Biography for
Rob Lowe (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

17 March 1964, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

Birth Name

Robert Hepler Lowe

Height

5' 11" (1.80 m)

Mini Biography

Born in Charlottesville, Virginia, Rob Lowe's family moved to Dayton, Ohio, when he was a child. Rob broke into acting in his teens. He spent the 1980s as a member of the "Brat Pack", a group of young, powerful and reckless actors and actresses that included Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen and Judd Nelson, among others. In 1988 Lowe was involved in a scandal centering around a sexually explicit videotape which involved a minor, for which he did 20 hours of community service in Dayton. He subsequently sought help for his problems with drugs and alcohol and has re-emerged in the 1990s as a clean and sober husband and father.

IMDb Mini Biography By: ritay@embarqmail.com

Spouse

Sheryl Berkoff

(22 July 1991 - present) 2 children

Trade Mark

Early in his career, he was known for playing unlikeable and ambitious jerks

Known for playing likeable charming characters

Trivia

2000: Voted one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by People magazine.

Older brother of actor Chad Lowe.

He appeared in John Parr's "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" music video.

Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1984" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 36.

Is deaf in his right ear.

Former brother-in-law of Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank.

Lost out for the role in Titanic (1997) which went to Billy Zane.

Father of Edward Matthew Lowe (b. 1993) and John Owen Lowe (b. 1995)

Impersonated Robert Wagner's voice for the young Number Two in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999).

Mike Myers is known to have resurrected Rob's acting career. He and Rob became close friends while filming Wayne's World (1992). Myers gave him an unbilled role in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) (although the scene was deleted in editing) and gave him a role as the young Number Two in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999).

8/02: Quit the series "The West Wing" (1999). Reports vary as to why, but it seems to have been a combination of salary dispute and screen-time dispute (the character he plays got less focus on the show in more recent episodes). He will appear in the first 16 episodes of the next season, though.

His wife, Sheryl Berkoff, is a make-up artist.

2003: Helped in the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor of California.

Has the dubious distinction of having left a successful TV series ("The West Wing" (1999)), to having two failed TV series within a year ("The Lyon's Den" (2003), "Dr. Vegas" (2004)), both of which were canceled before running their full season.

Was one of the nine original members of the 1980s "brat pack", along with Judd Nelson, Mare Winningham, Anthony Michael Hall, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez and Andrew McCarthy.

One of the select few to be nominated for and subsequently "win" a Razzie Award and then not get another nomination again. Lowe "won" the 1986 Worst Supporting Actor Razzie for his performance in St. Elmo's Fire (1985).

Rob has a younger brother, Justin W. Lowe, from his father's second marriage.

Was considered for the role of Dr. Derek Shepard on "Grey's Anatomy" (2005).

Is older half brother of Micah Dyer.

Sold his six-bedroom house in Montecito, California for $7.6 million. [2009]

Brother-in-law of Kim Painter.

In 2011, Lowe told USA Today that if he didn't dye his hair, it would be entirely grey. He said he went grey at age 24.

During his teenage years, he was very good friends with Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen.

On the T.V Show Who Do You Think You Are? he found out some interesting things about his mother's family. There was an application for admittance into the Daughters of the American Revolution from someone in Rob's family because of his five times great-grandfather John Christopher East. However the application was denied because there was no proof that he fought in the Revolutionary War. Rob uncovered that John Christopher East (or Johan Christoph Oeste in German) was a Hessian soldier who fought for the British in the Battle of Trenton and was captured by George Washington. John Christopher East settled in the U.S. rather than return to Germany. While doing some digging there was a record of John Christopher East on the side of the U.S. so the DAR accepted Rob's ancestor as a patriot. Consequently, the Sons of the American Revolution invited Rob to become a member. Rob found it very interesting that his ancestor actually fought on both sides of the war.

First met Sheryl Berkoff on a blind date in 1983. They met again in 1989 while Rob was filming Bad Influence (1990) and eventually got married two years later.

Personal Quotes

When I was young and crazy, I was young and crazy. It can be hard enough just to BE in your teens and 20s. Then add fame, money, access, and every single person telling you that you're the greatest person who ever was, and it can be a recipe for disaster. Some people literally don't survive it.

[on his short-lived sitcom, "A New Kind of Family" (1979)] It was notable only for how bad it was.

... One of the great gifts we get (as actors) is that we live on, frozen in time, forever... Truly, the most fulfilling moments I've ever had are on the stage. If you can't have that as an actor, then you might as well at least have that other great thing, which is immortality.

Salary

"The West Wing" (1999)

$100,000/episode(2001)

Where Are They Now

(September 2005) Starting previews for 'A Few Good Men' in the West End, London.