Rob Lowe
Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964)[2][3] is an American actor, filmmaker, and podcast host. He 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.
For other people named Robert Lowe, see Robert Lowe (disambiguation).
Rob Lowe
Actor, filmmaker, podcast and game show host
1979–present
Democratic (before 2006)[1]
Independent (as of 2006)[1]
2, including John Owen Lowe
Chad Lowe (brother)
Lowe was involved in a sex tape scandal in 1988.[4] 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), Ethan Willis on the CBS medical drama Code Black (2016–2018), and as Captain Owen Strand on the critically praised Fox drama 9-1-1: Lone Star (2020–present). 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[edit]
Robert Lowe was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, to Barbara (née Hepler), a teacher, and Charles 'Chuck' Davis Lowe, a trial lawyer.[5] While still a baby, he lost complete hearing in his right ear as a result of undiagnosed mumps.[6] His parents divorced when Lowe and his younger brother Chad were young.[7] Lowe was baptized into the Episcopal church.[8] 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.[9]
Lowe grew up in Dayton, Ohio, in a "traditional American setting".[8] He attended Oakwood Junior High School before moving to the Point Dume area of Malibu, California, with his mother and brother.[10][11] 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."[12]
Philanthropy[edit]
Lowe was the first male spokesman for the 2000 Lee National Denim Day fundraiser, which raises money for breast cancer research and education. His grandmother and great-grandmother both suffered from breast cancer, and his mother died of the disease in late 2003.[92][93]
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 14,260-square-foot (1,325 m2) mansion for himself on an empty lot in Montecito, California.[94] 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.[95][96][97]