Rob Lowe life and biography

American actor Rob Lowe began modeling as a young boy before breaking into acting in his teens and becoming one of the hottest teenage heartthrobs in the 1980's. In 1988, Lowe was involved in a scandal that involved a video camera and a female minor, and was slow to make a comeback. He took a number of film roles but is probably best known as Sam Seaborn on the television series The West Wing.

Born Robert Hepler Lowe on March 17, 1964 in Charlottesville, Virginia, the son. of Chuck and Barbara Lowe, a trial lawyer and retired teacher, respectively. Younger brother Chad, also an actor, was married to actress Hilary Swank.

Lowe grew up in Southern California and attended Santa Monica High School where his classmates included actors Charlie Sheen and Sean Penn. He rose to fame on the big screen in the early '80s as a member of the Brat Pack, along with other young actors like Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald and Judd Nelson. He appeared in The Outsiders and Class in 1983, St. Elmo's Fire in 1985, and About Last Night ... in 1986. These roles made him one of the hottest teenage heartthrobs of the 1980s.

In 1988, Lowe made headlines with a scandal that involved a video camera and a female minor, and was slow to make a comeback.

Subsequent films included Wayne's World in 1992, Contact in 1997, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me in 1999 and The Specials in 2000.

Following the incident, Lowe took a couple of years off and retreated to Santa Barbara, California, where he overcame a drug and alcohol problem and concentrated on being a family man. Lowe married makeup artist Sheryl Berkoff in 1991. They have two children, Edward Matthew born in 1993 and John Owen born in 1995.

Lowe's true comeback as an actor and star came in 1999 when he returned to the small screen to appear alongside Martin Sheen in the well-reviewed TV drama series The West Wing. Lowe was cast in the ongoing role of Sam Seaborn, Deputy Communications Director. In 2002, he announced he would leave the hit show as a result of stalled salary negotiations.

In 2003, he signed on to star in NBC's failed drama Lyon's Den, playing an up-and-coming attorney struggling to distance himself from his well-known senator father. In 2004, he tried again with Dr. Vegas but it also was quickly canceled.

In 2006, 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 2009–2010 season. Unhappy with the stories and his lack of screen time in the fourth season, Lowe announced he would leave.
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', along with other celebrities including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Lowe had a supporting role in the 2009 movie The Invention of Lying and a leading role in Too Late to Say Goodbye.

Lowe is currently teaming up with 44 Blue to produce a reality series entitled Potomac Fever about young adults living in Washington, DC.

In July 2010, it was announced that Lowe would be providing the voice for the superhero Captain Marvel in the upcoming animated series, Young Justice. It was also announced in July 2010 that Lowe would become a series regular on the series Parks and Recreation.

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 Lowe but somewhat contradicted by sources at Showtime itself - employed to portray Hank in a film version 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 Lowe’s promotional tour for Stories I Only Tell My Friends, Lowe told Australian radio show The Kyle & Jackie O Show that during his 5-day press visit to Australia in 1990, he was so badly affected by the overuse of pain-killers that the only two things he remembers from the trip was being at the Sydney Zoo and getting a tattoo.

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