe as astronaut Colonel Sanders giving a JFK speech parody/homage about launching the Zinger chicken sandwich into space.Rob Lowe as astronaut Col Sanders in JFK homage advert, (KFC YouTube channel, 6,895,336 views in 1 month, as of May 21, 2017) Lowe said in a statement that when he was a child, his grandfather took him to meet Colonel Sanders. In late autumn 2017, Lowe began a reality series with his two sons, 24-year-old Matthew and 22-year-old Jon Owen, on A&E titled The Lowe Files. With the exception of the hour-long pilot, the series featured 30-minute road trips with the Lowe boys, and occasional TV guest stars known in the field, investigating common urban myths and legends that Rob has loved since he was a young boy and has shared with his boys throughout their growth. Some of the topics being explored are Bigfoot/Sasquatch, the alleged unidentified "submerged" objects that may have a base off the coast from Los Angeles, alien abduction, and ghosts and their direct responses to stimuli. The series debuted on August 2, 2017, and lasted one season. Lowe has said he hadn't planned on more than one season because of scheduling difficulties.
On January 3, 2018, Atkins Nutritionals announced Lowe as a new brand spokesperson. Due to his "low carb lifestyle," Lowe was selected for a series of multimedia ads that were still appearing in 2024. In October 2018, it was announced that Lowe would star in an ITV series, Wild Bill, about an American policeman who moves to Boston, Lincolnshire, with his daughter. While the show was cancelled by ITV after one season, there were hopes it would be picked up by Netflix or Hulu at a future date. On March 19, 2019, Lowe began hosting the Fox competition series Mental Samurai where he also served as a producer. It lasted two seasons.
In June 2021, as a surprise birthday present to his wife, he fulfilled her dream to be a contestant with him and their children on Celebrity Family Feud. On August 6, 2021, Deadline revealed that Lowe will star and executive produce the Netflix movie Dog Gone.Lowe will offer commentary in The Andy Warhol Diaries, premiering on Netflix on March 9, 2022. On April 6, 2022, it was announced that Lowe will star in and executive produce Unstable with Victor Fresco and his son John Owen Lowe for Netflix. The show, which follows Lowe as successful biotech entrepreneur Ellis Dragon as he struggles to deal with his son and regain his footing following the death of his wife, premiered on March 30, 2023.
In January 2024 he began hosting The Floor, a trivia game show. In March 2024 he signed a production deal with Fox following the show's renewal on the network for seasons two and three. In 2024, he appeared in Andrew McCarthy's Hulu documentary about the Brat Pack titled Brats. He said on his podcast in 2025 and in a subsequent magazine article that he declined an unspecified television series because it was going to film in New York, as part of a larger conversation criticizing lack of support for the film industry in Los Angeles and the United States, noting that he filmed The Floor in Dublin.
Lowe is a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Rams.
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. Rob Lowe Ends Fight With Second Nanny ABC. May 14, 2009
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. The average price of tract homes in Santa Barbara in early 2006 was US$1,100,000, which motivated some to propose denser housing on existing lots. While in favor of increasing housing density, Lowe sought to build a mansion for himself on an empty lot in Montecito, California. Santa Barbara County Planning and Development . Retrieved January 19, 2011. His protest over the appearance of the address of the empty lot in the Santa Barbara News-Press precipitated a mass resignation of senior employees at that newspaper on July 6, 2006. American Journalism Review, December 2005/January 2006, (archived in WebCite on June 4, 2007)
| 1983 | The Outsiders | Sodapop Curtis | ||
| Class | Franklin 'Skip' Burroughs IV | |||
| 1984 | The Hotel New Hampshire | John Berry | ||
| Oxford Blues | Nick De Angelo | |||
| 1985 | St. Elmo's Fire | Billy Hicks | ||
| 1986 | Youngblood | Dean Youngblood | ||
| About Last Night | Danny Martin | |||
| 1987 | Square Dance | Rory Torrance | ||
| 1988 | Masquerade | Tim Whalen | ||
| Illegally Yours | Richard Dice | |||
| 1990 | Bad Influence | Alex | ||
| 1991 | If The Shoe Fits | Francesco Salvitore | ||
| 1991 | The Dark Backward | Dirk Delta | ||
| 1992 | Wayne's World | Benjamin Kane | ||
| The Finest Hour | Lawrence Hammer | Direct-to-video | ||
| 1994 | Frank and Jesse | Jesse James | Also co-producer | |
| 1995 | Tommy Boy | Paul Barish | Uncredited | |
| 1996 | First Degree | Det. Rick Mallory | Direct-to-video | |
| Mulholland Falls | Hoodlum | Uncredited | ||
| 1997 | Decapitated henchman's friend | Uncredited cameo | ||
| Living in Peril | Walter Woods | Direct-to-video | ||
| Contact | Richard Rank | |||
| Hostile Intent | Cleary | Direct-to-video | ||
| 1998 | For Hire | Mitch Lawrence | ||
| One Hell of a Guy | Nick | |||
| Crazy Six | Billie/Crazy Six | |||
| 1999 | Dead Silent | Kevin Finney | ||
| Young Number Two | ||||
| 2000 | Escape Under Pressure | John Spencer | Direct-to-video | |
| The Specials | The Weevil/Tony | |||
| 2001 | Proximity | William Conroy | Direct-to-video | |
| 2002 | Austin Powers in Goldmember | Middle Number Two | ||
| 2003 | View from the Top | Steve Bench | ||
| 2004 | Jiminy Glick in Lalawood | Himself | Cameo | |
| 2005 | Thank You for Smoking | Jeff Megall | ||
| 2009 | Majesty | Himself | Cameo | |
| The Invention of Lying | Brad Kessler | |||
| 2011 | I Melt with You | Jonathan | Also executive producer | |
| Breakaway | Coach Dan Winters | |||
| 2012 | Knife Fight | Paul Turner | ||
| 2014 | Sex Tape | Hank Rosenbaum | ||
| The Interview | Himself | Uncredited cameo | ||
| 2016 | Pocket Listing | Frank Hunter | ||
| Monster Trucks | Reece Tenneson | |||
| 2017 | How to Be a Latin Lover | Rick the Gigolo | ||
| Sohone | Voice; English dub | |||
| 2018 | Super Troopers 2 | Guy Le Franc | ||
| 2019 | Holiday in the Wild | Derek Holliston | ||
| 2020 | Madness in the Hills | Himself | Short film; also director | |
| 2023 | Dog Gone | John Marshall | Also executive producer | |
| 2024 | Brats | Himself | Documentary | |
| 2025 | The Third Parent | Cap Hollow | Filming |
| 1979–1980 | A New Kind of Family | Tony Flannagan | 11 episodes | |
| 1980–1981 | ABC Afterschool Special | Charles Elderberry, Jeff Bartlett | Episode: "Schoolboy Father", "A Matter of Time" | |
| 1983 | Thursday's Child | Sam Alden | Television film | |
| 1990–2000 | Saturday Night Live | Host | 3 episodes | |
| 1990 | If the Shoe Fits | Francesco Salvatore | Television film | |
| 1993 | Great Performances | Doctor Cukrowicz | Episode: "Suddenly, Last Summer" | |
| 1994 | The Stand | Nick Andros | 4 episodes | |
| 1995 | The Larry Sanders Show | Himself | Episode: "The Bump" | |
| 1996 | On Dangerous Ground | Sean Dillon | Television film | |
| 1997 | Midnight Man | Television film | ||
| 1998 | Outrage | Tom Casey | Television film | |
| Stories from My Childhood | Ivan | Voice; Episode: "Ivan and His Magic Pony" | ||
| 1999 | Atomic Train | John Seger | 2 episodes | |
| 1999–2003, 2006 | The West Wing | Sam Seaborn | 80 episodes | |
| 1999 | Winding Roads | Partygoer | Television film | |
| 2001 | Jane Doe | David Doe | Television film | |
| 2002 | Framed | Det. Mike Santini | Television film | |
| Founding Brothers | James Madison | Documentary; Voice | ||
| The Christmas Shoes | Robert Layton | Television film | ||
| 2003 | The Lyon's Den | Jack Turner | 13 episodes; also executive producer | |
| 2004 | Dr. Vegas | Billy Grant | 10 episodes; also executive producer | |
| Salem's Lot | Ben Mears | 2 episodes | ||
| Perfect Strangers | Lloyd Rockwell | Television film | ||
| 2005 | The Christmas Blessing | Robert Layton | Television film | |
| Beach Girls | Jack Kilvert | 6 episodes | ||
| 2006 | A Perfect Day | Rob Harlan | Television film | |
| 2006–2010 | Brothers & Sisters | Robert McCallister | 76 episodes | |
| 2007, 2009 | Family Guy | Stanford Cordray, Himself | Voice; 2 episodes | |
| 2007 | Ted Cogan | Television film | ||
| 2009 | Too Late to Say Goodbye | Bart Corbin | Television film | |
| 2010–2015, 2020 | Parks and Recreation | Chris Traeger | 77 episodes | |
| 2011 | Young Justice | Captain Marvel | Voice; 2 episodes | |
| 2011–2014 | Californication | Eddie Nero | 6 episodes | |
| 2012 | Who Do You Think You Are? | Himself | Season 3 episode 9 | |
| Drew Peterson: Untouchable | Drew Peterson | Television film | ||
| 2013 | Franklin & Bash | Himself | Episode: "Shoot to Kill" | |
| Prosecuting Casey Anthony | Jeff Ashton | Also executive producer; Television film | ||
| Behind the Candelabra | Jack Startz | HBO Television film | ||
| Killing Kennedy | John F. Kennedy | Nat Geo Television film | ||
| 2014 | The Pro | Ben Bertram | Pilot; also executive producer | |
| 2015 | Moonbeam City | Dazzle Novak | Voice; 10 episodes; also producer | |
| You, Me and the Apocalypse | Father Jude Sutton | 8 episodes | ||
| 2015–2016 | The Grinder | Dean Sanderson | 22 episodes; also executive producer | |
| 2015 | Beautiful & Twisted | Ben Novack, Jr. | Also executive producer | |
| Simba | Voice | |||
| 2016 | Comedy Central Roast | Himself/Roastee | Television special | |
| 2016–2018 | Code Black | Ethan Willis | 29 episodes | |
| 2016–2019 | The Lion Guard | Simba | Voice; 23 episodes | |
| 2017 | The Lowe Files | Himself (host) | 9 episodes; also executive producer | |
| The Orville | Darulio | 2 episodes | ||
| 2017 | Simba | Voice; Television Film | ||
| 2018 | The Bad Seed | David Grossman | Also director and executive producer; Television film | |
| 2019 | Wild Bill | Chief Constable Bill Hixon | 6 episodes; also executive producer | |
| 2019–2021 | Mental Samurai | Himself (host) | 19 episodes; also producer | |
| 2020 | Jimmy Kimmel Live! | Himself (guest host) | 2 episodes | |
| A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote | Sam Seaborn | Recreation of "Hartsfield's Landing" | ||
| 2020–2025 | Capt. Owen Strand | 72 episodes; also executive producer | ||
| 2021 | Attack of the Hollywood Cliches! | Himself (host) | Netflix special; also executive producer | |
| 2022 | The '80s: Top Ten | Himself (host) | 6 episodes; also executive producer | |
| The Pentaverate | Himself | 4 episodes | ||
| 2023 | The Simpsons | Cousin Peter | Voice; Episode: "The Very Hungry Caterpillars" | |
| 2023–2024 | Unstable | Ellis Dragon | 16 episodes; also co-creator and executive producer | |
| 2024–present | The Floor | Himself (host) | Also executive producer |
| 1987 | Three Sisters | Baron Nikolaj Lvovich Tuzenbach | Anton Chekov | Williamstown Theater Festival, Massachusetts | |
| 2005 | A Few Good Men | Lt. Daniel Kaffee | Aaron Sorkin | Theatre Royal Haymarket, West End | |
| 1984 | "Turn to You" | Man at dance | The Go Gos video |
| 1985 | "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" | Billy Hicks | John Parr video |
| "Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire" | Billy Hicks | David Foster video |
| 1996 | Fox Hunt | Edison Pettibone | Live action |
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