He's been called sweet, multi-talented, the nicest man in Hollywood, and funny.  He's been called handsome, charming, a joy to work with, and devoted.   He's been called a perfectionist, playful, intelligent, and gracious.  He's been called charismatic, kind, drop-dead gorgeous, and loving.   He's been called Daddy, Husband, Brother, Son, Uncle, and Friend.

“HE” is Robert Hepler Lowe.

Rob was born on March 17, 1964 in Charlottesville, Virginia to Chuck and Barbara Hepler Lowe. Brother Chad was born on January 15, 1968 and is also an actor. Because of a virus during infancy, Rob is deaf in his right ear.

He married make-up artist Sheryl Berkoff on July 22, 1991 and the couple has two sons, Matthew Edward, born September 24, 1993; and JohnOwen, born November 6, 1995.

Rob first met Sheryl in 1983 then they reunited in 1990 on the set of his movie, Bad Influence where she worked as a make-up artist.

Rob is a Pisces, stands 5’10” tall, and has a tattoo of an authentic Japanese Koi fish on his left bicep. His two admitted vices are fine Cuban cigars he keeps in a silver Humidor in his office, and M&Ms. He loves his cigars, but he’s dead serious about his M&Ms. “I don’t approve of those new colors. There should be no blue M&M,” he complains. “For God’s sake, can’t something in this world stay old school? My favorite is green.”

His family relocated to Dayton, Ohio where his Father became a trial lawyer and his Mother, an English teacher. They divorced when Rob was 4, and both parents remarried.

Rob began his career at age 8 in local television, modeling, and in summer stock theater. He saw the musical Oliver! and discovered his passion for the stage. "It was like an epiphany," he recalled. "When I saw those kids onstage, I wanted to be there. I loved acting because it was a world outside the world I was living in, a place where I could be someone else." By the time Rob was 12 he had performed in over 30 plays.

When he was 12 his Mother divorced for the second time, and moved him and Chad to Los Angeles to marry a California mental health therapist. "I was not a happy camper," said Lowe. "I was so afraid. I wanted to stay in Dayton."

Rob attended Santa Monica High School with classmates Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, and Sean Penn. However, life was not easy for a small-town boy in the big city. Blessed with being incredibly attractive, which he credits with “good genes”, Rob was teased relentlessly for being a sissy.

“I showed up in Malibu in my Levi Tough Skins, which were chic in Ohio, and all the other kids were surfers and volleyball players. It wasn’t a pretty picture.”

As he continued his auditions, Rob earned an early television credit in the Emmy-winning A Matter of Time. In 1979 he landed the enviable role of Eileen Brennan’s teenage son in the ABC series A New Kind of Family. Rob was also featured in the Hallmark Hall of Fame’s Thursday’s Child, for which he received his first Hollywood Foreign Press Association Golden Globe nomination.

Rob made his first feature film debut as Sodapop Curtis in 1983 in Francis Ford Coppola’s classic The Outsiders; followed by a starring role in Class opposite Jacqueline Bisset and Cliff Robertson the same year.

In 1984 he filmed Hotel New Hampshire with Jodie Foster; and Oxford Blues.

The same year Rob Lowe was named one of twelve “Promising New Actors of 1984” in John Willis’ Screen World.

Youngblood was filmed in 1985 with Patrick Swayze. The eternally popular classic, St. Elmo’s Fire came on its heels and Rob also appeared in John Parr’s St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion) music video.

In Details magazine Rob said, “I’ll tell you how I know I’ve been around a long time. Gwyneth Paltrow can recite every line of St. Elmo’s Fire. I’m not kidding. She’s seen it like 100 times. She likes to mortify me with obscure St. Elmo’s Fire dialogue.”

In 1987 Rob received his second Golden Globe nomination based on his performance in the film Square Dance. Eager to broaden his range as an actor in this film, Rob convincingly portrayed a mentally disabled young man.

Rob changed direction again in 1988 when he played a scheming playboy in the acclaimed mystery, Masquerade; he also filmed Illegally Yours.

Rob has said one of his personal favorites, and perhaps his best movie, is 1990’s Bad Influence, with James Spader, in which Rob gives a chilling performance as a villainous psychopath.

“I love, love, love Jimmy Spader,” he told Details magazine. “He’s mad as a hatter.”

It was on the set of Bad Influence Rob was reunited with Sheryl Berkoff, the make-up artist who had met Rob 7 years earlier on a blind date. When they ran into each other this time, something clicked and they fell in love.

Rob planned a unique marriage proposal for Sheryl, he told Us magazine. “We’d been dating a year,” he said. “I had planned it for a month, bought the ring ~~ a big diamond. Nothing escapes my wife’s attention, so I had to find a place to hide it. I put it in a dirty tube sock in the trunk of my car, thinking she’d never look there, let alone touch it. When I proposed to her on Mulholland Drive, I was so nervous I had forgotten to get the ring from the trunk beforehand. I had to say, ‘Hold on, I’ve got to get something.’ But all that matters is that it worked.”

In March, 1990 Lorne Michaels asked Rob to host the season opener of Saturday Night Live, and he’s since hosted it in April 1997 and October 2000.

Rob also filmed the romantic comedy If the Shoe Fits with Jennifer Grey in 1990.

The Dark Backward with James Caan was filmed in 1991; also that year Rob filmed Finest Hour.

Rob became a charter member of the National Actors Theatre and made his Broadway debut with Tony Randall and Lynn Redgrave in Feydeau’s A Little Hotel on the Side on Broadway in 1992.

That year he also filmed Wayne’s World; in addition, he co-starred with Natasha Richardson and Maggie Smith in the BBC’s Suddenly Last Summer.

Fox Hunt was filmed in 1993.

Rob is an admitted Stephen King fan and in 1994 co-starred in the television mini-series of King’s novel The Stand, as the viewers' favorite, deaf-mute Nick Andros. His performance received much attention and again, his diversity as an actor was solidified.

Also in 1994, Rob produced and starred in Frank and Jesse, in which he played Jesse James. One of his co-stars was his half-brother, Micah Dyer.

Rob was uncredited for his 1995 role in Tommy Boy; he also starred in Midnight Man and Eye of the Storm in 1995.

In 1996 he was uncredited for his role in Mulholland Falls; he also filmed First Degree, and On Dangerous Ground in 1996.

In 1997 Rob filmed the acclaimed sci-fi movie Contact, For Hire with Joe Mantegna, Living in Peril, and had an uncredited role in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

Also in 1997, Rob wrote and directed the short film Desert’s Edge which debuted at the Los Angeles International Film Festival.

One Hell of a Guy, Crazy Six, and Outrage were all filmed in 1998.

Rob also taped the audio for the TV series, Mikhail Baryshnikov’s Stories From My Childhood in 1998.

Rob closed out the decade by filming Dead Silent, Atomic Train, and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me as Young Number Two with a dead-on impersonation of Robert Wagner.

Rob returned to television in 1999 when he joined the cast of the Emmy-winning drama series The West Wing. He starred as the beloved Sam Seaborn, Deputy Communications Director. His sterling performance earned him his third and fourth Golden Globe nominations, two SAG Awards, and an Emmy nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Drama.

His character immediately became popular with viewers all over the world because of Sam’s charismatic personality, sense of humor, naiveté, intelligence, graciousness, and the way he looked in that famous black sweater.

Rob stayed on The West Wing four seasons then left after creative differences and stalled salary negotiations were unresolved. An organized campaign by fans to keep Sam on the show attracted national attention, but their efforts were to no avail and Rob left the series in 2003.

Rob continued to make movies while he was on the TV series, and in 2000 he filmed Escape Under Pressure, a.k.a. The Cruel Deep, The Specials, and Winding Roads.

In 2000 Rob was voted one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world by People magazine.

In 2001 he filmed Proximity and Jane Doe, a.k.a. Runaway Jane.

Not one to sit and do nothing, in 2002 Rob filmed the acclaimed made-for-TV movie Framed with Sam Neill, Austin Powers: In Goldmember, and the highly-rated made-for-TV movie Christmas Shoes, which is quickly becoming a Christmas classic.

In 2003 Rob was Executive Producer of and starred in the TV drama series, The Lyon's Den. The show was popular with viewers and critics, however it wasn't given an opportunity to develop and find its audience and the show faced cancellation. Again Rob's fans rallied with an organized campaign to keep it on the schedule, but were unsuccessful. It has since aired to great viewer response in countries all over the world,
to the delight of Rob's international fans.

Also in 2003, Rob filmed View From the Top; and co-hosted the NBC Fall Preview Show with Alicia Silverstone.

A long-time political animal, Rob took time to help fellow actor Arnold Schwarzenegger get elected Governor of California in November 2003. Rob stays active in the political issues that involve his community.

Previously Rob had stumped for Michael Dukakis, and as a child sold lemonade to help the George McGovern campaign. Now he says he’s fed up with party politics and simply focuses on issues. Rob admires previous Presidents John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Teddy Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Shortly after Thanksgiving 2003 Rob’s Mother, Barbara Hepler, died of breast cancer. He asked those who wanted to send flowers to instead make memorial contributions to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The Foundation always welcomes donations and can be contacted at:

As one of the most prolific actors in Hollywood, Rob was asked who his favorite actor is. His response? “Paul Newman. I love him. When I was a kid he was what it meant to be a movie star. He's funny, he's smart. There's a sense that he has a very full life outside his work. I so admire him for that.”

Rob seems to live by that creed, as he packs a full day into EVERY day and he looks like he's always having fun.

Looking back on his life and all his experiences, Rob said, "I loved fun. I spent my whole life in search of fun," he said. "I have not given up that part of myself."

On March 17, 2004 Rob Lowe turned 40 and a host of friends and his family honored him at L’Orangerie Restaurant in Beverly Hills. The highlight of the evening was when his sons Matthew and JohnOwen led the guests in singing “Happy Birthday”.

In June 2004 Rob starred in another Stephen King favorite, Salem’s Lot, to rave reviews. This television mini-series is the second of three novels by King that Rob calls the “Holy Trinity” and he feels fortunate to have filmed two of them. They are Salem's Lot, The Stand, and The Shining. As he says, "Two out of three ain't bad."

In the summer of 2004 Rob traveled between London and Toronto filming a movie of the week for CBS called Perfect Strangers. This romantic comedy allowed Rob to again show his diversity as an actor when he let his natural funny side shine. His fans rooted for the boy to get the girl (Anna Friel) this time and they weren't disappointed.

In the fall of 2004 Rob starred in the abbreviated CBS series dr. vegas.

Rob starred in the limited-series Beach Girls on the Lifetime Channel in August-September, 2005. He played a widowed father of a teenage girl, a character that was, yet again, one Rob hadn't portrayed yet and one that he carried off with high praise from critics.

Julia Ormond and Cloris Leachman co-starred in this six-hour drama that attracted a wide audience. Based on the best-selling novel by Luanne Rice, Beach Girls was the most highly-rated drama premiere in Lifetime Television's history.

While he was in Canada filming Beach Girls, Rob took time to make a guest starring appearance in the sequel to The Christmas Shoes. Airing on CBS in December 2005, The Christmas Blessing garnered equally high ratings as the second in this trilogy of holiday movies.

Thank You For Smoking premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival in September. Rob's portrayal of a slick Hollywood agent created a major buzz and he was called "pitch-perfect as a Zen-coated Hollywood agent". Rob taped a series of faux "The More You Know" public service announcements that aired during The Showbiz Show with David Spade on the Comedy Central cable channel.

Also in September, Rob provided commentary for the Special Edition DVD of The Outsiders: The Complete Novel. Francis Ford Coppola's revision of Rob's first feature film debut as Sodapop Curtis in 1983 included many of his scenes that had never been seen before.

Sodapop continues to be one of Rob's most popular characters, especially with his younger audience, and earns him new fans as this classic is regularly shown is school classrooms.

Rob spent the last five months of 2005 in London, England starring in a West End theatrical revival of Aaron Sorkin's A Few Good Men. Preview Performances at the Theatre Royal Haymarket began August 18, 2005; Press Night was held September 6, 2005; and Closing Night was December 17, 2005.

The play opened to rave reviews, and as Lt. Daniel A. Kaffee, Rob's performance was electrifying and critics said "Rob Lowe proves that he is as much at home on stage as on movie and TV screens".

As 2006 began, Thank You For Smoking continued to gain momentum at the Sundance, Santa Barbara, and San Jose Film Festivals before it premiered on March 17th. Although his role was small, critics and audiences alike gave Rob highest kudos for his hilarious portrayal of a kimono-wearing, Zen-like Hollywood agent. Rob's comedic talent and timing was again apparent to theatre audiences who laughed out loud whenever Rob was on the screen.

Thank You For Smoking opened in the UK on June 16th and received equally sensational reviews as it did in the United States.

Rob reprised his role of Sam Seaborn in two episodes of The West Wing in May, 2006, including the finale which marked the end of the series' seven-year run. Rob's return was heralded with great anticipation, as Sam was always a favorite in the hearts of viewers around the world.

In the fall of 2006, Rob joined the cast of ABC's drama Brothers & Sisters for a 6-episode stint. His character, Republican Senator Robert McCallister, was an instant favorite with critics and fans alike and ratings rose.

After his 6-episode run, Rob was asked to become a permanent cast member and returned for the Fall 2007 Second Season to reprise his popular role.

Rob took a cut in salary to film the Christmas movie, A Perfect Day in New Orleans. Filming there generated revenue for this city still suffering the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Rob's psychological horror drama, Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming aired on the Sci-Fi channel in August, 2007. This sequel to the popular Stir of Echoes was filmed in Toronto.

Rob will begin filming the big screen comedy This Side of the Truth in the spring of 2008. The movie will be released in 2009.

When Diane Sawyer of Primetime Live asked Rob what the best things about him are, he smiled and said, “I’m nice. I’m funny. And when I love, I love really deeply.”

We love you too, Rob.

We really do!

We really, really do!

People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
~Maya Angelou~