Rob Lowe
Rob Lowe, born in 1964, writes about his personal life and career in this memoir. It's not only an engaging story, it's a good primer for aspiring young actors. The takeaway: be bold, work hard, and avoid scandals.
Lowe has been a devoted husband and father for nearly three decades, but Rob's 'bad boy' antics as a young man almost derailed his career. At the age of 24 Rob made a sex tape with a 16-year-old girl. The videotape went public when Rob's movie 'Bad Influence' was opening and Lowe writes, "The unrelenting media scrutiny and fallout from the videotape debacle overshadowed 'Bad Influence' completely."
Isolation and excessive drinking followed, and - though Rob had worked extensively in Hollywood and had campaigned for many Democratic candidates - no industry or political friends reached out....except for his chum Jodie Foster. Luckily, appearances on Saturday Night Live revived Lowe's career, and a stint in rehab - and support from his future wife Cheryl Berkoff - put him on the right track.
Rob Lowe with his friend Jodie Foster
Rob Lowe with his wife Cheryl Berkoff and their sons Matthew and John Owen
Lowe grew up in North Dayton, Ohio and became interested in acting as a child. Young Rob tried out for everything, and took any parts he could get in community theater and college plays. Lowe looked at each performance as a step on a ladder that would lead him to his future. By then Rob had been traumatized by his parents' divorce, and was doing everything he could to block out the pain.
Young Rob Lowe
Before Lowe started high school his mother moved the family - Rob and his brothers Chad and Micah - to Malibu, California.
Rob Lowe with his mother Barbara and brothers Chad (right) and Micah
Rob soon started hanging out with his neighbors - Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Sean Penn, and Chris Penn. Even as young teens, the boys made their own movies, which was good experience for the future. To advance his career Rob got an agent, and notes, "I made sure I knew my lines, gave my character a point of view, and kept it honest. I still do that to this day."
At 15, Lowe was cast in the television show 'A New Kind of Family', and Rob's striking good looks made him an instant teen heartthrob.
The cast of 'A New Kind of Family'
Young girls flocked to the show and Rob's first fan letter was from a convict who wanted a photo of Rob in his skivvies. Thinking back to those days Rob recalls, "I don't know it yet but I will come to learn that being charged on the African Savannah by a rhino is only fractionally more dangerous than being bull-rushed by a gang of 14 year old girls whipped into a lather by hormones, group think, and an overdose of Tiger Beat magazine."
Lowe had some fun show biz experiences during the run of the show, and even met Cary Grant. He tells a story about going to visit his friend Jennifer, and being surprised when her father Cary Grant answered the door. Grant gave Rob a glass of milk and some shepherd's pie his wife made, then sat down with the teens to watch Rob's television show. Later Grant complimented Lowe, saying he was reminiscent of a young Warren Beatty.
Cary Grant with his wife Barbara and daughter Jennifer
'A New Kind of Family' didn't last long, and Rob auditioned for lots of parts he didn't get. He observes, "There is very little rhyme or reason as to who gets what in Hollywood. There are plenty of dedicated talented actors destined for jobs they hate, chasing in vain a dream that will never come." About himself, Rob says, "I'd had just enough success to keep me chasing the dream but not enough to insure a career."
Living in Malibu helped Rob's career, but it wasn't all fun and games. Rob had to work mundane part-time jobs between gigs, and wasn't in the 'cool clique' at school. In addition, Malibu had 'malignant undercurrents.' Lowe mentions dangerous roads where truck drivers were killed, two kayakers being eaten by a great white shark, and a surfer who disappeared after a beach party. Rob also recalls his classmate Shane, who snorted rat poison thinking it was cocaine; his acquaintance Sam, who crashed his bike and impaled his head on a tree; a boy who went scuba diving, caught his hand in a lobster trap, and ran out of air; and a teenager who died from a self-inflicted shotgun blast. To add to the drama, AIDS first became a scourge in the 1980s.
When Rob was 17, Francis Ford Coppola decided to make 'The Outsiders', from the book by S.E. Hinton - about the clash between the disadvantaged Greasers and the entitled Socs (pronounced soshes). Lowe got the part of Greaser 'Sodapop Curtis', the brother of the main character.
Teenage Rob Lowe
A large section of Lowe's memoir is about 'The Outsiders', including the try-outs, the filming, and the screening. Lowe notes that every young actor in Hollywood auditioned for the movie, and some came dressed head to toe in full Greaser regalia.
Rob had a great time hanging out with 'The Outsiders' cast, which included C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, and Tom Cruise. In the evenings the boys would drink, party, and pick up girls - though Rob's girlfriend Melissa Gilbert waited for him back home.
The cast of the outsiders: Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell, Rob Lowe, and Tom Cruise
Rob Lowe with Melissa Gilbert
In fact Lowe was a chick magnet throughout his teens and early twenties, and had innumerable one-night stands as well as romances with actress Nastassja Kinski, Princess Stephanie of Monaco, Fawn Hall (of Iran-Contra fame), and others.
Rob Lowe with Nastassja Kinski
Rob Lowe with Princess Stephanie
Rob Lowe with Fawn Hall
Following 'The Outsiders', Lowe was on a roll, and made one movie after another. He notes, "With the reaction to 'The Outsiders', the release of 'Class', and the pedigree of a project like the 'The Hotel New Hampshire' I find myself in the heady, pressure-filled bullseye of the star-making machine. I'm either offered parts or in conversations on most movies, but on the other hand I'm not even considered for certain others because I've already been discovered - and a director doesn't want to use another director's big find." Lowe felt he had to keep pushing because "a career can lose momentum in a minute."
Lowe's next smash hit was 'St. Elmo's Fire', which starred a brigade of young talent. Lowe explains how the movie led a magazine to coin the term 'The Brat Pack.'
'St. Elmo's Fire' was about to open when a journalist came to interview cast member Emilio Estevez, who was an up-and-coming auteur. Estevez invited the St. Elmo's cast and the journalist to the Hard Rock Café for an evening of food, fun, and frivolity. Lowe recalls, "It was a wild time. The place was pretty chaotic, with sexual possibilities everywhere, and lots of food and kamikazes."
The journalist scrapped the article about Estevez and wrote a scathing piece for New York Magazine, focusing on the dinner he'd attended. The writer described "the obnoxious exploits of a pack of interchangeable pampered spoiled vacuous attention seeking actors who were long on ambition and fame, but short on talent or humanity." He called the actors 'The Brat Pack', and the term became an instant classic. The core members of The Brat Pack came to be Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Mare Winningham, and Ally Sheedy.
The Brat Pack: Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Mare Winningham, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, and Andrew McCarthy
Brat Packer Molly Ringwald
Most performers have ups and downs in their careers, and - in the late 1980s - Lowe experienced months with no decent movie offers. He observes, "When this happens you need to find a way to stay in the conversation and reinvent yourself." Thus Rob agree to participate in a musical number that opened the 1988 Academy Awards - in which he'd sing and dance with Snow White. For various reasons, the routine was a train wreck.....and was soon followed by the sex tape debacle.
Rob Lowe with 'Snow White' at the 1988 Academy Awards
Lowe was a full blown alcoholic by then, and his career might have ended badly. However rehab - and marriage to makeup artist Cheryl Berkoff - helped Rob reinvent himself. Lowe went on to appear in many television shows and movies, and finally landed the role of Deputy White House Communications Director Sam Seaborn on the political drama 'The West Wing.'
Lowe elaborates on that experience and relates many stories about the smash hit, which he left after four years because of a salary dispute and creative differences. Lowe went on to do other work, including steady roles in 'Californication', 'Parks and Recreation', and other programs.....but that's outside the scope of this book.
Rob Lowe as Sam Seaborn on 'The West Wing' with Martin Sheen (left) and Richard Schiff
Rob Lowe in 'Californication'
Rob Lowe in 'Parks and Recreation'
In the memoir Lowe writes about his family troubles - explaining that his mother was chronically ill with (what she thought were) allergies and his father was geographically distant and relatively uninvolved.
Rob Lowe and Chad Lowe with their mother Barbara
Rob Lowe with his father Chuck Lowe
Rob also mentions his political activism and the many famous people he's met, who hail from all ranks of government and show business. Lowe makes it clear that the best things in his life are his wife and two sons, who bring him great happiness and joy.
On the downside, Lowe glosses over the sex tape peccadillo and doesn't even mention the nannygate accusations that made the news. Everyone has a right to privacy, though, so nuff said.
Lowe is a good writer and I enjoyed the book. Recommended to fans of celebrity memoirs.
Rating: 4 stars
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