Biography

American brothers Rob and Chad Lowe became actors in childhood (Chad would ultimately win an Emmy for his TV work). Rob was acting from the age of eight in 1972; seven years later, he was a regular on the TV series A New Kind of Family, playing the teenaged son of star Eileen Brennan. That series was shot down quickly, but Lowe's film career picked up when newspaper and magazine articles began aligning the handsome, sensitive young actor with the burgeoning Hollywood "brat pack," which included such new talent as Molly Ringwald, Matt Dillon, Charlie Sheen, and Anthony Michael Hall. Along with several fellow "packers" (Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, and Emilio Estevez), Lowe starred in 1985's St. Elmo's Fire; this film and the earlier Hotel New Hampshire (1984) represent the most memorable projects in Lowe's otherwise negligible film output. In 1989, Lowe's already flagging film stardom received a severe setback when he was accused of videotaping his sexual activities with an underage girl (the evidence has since become a choice item on the sub-rosa video cassette circuit). Arrested for his misdeeds, Lowe performed several hours' worth of community service, then tried to reactivate his career. Since then, Lowe has matured into something of a brat-pack George Hamilton, successfully lampooning his previous screen image in such comedies as Wayne's World (1992) and Tommy Boy (1995).

Though his comedic endeavors would continue throughout the 1990s in films such as Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and its sequel, Lowe gained notice for such dramatic roles as that of the mute and strangely plague-immune Nick Andros in the long-anticipated TV miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand (1994). Lowe's roles throughout the '90s may have not been the prominently featured roles in A-list films that his early shooting-star may have suggested, though he did maintain steady work in an interesting variety of small-budget projects. Lowe's casting on the popular political drama The West Wing brought the actor back into the public eye in what many considered to be one of the most intelligently written dramatic series on television. His turn as quick-witted liberal speechwriter Sam Seaborn brought Lowe through the dark days of his scandalous past, back to an audience who may have forgotten his charm as an actor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmography

View from the Top, A (2003)
Intimate Portrait: Diane Lane (2002) (TV) .... Himself
Christmas Shoes, The (2002) (TV) .... Robert Layton
54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, The (2002) (TV) .... Himself
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) .... Middle Number Two
Founding Brothers (2002) (TV) (voice) .... James Madison
Framed (2001) (TV) .... Mike Santini
Jane Doe (2001) (TV) .... David Doe
... aka Runaway Jane (2001) (TV) (International: MIFED title English title)
Proximity (2001) .... William Conroy
Intimate Portrait: Holly Robinson Peete (2000) (TV) .... Himself
Under Pressure (2000) .... John Spencer
... aka Cruel Deep, The (2000) (UK: DVD title)
... aka Escape Under Pressure (2000) (USA: new title)
My VH1 Music Awards (2000) (TV) .... Himself
Specials, The (2000) .... The Weevil/Tony
"West Wing, The" (1999) TV Series .... Sam Seaborn (1999-2003)
Bo Derek: The E! True Hollywood Story (1999) (TV) .... Himself
Dead Silent (1999) .... Kevin Finney
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) .... Young Number Two
... aka Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) (USA: video title)
Atomic Train (1999) (TV) .... John Seger
One Hell of a Guy (1998) (V) .... Nick
Saturday Night Live: Game Show Parodies (1998) (V) .... Host of 'Food, Sex or Cars?'
"Stories from My Childhood" (1998) TV Series
... aka "Mikhail Baryshnikov's Stories from My Childhood" (1998) (USA: complete title)
Winding Roads (1998) .... Partygoer
Crazy Six (1998) .... Billie, a.k.a. Crazy Six
Outrage (1998) (TV) .... Tom Casey
For Hire (1997) .... Mitch Lawrence
Hostile Intent (1997) .... Cleary
Contact (1997) .... Richard Rank
Living in Peril (1997) .... Walter Woods
... aka Peril of Being Walter Woods, The (1997)
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) (uncredited) .... Decapitated Henchman's Friend
Fox Hunt (1996) (VG) .... Edison Pettibone
On Dangerous Ground (1996) (TV) .... Sean Dillon
... aka Jack Higgins' On Dangerous Ground (1996) (TV)
Mulholland Falls (1996) (uncredited) .... Hoodlum
Eye of the Storm (1995) .... Sean
First Degree (1995) .... Det. Rick Mallory
Midnight Man (1995) (TV) .... Sean Dillon
... aka Jack Higgins' Midnight Man (1995) (TV)
Tommy Boy (1995) (uncredited) .... Paul Barish
Frank and Jesse (1994) .... Jesse James
"Stand, The" (1994) (mini) TV Series .... Nick Andros
... aka "Stephen King's The Stand" (1994) (mini)
Suddenly, Last Summer (1993) (TV) .... Doctor Cukrowicz
Wayne's World (1992) .... Benjamin Kane
Finest Hour, The (1991) .... Lawrence Hammer
... aka Desert Shield (1991)
Dark Backward, The (1991) .... Dirk Delta
... aka Man with Three Arms, The (1991) (UK)
If the Shoe Fits (1990) (TV) .... Francesco Salvitore
... aka Soulier magique, Le (1990) (TV) (France)
... aka Stroke of Midnight (1990) (TV)
... aka Sur le coup de minuit (1990) (TV) (France)
Bad Influence (1990) .... Alex
Illegally Yours (1988) .... Richard Dice
Masquerade (1988) .... Tim Whalen
Square Dance (1987) .... Rory
... aka Home Is Where the Heart Is (1987) (USA: TV title)
About Last Night... (1986) .... Danny
Youngblood (1986) .... Dean Youngblood
St. Elmo's Fire (1985) .... Billy Hicks
Oxford Blues (1984) .... Nick
Hotel New Hampshire, The (1984) .... John Berry
Class (1983) .... Franklin 'Skip' Burroughs IV
Outsiders, The (1983) .... Sodapop Curtis
Thursday's Child (1983) (TV) .... Sam Alden
Making of 'Class', The (1983) (TV) .... Himself
Matter of Time, A (1981) (TV) .... Jeff Bartlett
Schoolboy Father (1980) (TV) .... Charles Elderberry
"New Kind of Family, A" (1979) TV Series .... Tony Flanagan