Rob Lowe Through the Years: The Brat Pack Era and More

Credit: Getty Images (2)

Rob Lowe Through the Years: From ‘The Outsiders’ to ‘The West Wing’ and Beyond

Rob Lowe has had quite the successful career in Hollywood, filled with his fair share of ups and downs. Lowe was born in March 1964 in Charlottesville, Virginia, but later moved to Dayton, Ohio. While he was in high school, Rob, his mom, Barbara Hepler, and his brother, Chad Lowe, moved to Malibu, California, where Rob began his acting career after landing a role in the TV comedy A New Kind of Family in 1979. After being nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in the 1983 series Thursday’s Child, Rob landed roles in several major films including 1983’s The Outsiders, 1984’s The Hotel New Hampshire, 1985’s St. Elmo’s Fire, 1986’s About Last Night and 1987’s Square Dance. After all of his film success in the ’80s, Rob transitioned back to television and appeared in various notable series including The West Wing from 1999 to 2003 (which earned him an Emmy nomination), Brothers & Sisters from 2006 to 2010, Parks and Recreation from 2010 to 2015, Code Black from 2016 to 2018 and 9-1-1: Lone Star from 2020 onward. Keep scrolling to learn more about Rob’s life and career:

Credit: Nancy Moran/Sygma via Getty Images

1979-1983

After Rob moved to Los Angeles in high school, he landed the role as Tony Flanagan in the TV comedy A New Kind of Family, which ran from 1979 to 1980. He also received his first Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Series for his 1983 TV film Thursday’s Child. 

Credit: Paul Natkin/Getty Images

1983-1987

Rob landed his breakthrough role in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film The Outsiders alongside C. Thomas Howell and Patrick Swayze. After the success of the movie, Rob landed roles in several notable films including 1984’s The Hotel New Hampshire, 1985’s St. Elmo’s Fire, 1986’s About Last Night and 1987’s Square Dance. 

“If you were in a frat your first year of college, the way you bond with those people, that’s the way I feel about the cast,” the actor told Fox News in March 2023 during The Outsiders 40th anniversary. “It was my first time away from home. It was my very first movie. I’ll never forget it. It feels like it was four days ago, not 40 years.” 

Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

1988

Rob was involved in a sex tape scandal that resulted in one of the first-ever commercially released celebrity sex tapes. 

“It’s one of the reasons why I got sober. I woke up one day and I was like, ‘What am I doing with my life?’ I’m 29 years in and, like, people talk, but it’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” Rob said in an October 2019 interview on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show. 

Credit: Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch via Getty Images

1991

After meeting on a blind date in 1983, Rob and makeup artist Sheryl Berkoff tied the knot. 

Credit: Ron Davis/Getty Images

1993

Rob and Berkoff welcomed their first child, a son named Matthew Edward. 

Credit: Ron Davis/Getty Images

1995

Two years after giving birth to baby No. 1, Berkoff welcomed her and Rob’s second child, son John Owen. 

Credit: Getty Images

1999-2003

Rob landed the role of Sam Seaborn in the critically acclaimed series The West Wing, which earned him an Emmy nomination and two Golden Globe nominations. Although the show ran for seven seasons, Rob left after season 4 amid rumors of behind-the-scenes salary disputes. 

During an August 2023 interview, Rob shared that exiting the series was the “best thing” he ever did because he felt “undervalued” during his time on the show. 

“Whenever I talk to actors who complain about, you know, their relationships on their shows, it happens — it happens in any workplace,” he explained on an episode of the “Podcrushed” podcast. “You could be in an environment where people sandbag you, want to see you fail, don’t appreciate you, whatever it is.” 

Credit: WireImage/Getty Images

2006-2010

The West Wing alum joined the cast of Brothers & Sisters in 2006 as a guest star and continued to star on the show until 2010 when he decided to leave the series before its final season. 

“I left Brothers & Sisters when they ran out of storytelling runway,” he told GQ in an October 2015 interview. “I mean, there are so many family dinners you can do. I eventually had to go to them and say, ‘Look, I don’t do spatula work. I don’t do scenes with oven mitts. If you’re looking for that, you’ve got the wrong guy. I’m not doing scenes about casseroles. It’s not happening.’” 

Credit: Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

2008

In a 2008 lawsuit, Rob’s former nanny Jessica Gibson claimed that he regularly exposed himself during the seven years she worked on and off with his family. She also claimed that the actor groped her butt and “placed his hand” inside her pants several times between September 2005 and January 2008. 

Lowe and his wife claimed that Gibson sought $1.5 million in “hush money.” The duo sued her for allegedly spreading malicious lies about them. 

“The whole thing is very sad,” Rob told Entertainment Tonight in April 2008. “We live in a time where anybody can say anything about anybody. You want to defend your family! Now it’s in the court system and potentially a criminal investigation. The support has been fantastic and really, really humbling.” 

The lawsuit was later dismissed in May 2009. 

Credit: Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival

2011

Rob released his memoir, Stories I Only Tell My Friends, which discussed his childhood, his rise as a child actor and his battle with substance abuse. 

“The book was not about changing a perception or righting a wrong or having the final say,” he shared in a May 2011 interview with The Daily Beast. “Really, all I wanted to do was give an entertaining read that moved like lightning of stories people would be interested in. And maybe, just maybe, without even knowing, it might bring up something to make you think.” 

Credit: Michael Kovac/WireImage

2010-2014

After finishing his time on Brothers & Sisters, Rob joined the cast of Parks and Recreation as Chris Traeger in 2010 and starred on the show until 2014. He later reprised his role in the 2015 series finale and a special episode in 2020. In 2021, Lowe launched the podcast “Parks and Recollection,” a Parks and Rec recap show, alongside writer and producer Alan Yang. 

“I miss most the experience of doing it because everybody on the show loved everybody,” Rob said in an October 2021 interview with Parade on his experience on the sitcom. “We’re all still friends. Everybody was so talented. Everybody was so industrious on their own outside of the show with stand-up comedy tours and movies they were starring in.” 

Credit: Paul Archuleta/Getty Images

2020

Rob launched the podcast “Literally! With Rob Lowe,” where he interviews his famous friends and colleagues. That same year, Rob began starring on 9-1-1: Lone Star, which he has appeared on for four seasons.