Primetime Emmy Award
63rd Primetime Emmy Awards
Awarded for	Excellence in primetime television
Presented by	ATAS
Country	United States
First awarded	1949
Official website	http://www.emmys.com/
Television coverage
Network	ABC CBS Fox NBC

The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming. First awarded in 1949, they were originally referred to as just the "Emmy Awards" until the first Daytime Emmy Award ceremonies were held in the 1970s, and the word "primetime" was added to distinguish between the two.

The Primetime Emmys generally air in mid-September, on the Sunday before the official start of the fall television season. They are currently seen in rotation among the four major networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox). Because of NBC's coverage of Sunday Night NFL Football beginning in September, when NBC has had the rotation in 2006 and again in 2010, the Emmys move to late August for those years only.

Emmys are considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards (for film), Grammy Awards (for music), and Tony Awards (for stage), and Annie Awards for Animation.^[1][2]

Rules[link]

Among the Primetime Emmy rules, a show must originally air on American television during the eligibility period between June 1 and May 31. In order to be considered a national primetime show, the program must air between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m., and to at least 50 percent of the country.^[3] A show that enters into the Primetime Emmys cannot also be entered into the Daytime Emmy Awards or any other national Emmy competition. For shows in syndication, whose air times vary between media markets, they can either be entered in the Daytime or Primetime Emmys (provided they still reach the 50 percent national reach), but not in both.^[3] For game shows that reach the 50 percent threshold, they can be entered into the Daytime Emmys if they normally air before 8 p.m (including the former "access hour" from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.); otherwise, they are only eligible for the Primetime Emmys.^[4]

Entries must be submitted by the end of April, even if a show is not scheduled to originally air until the following month when the eligibility period ends in May. Most award categories also require entries to include DVDs or tape masters of the show. For most series categories, any six episodes that originally aired during the eligibility period must be submitted (programs that were cancelled before airing their sixth episode are thus ineligible). For most individual achievement categories, only one episode is required to be submitted; if an episode is a two-parter, both parts may be included on the submitted DVD.^[3]

Ballots to select the nominations are sent to Academy members in June. For most categories, members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees only in their respective categories. All members can however vote for nominations in the best program categories. The final voting to determine the winners is held in August, and is done by judging panels. In June, the Academy solicits volunteers among its active members to serve on these panels. All active members may serve on the program panels; otherwise they are restricted to those categories within their own branch.^[3]

Award categories[link]

Primetime Emmys are currently awarded in the following categories:

Creative Arts Primetime Emmys[link]

The Creative Arts Emmy Award are awarded in the following categories (some of which separately recognize work based on whether a single-camera and multi-camera setup was used):

Retired awards[link]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

A number of awards have been retired throughout the years, including some that have been replaced by similar award categories in the Daytime Emmys, Sports Emmys, and other areas of recognition.

• Actor of the Year
• Actress of the Year
• Best Kinescope Show
• Best Live Show
• Best New Program
• Most Outstanding Kinescoped Personality
• Most Outstanding Live Personality
• Outstanding Live Sports Special †
• Outstanding Sports Personality †
• Outstanding Program Achievement by Individuals in Daytime Drama ‡
• Outstanding Program Achievement in Daytime Drama ‡
• Program of the Year
• Best Sports Coverage†
• Best Western Series (1958-1959 only)
• Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program
• Animated Program (for Programming One Hour or More)

_{† Replaced by a similar category in the Sports Emmy Awards}

^{‡ Replaced by a similar category in the Daytime Emmy Awards}

Leading nominees[link]

Most Emmy nominations for a television program

• Saturday Night Live: 142 nominations
• ER: 124 nominations
• Cheers: 117 nominations

Most Emmy nominations for a comedy series in a single year

• 30 Rock (2009): 22 nominations

Most Emmy nominations for a drama series in a single year

• NYPD Blue (1994): 27 nominations

Most Emmy nominations for an animated series in a single year

• The Simpsons (1992): 7 nominations

Most Emmy nominations for a miniseries

• Roots (1977): 37 nominations

Most Emmy nominations for a television movie

• Eleanor and Franklin (1976); Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977); Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007); and Grey Gardens (2009): 17 nominations

Most Emmy nominations for a variety series in a single year

• Saturday Night Live (2011): 16 nominations

Most Emmy nominations for an individual without a win

• Angela Lansbury (1983–2005): 18 nominations

Leading winners[link]

Most Emmy wins by an individual

• Sheila Nevins: 22

Most Emmy wins for a television program

• Frasier: 37

Most Emmy wins for a comedy series

• Frasier: 37

Most Emmy wins for a drama series

• The West Wing: 26^[5]
• Hill Street Blues: 26^[5]

Most Emmy wins for a series in its first season

• The West Wing: 9

Most Emmy wins for a series in a single season

• The West Wing: 9

Most Emmy wins in the comedy series category

• Frasier: 5

Most Emmy wins in the drama series category

• Hill Street Blues: 4^[5]
• L.A. Law: 4^[5]
• Mad Men: 4^[6]
• The West Wing: 4^[5]

Most Emmy wins for an animated series

• The Simpsons: 27

Most Emmy wins for a miniseries

• John Adams (2008): 13

Most Emmy wins for a television movie

• Eleanor and Franklin (1976): 11

Most Emmy wins in a single year for a network

• CBS (1974): 44

Most performing Emmys wins

• Cloris Leachman: 8
• Ed Asner: 7
• Mary Tyler Moore: 7

Most Emmy wins for the same character in the same series

• Don Knotts of The Andy Griffith Show: 5
• Candice Bergen of Murphy Brown: 5

Most Emmy wins for the same character in different series

• Ed Asner of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lou Grant: 5

Performers with the most Primetime Emmys[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

• Carl Reiner won a total of nine Primetime Emmy Awards, five of which were for his work on The Dick Van Dyke Show (Outstanding Comedy Series, Program Achievement, Writing in a Comedy series and Writing in a Comedy/Variety/Music series). He also won the award for Outstanding Guest Actor for his performance on Mad About You, and two Emmys for his performance on Caesar's Hour. In 1967, he won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy/Variety/Music series, for The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris Special.
• Cloris Leachman's eighth Emmy made her the "winningest" female performer in Emmy history. Previously, she had been tied with Mary Tyler Moore and Tracey Ullman (although not all of Ullman's Emmys are for performance categories).
• Edward Asner won five Emmys for the same character (Lou Grant) but in two different series and genres. Asner won three in the Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and two more in the Lead Actor in a Drama Series category for Lou Grant. Asner also has two additional Emmys, making him the most awarded male performer in Emmy history with 7 wins.
• Tyne Daly has won six performing Emmy Awards; four Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Mary Beth Lacey in Cagney & Lacey in 1983–1985 and 1988. Also, two wins in the Supporting Actress in a Drama Series category for Christy in 1996 and Judging Amy in 2003.
• Don Knotts and Candice Bergen share the distinction of being the only actors to have won five Emmy Awards for their respective performances on their respective series. Knotts won for his role as Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show (1961–1963, 1966–1967). Bergen won for her portrayal of Murphy Brown on Murphy Brown (1989–1990, 1992, 1994–1995).
• Kelsey Grammer has won five Emmy Awards: four for his portrayal of Frasier Crane on Frasier (1994–1995, 1998, 2004) and one for voicing the character Sideshow Bob on the series The Simpsons (2006). He has several other nominations as Frasier on that series as well as on Cheers and Wings (for a 1992 guest appearance). This makes him the only actor to earn Emmy nominations for portraying the same character on three different programs.
• John Larroquette also won five Emmy Awards; four (in a row) for his portrayal of Dan Fielding on Night Court and one for his guest role on The Practice.
• Peter Falk won five Primetime Emmy Awards, including four for his iconic work on Columbo - 3 as Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series (1972, 1976, 1990) and 1 as Best Lead Actor in a Limited Series (1975). Fifth win was chronologically the first for his performance on The Dick Powell Show.
• Carroll O'Connor of All in the Family, Nancy Marchand of Lou Grant, Rhea Perlman of Cheers, Dennis Franz of NYPD Blue, Helen Hunt of Mad About You, David Hyde Pierce of Frasier, Allison Janney of The West Wing, and Doris Roberts of Everybody Loves Raymond have all won four Emmys for playing their respective characters on their respective TV shows. Valerie Harper also has four Emmys for the same character, Rhoda, but on two different shows. Harper has three Emmys for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and one for Rhoda.
• Kathy Baker of Picket Fences, Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad, James Gandolfini of The Sopranos, Brad Garrett of Everybody Loves Raymond, John Lithgow of 3rd Rock from the Sun, Jeremy Piven of Entourage, Michael Richards of Seinfeld, Tony Shalhoub of Monk, James Spader of The Practice and Boston Legal, and Patricia Wettig of thirtysomething have all won three Emmys for playing their respective characters on their respective TV shows.
• Carroll O'Connor and Edie Falco are the only actors to have won the lead category in both the comedy and drama series category. O'Connor has four Emmys for his comedic turn in All in the Family and one dramatic Emmy for In the Heat of the Night. Falco has three Emmys for her dramatic turn in The Sopranos and one comedic Emmy for Nurse Jackie. Others have won in a variety of both the comedy and drama categories including lead, supporting, and guest performances such as Alan Alda for M*A*S*H and The West Wing, Bruce Willis for Moonlighting and Friends, John Lithgow for Amazing Stories, 3rd Rock from the Sun and Dexter, Doris Roberts for St. Elsewhere and Everybody Loves Raymond, Ed Asner for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lou Grant, John Larroquette for Night Court and The Practice, Christopher Lloyd for Taxi and Avonlea, Cynthia Nixon for Sex and the City and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Elaine Stritch for 30 Rock and Law & Order, and Cloris Leachman for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Promised Land and Malcolm in the Middle.
• Alan Alda is the only person to have won Emmys in the comedy series categories for writing, directing, and acting in the same series, M*A*S*H. Alda has a total of six wins including his most recent Emmy for supporting actor in a drama series for The West Wing.
• Michael J. Fox has won five Emmy awards: four for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his shows Family Ties (1986–1988) and Spin City (2000), and one for Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role on Rescue Me (2009).
• Betty White is the only female to have an Emmy in all female performing comedic categories including two in Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Life with Elizabeth and The Golden Girls, two in Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and two for Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for The John Larroquette Show and Saturday Night Live. White also holds the record for longest gap between performing Emmy nominations - her first was in 1951 and her most recent was in 2011, a gap of 60 years. White also holds the record for the oldest recipient of a competitive, non-honorary performing Primetime Emmy, winning in 2010 at the age of 88 - and used to hold the record for the oldest nominee, nominated in 2011 at the age of 89. She has since been surpassed by June Foray, who in 2012 was nominated in the category of Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program at the age of 94.

See also[link]

• Emmy Award
• Daytime Emmy Award
• List of Primetime Emmy Award winners
• List of Primetime Emmy Awards ceremonies
• Golden Globe Awards
• Screen Actors Guild Awards
• Directors Guild of America Awards
• Writers Guild of America Award
• TCA Awards
• British Academy Television Awards
• Gemini Award—television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.
• Logie Award—television broadcasting industry awards in Australia.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Primetime Emmy Awards
• Emmy Gift Bags
• emmys.com - Advanced Primetime Awards Search
• Emmy Awards coverage on DigitalHit.com
• Mystery solved: How Emmy voting works to choose winners at GoldDerby.

An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as an Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards (for film), the Tony Award (for theatre), and the Grammy Awards (for music).^[1][2]

A majority of Emmys are presented in various sectors of the American television industry. As such, the awards are presented in various area-specific ceremonies held annually throughout the year. The two ceremonies that usually receive the most media coverage are the Primetime Emmys and the Daytime Emmys, primarily recognizing excellence in American primetime and daytime entertainment programming, respectively. Other notable Emmy Award ceremonies include those honoring national sports programming, national news and documentary shows, national business and financial reporting, and technological and engineering achievements in television. Regional Emmy Awards are also presented throughout the country at various times through the year, recognizing excellence in local and state-to-state television. In addition, International Emmys are awarded to recognize excellence in TV programming produced and initially aired outside the United States.

Three related but separate organizations present the Emmy Awards: the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), and the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.^[3] Each is responsible for administering a particular set of Emmy award shows.^[4]

History[link]

TV producer Bruce Kennedy holding an Emmy

The Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) established the Emmy Awards as part of an image-building and public relations opportunity.^[4] The first Emmy Awards were presented on January 25, 1949 at the Hollywood Athletic Club, but solely to honor shows produced and aired locally in the Los Angeles area. Shirley Dinsdale has the distinction of receiving the very first Emmy, for Most Outstanding Television Personality, during that first awards ceremony.^[4]

In the 1950s, the ATAS expanded the Emmys into a national event, presenting the awards to shows broadcast nationwide. In 1955, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) was formed in New York as a sister organization to serve members on the East Coast, and help to also supervise the Emmys. The NATAS also established regional chapters throughout the United States, with each one developing their own local Emmy awards show for local programming.^[4] The ATAS still however maintained its separate regional ceremony honoring local programming in the Los Angeles Area.^[5]

Originally there was only one Emmy Awards ceremony held per year to honor shows nationally broadcast in the United States. That changed when the Daytime Emmy Awards, a separate awards show specifically just for daytime programming, was first held in 1974. Other area-specific Emmy Awards ceremonies soon followed. Also, the International Emmy Awards, honoring television programs produced and initially aired outside the U.S., was established in the early 1970s.^[4] Meanwhile, all Emmys awarded prior to the emergence of these separate, area-specific ceremonies are listed along with the Primetime Emmy Awards in the ATAS' official records.^[6]

In 1977, due to various conflicts, the ATAS and the NATAS agreed to split ties. However, they also agreed to share ownership of the Emmy statue and trademark, with each responsible for administering a specific set of award shows.^[4]

Emmy statuette[link]

The Emmy statuette, depicting a winged woman holding an atom, was designed by television engineer Louis McManus, who used his wife as the model. The TV Academy rejected a total of forty-seven proposals before settling on McManus' design in 1948. The statuette "has since become the symbol of the TV Academy's goal of supporting and uplifting the art and science of television: The wings represent the muse of art; the atom the electron of science."^[7]

When deciding a name for the award, Academy founder Syd Cassyd originally suggested "Ike", the nickname for the television iconoscope tube. However, "Ike" was also the popular nickname of World War II hero and future U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and therefore Academy members wanted something more unique. Finally, television engineer and the third academy president, Harry Lubcke, suggested the name "Immy", a term commonly used for the image orthicon tube used in the early cameras.^[7] After "Immy" was chosen, it was later feminized to Emmy to match their female statuette.^[7]

Each Primetime Emmy statuette weighs six pounds, twelve-and-a-half ounces (3.08kg), and is made of copper, nickel, silver and gold. The statue stands 15.5 inches (39 cm) tall with a base diameter of 7.5 inches (19 cm) and weight of 88 oz (2.5 kg). The Regional Emmy Award statuette is 11.5 inches (29 cm) tall with a base diameter of 5.5 inches (14 cm) and weight of 48 oz (1.4 kg). Each takes five-and-one-half hours to make and is handled with white gloves to prevent fingerprints. The statues are manufactured by R.S. Owens Company based out of Chicago, Illinois who is also charged with manufacturing the Academy Award statues.^[8][9]

As its trademark owners, the ATAS and the NATAS hold firm rules on the use of the "Emmy" image as well as its name. For example, the Emmy statuette must always appear facing left. Any copyright notice for the statue should read "©ATAS/NATAS", listing both academies. Academy members must also obtain permission to use the statue image or name for promotional uses even though they are winners of the award. Furthermore, DVDs of Emmy-winning shows may reference the fact that they received an Emmy, but cannot use the statue image unless it is capable of being removed from all copies after one year after the award is presented.^[10][11]

Area-specific ceremonies[link]

Actress Dana Delany holding an Emmy, 1992

TV producer and writer Bradley Bell accepting Daytime Emmy Awards for his work on the daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, 2010

The Emmys are presented in various area-specific ceremonies held annually throughout the calendar year, ranging from honoring nationally televised shows to regionally- and locally-produced programs. Each ceremony has their own set of nominating and voting procedures, along with different rules regarding voting committees. Also, the various ceremonies each have own set of award categories, and it is not uncommon for them to have some of the same names (e.g. Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series and Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series).

A show that enters into one of the national Emmy competitions cannot also be entered into any of the others. For example, syndicated shows whose air times vary between media markets may be eligible for both the Daytime and Primetime Emmys, but cannot enter in both.^[12] In general, a show is considered national if it reaches more 50 percent of U.S. households; programs that do not reach at least 50 percent of the country may enter into the Regional Emmys instead.

Regardless of which area-specific ceremony one wins an Emmy, all winners still may be generally called an "Emmy Winner".

Primetime Emmys[link]

The Primetime Emmys are presented in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming. Ceremonies generally are held in mid-September, on the Sunday before the official start of the fall television season, and are currently broadcast in rotation among the ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox networks.

Some award categories presented to behind-the-scenes personnel such as art directors, costume designers, cinematographers, casting directors, and sound editors are awarded at a separate Creative Arts Emmys ceremony held a few days earlier.

Daytime Emmys[link]

The Daytime Emmy Awards, generally are held in June, are presented in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming. The first daytime-themed Emmy Awards were given out at the primetime ceremony in 1972, but the first separate awards show made just for daytime programming was not held until 1974.

Like the Primetime Emmys, a separate Creative Arts Emmy ceremony is also held a few days earlier to honor the behind-the-scenes personnel working in daytime television.

Sports Emmys[link]

The Sports Emmy Awards are presented for excellence in sports programming. The awards ceremony takes place every Spring, usually sometime in the last two weeks in April or the first week in May, and is held on a Monday night in New York City.

News and Documentary Emmys[link]

The News & Documentary Emmy Awards are presented for excellence in national news and documentary programming. The awards ceremony takes place every Fall.

Technology and Engineering Emmys[link]

The Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards are presented to individuals, companies, or to scientific or technical organizations in recognition of significant developments and contributions to the technological and engineering aspects of television.

Regional Emmys[link]

There are 20 total regional chapters located across the United States that each conduct regional awards to recognize excellence in all the regional television markets, including state to state programming as well as local news and locally produced shows. Nineteen of the regional chapters are affiliated with the NATAS,^[13] while the Los Angeles-based ATAS acts as the regional chapter serving the Los Angeles area.^[5][14]

In general, a show is considered regional if it does not reach more 50 percent of U.S. households; programs that reach more than 50 percent of the country must enter into one of the national Emmy competitions instead.

The Regional Emmys are essential in helping NATAS and ATAS honor the works of deserving individuals in local TV through a regional outreach. Like the national awards, each region goes through their own rigorous nomination and voting procedures. Committees are formed to review entries for eligibility and high standards. Once accepted, each entry goes before different review committees, and their votes are cast to determine the final nominees. The final votes are then calculated by certified accounting firms within each region. Regardless of winning on a national or regional level, all recipients are "Emmy Award" winners.

Originally, each Regional Emmy Awards ceremony primarily focused on only honoring individuals in local news programming.^[4] The regionals have since been expanded to encompass all locally and state to state-produced shows that receive less than fifty percent of the country's viewing audience.

International Emmys[link]

The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presents the International Emmy Award to the best television programs produced, and initially aired, outside the U.S. There are fourteen program categories for the International Emmy Awards: Arts Programming; Best Performance by an Actor; Best Performance by an Actress; Children & Young People; Comedy; Current Affairs; Documentary; Drama Series; Interactive Channel; Interactive Program; Interactive TV Service; News; Non-Scripted Entertainment; Telenovela; and TV Movie/Mini-Series.

The awards are presented at the International Emmy Awards Gala. Held each year in November at the Hilton Hotel, New York City,^[15] the Gala attracts over 1,200 television professionals, who gather to celebrate excellence in television and network with their peers.

The three Interactive categories are awarded in a separate ceremony held during MIPTV in Cannes.

[edit] Student Emmys

High school and college students can submit productions to their region's charter and receive recognition in the categories of News, Arts & Entertainment, Documentary, Public Affairs/Community Service/Public Service, Sports, Technical Achievement and Writing.

The school or after-school program attached to the students then receives a plaque with the name of an adult advisor and the student film-makers. Up to one-hundred students are allowed to be attached to an award.

From there, a "blue-ribbon" panel judges the winners from each region and awards the National Student Television Award for Excellence.

However, in 2009, this program was suspended at a national level and competition went on only regionally. Per the NationalStudent.tv website: "Partly as a result of the recent severe downturn in the nation’s economy, corporate and personal grants and donations that provided National Student Television (NSTV) with funds to conduct our annual competition have not materialized. There is no money to continue our operations."

Other Emmys[link]

• Business and financial reporting
• Public Service—for public service announcements and programming to "advance the common good"
• The Bob Hope Humanitarian Award—awarded by the Academy Board of Governors
• The Governors Award honors the achievements of an individual, company or organization whose works stand out with the immediacy of current achievement. It is the highest award presented by the Academy.^[16]

See also[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Emmy Awards

Rob Lowe
Lowe at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Knife Fight
Born	Robert Hepler Lowe (1964-03-17) March 17, 1964 (age 48) Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1979–present
Spouse	Sheryl Berkoff (1991–present; 2 children)

Robert Hepler "Rob" Lowe (/ˈrɒb ˈloʊ/; born March 17, 1964) is an American actor. Lowe came to prominence after appearing in films such as The Outsiders, Oxford Blues, About Last Night..., St. Elmo's Fire, and Wayne's World. On television, Lowe is known for his role as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing and his role as Senator Robert McCallister on Brothers & Sisters. He is currently a main cast member of Parks and Recreation, playing the role of Chris Traeger. Early in his career Lowe gained notoriety as a life-in-the-fast-lane playboy, ending up in the spotlight for various personal indiscretions and tabloid scandals, including one of the first "sex tape" scandals to hit Hollywood.

Early life[link]

Lowe was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, the son of Barbara Lynn (née Hepler), a teacher, and Charles Davis Lowe, a trial lawyer.^[1] His parents divorced when Lowe was young. He has a brother, actor Chad Lowe, and two half brothers. Because of a virus during infancy, he is deaf in his right ear (he later played a deaf character in Stephen King's The Stand). Lowe was baptized into the Episcopal church.^[2] His father is of German , English and Irish ancestry and his mother was of German,^[3] English, Welsh, and Scottish descent. He was raised in a "traditional midwestern setting"^[2] in Dayton, Ohio, attending Oakwood Junior High School, before moving to the Point Dume area of Malibu, California with his mother and brother.^[4][5] He attended Santa Monica High School, the same high school as fellow actors Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Sean Penn, Chris Penn, and Robert Downey, Jr.^[6][7]

Early career[link]

Lowe at the Governor's Ball party after the 1989 Academy Awards

One of Lowe's earliest roles came in the 1983 TV movie Thursday's Child, for which he received his first Golden Globe nomination for "Best Supporting Actor in a TV Movie/Miniseries". Lowe made his film debut in Schoolboy Father, followed by Class with Andrew McCarthy. His breakthrough came in 1983, when he and Emilio Estevez were cast in Francis Ford Coppola's The Outsiders. Lowe played the role of Sodapop Curtis, the brother of the main character Ponyboy Curtis (C. Thomas Howell) and Darrel Curtis (Patrick Swayze). Lowe and Estevez reunited in St. Elmo's Fire, making them the two more prominent actors from the group known as the Brat Pack. About Last Night... followed, with Demi Moore (who had starred with Lowe in St. Elmo's Fire). He then received his second Golden Globe nomination for "Best Supporting Actor" for his role as the mentally disabled Rory in Square Dance (1987).

Later work[link]

Television[link]

Lowe is also known for playing Sam Seaborn in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2003. His performance in the show garnered Lowe an Emmy^[8] nomination and two Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Drama Series. When the show premiered, Seaborn was considered the lead, and the pilot centered on the character. But the acclaimed cast of the show—including Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, Dulé Hill, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford, Martin Sheen (whose President Bartlet was initially scripted as a small role) and Stockard Channing (whose First Lady was initially scripted as a guest role)—meant that Sam Seaborn could no longer be considered the lead character.

While he reluctantly accepted his demotion, Lowe and series creator Aaron Sorkin soon found themselves at odds over the network's meddling with the show, most notably the network demanding changes in the Sam Seaborn character. Eventually, Lowe left the series, not long before Sorkin and director/executive producer Thomas Schlamme unceremoniously quit over a dispute with NBC. During the final season of The West Wing, Lowe returned to his role of Sam Seaborn, appearing in two of the final four episodes. In 2011, Lowe appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and stated that he left the show because he did not feel he was being respected, when the other lead characters received a raise and he did not.^[9]

After leaving the show, Lowe was star and executive producer of a failed NBC drama, The Lyon's Den (2003). In 2004, he tried again in a series entitled Dr. Vegas, but it also was quickly canceled. In 2005, he starred as Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee in a London West End production of Sorkin's play A Few Good Men, the first time the two had worked together since The West Wing. Although Lowe had expressed unhappiness about his decreased role on that show at the time of his departure, he has now repeatedly said that any animosity between them is over and that he was pleased to be working once more with Sorkin, whose talents as a writer Lowe highly regards. Lowe passed on the role of Dr. Derek Shepherd of Grey's Anatomy, which eventually went to Patrick Dempsey.^[10]

Despite his two canceled TV series and flops like View From the Top and the made-for-TV movie Perfect Strangers during his post–West Wing run, Lowe found success in the TV miniseries genre. 2004 marked his return to this genre; he had appeared in 1994's The Stand, based on Stephen King's book of the same name. In 2004, Lowe starred in the TNT remake of the Stephen King miniseries Salem's Lot which was the highest rated cable program of that summer and the highest ratings TNT original programming had at the time. In 2005, Lowe starred in the miniseries Beach Girls on the Lifetime network, based on the Luanne Rice novel of the same name. The series premiere received the highest ratings for a movie premiere in Lifetime history. In that same year, Lowe filmed his critically acclaimed role as super movie agent in the 2006 independent film Thank You for Smoking. In 2006, he filmed The Perfect Day for TNT, in which he took a pay cut to film in New Orleans in order to help the hurricane ravaged area. That same year, Lowe filmed Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming, the "sequel" to the 1999 Kevin Bacon thriller Stir of Echoes.

In 2006, it was announced that Lowe would join the cast of Brothers & Sisters for a guest run of several episodes. In January 2007, ABC announced that Lowe would be staying on Brothers and Sisters as a "special guest star" for the rest of season 1 after Lowe's initial appearance on the show in November 2006 brought the best ratings and demographic showing for the show since its premiere. Soon after ABC announced an early season 2 renewal for Brother & Sisters in March 2007, Lowe announced he would be returning for the show's second season. He continued to appear in the series until the end of the 2009–2010 season. Unhappy with the stories and his lack of screen time in the fourth season, Lowe announced he would leave. In an episode broadcast on May 16, 2010, his character was part of a multi-vehicle crash involving a large truck and was put into a coma, the storyline was wrapped up in the first episode of the fifth season; Lowe did not appear in the episode.

In June 2006, he was the guest host for an episode in the third series of The Friday Night Project for the United Kingdom's Channel 4.

Lowe has also appeared in a televised advertisement for 'Visit California', along with other celebrities including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. (In the advertisement campaign, he was usually pictured in a white tee-shirt printed with the California state flag.)

Lowe had a supporting role in the 2009 movie The Invention of Lying and a leading role in Too Late to Say Goodbye.

In 2010, he appeared in the biography of the Brat Packers called: Brat Pack: Where Are They Now? He also appeared on The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien.

Lowe is currently teaming up with 44 Blue to produce a reality series entitled Potomac Fever about young adults living in Washington, DC.^[11]

In July 2010, it was announced that Lowe would be providing the voice for the superhero Captain Marvel in the upcoming animated series, Young Justice.^[12] It was also announced in July 2010 that Lowe would become a series regular on the series Parks and Recreation.^[13]

In 2011, Lowe guest starred in a recurring role on Showtime's comedy Californication. Lowe featured as the troubled but in-demand actor Eddie Nero - a character based upon "about ten people", according to Lowe^[14] but somewhat contradicted by sources at Showtime itself^[15] - employed to portray Hank in a film version his book, Fucking and Punching.^[16]

Other work[link]

In 2011, Lowe wrote a memoir titled Stories I Only Tell My Friends, which was released in May 2011.^[11][17] During Lowe’s promotional tour for Stories I Only Tell My Friends, Lowe told Australian radio show The Kyle & Jackie O Show that during his 5-day press visit to Australia in 1990, he was so badly affected by the overuse of pain-killers that the only two things he remembers from the trip was being at the Sydney Zoo and getting a tattoo.^[18]

Personal life[link]

Lowe with wife Sheryl Berkoff in 2003

Rob Lowe is a fan of the NFL football team the Indianapolis Colts.^[19] On January 18, 2012 Lowe erroneously reported via Twitter that NFL quarterback Peyton Manning was retiring.^[20]

Family and relationships[link]

Lowe, a little-known actor at the time, and Little House on the Prairie actress Melissa Gilbert briefly met at age 14 in 1978 in the halls of the CBS Television Studios. In 1981, when both were 17, she spotted Lowe stopped at the red light next to her car and the two began dating.^[21] The relationship was rocky and fraught with infidelity. During the filming of 1984's The Hotel New Hampshire, Lowe began an affair with Nastassja Kinski. In Gilbert's 2009 autobiography, Prairie Tale: A Memoir, she talks about sleeping with Lowe's then-best friend, John Cusack, while Lowe was away filming. According to Gilbert, she caught Lowe in Kinski's hotel room and then slept with Cusack out of revenge. Lowe broke up with Gilbert in 1986 when he began dating Princess Stéphanie of Monaco, but when the relationship with the princess ended, Gilbert and Lowe reunited. The two quickly got engaged and were to be married in the summer of 1987. But when Gilbert informed Lowe that she was pregnant, he broke up with her for good. She miscarried only days later.^[22]

Lowe married makeup artist Sheryl Berkoff in July 1991; they have two sons: Edward Matthew Lowe (b. Sept 24, 1993), and John Owen Lowe (b. Nov 6, 1995).^{[citation needed]} They live in Venice Beach, California.

Sex tape controversy[link]

In 1988, Lowe was involved in a sex scandal over a videotape of him having sex with two women, one of whom was 16 and the other being 22. She was filmed with Lowe during the night before the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. Lowe has asserted that he did not know that the second girl was underage, and it was confirmed that the two had met at a bar.^[23] At the time, Lowe was campaigning for Michael Dukakis.^[24]

Another part of the same tape was leaked at the time, showing Lowe and his friend Justin Moritt, later the line producer, both having sexual intercourse and oral sex with a young American model named Jennifer, in a hotel room in Paris. This part of the original tape was sold as one of the first commercially available celebrity sex tapes, damaging his public image.^[25] Eventually, his career rebounded and Lowe mocked his own behavior during two post-scandal appearances as host of Saturday Night Live.

Nanny lawsuit cases[link]

Rob Lowe in 2008

In April 2008, Lowe filed separate lawsuits against three former employees accusing them of breach of contract, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Lowe accuses an ex-nanny of engaging in a scheme to hurt the couple by spreading "malicious lies". Another ex-nanny is accused of falsely claiming to have had a personal and intimate relationship with Lowe, and also repeatedly expressing romantic interest in Rob, claiming that Lowe sexually harassed her and that Sheryl Lowe was an abusive employer. Lowe claims a former chef engaged in sex on their bed with third parties when the family was out of town, stole prescription drugs from the Lowes, broke several security cameras, overcharged them for food, and allegedly made statements to various people that Sheryl was heartless, cold and unclean.^[26]

Jessica Gibson, 24-year-old former nanny for Lowe, made 12 allegations against Lowe involving sexual harassment claims and labor-code violations. On June 19, 2008, Santa Barbara, California, Superior Court Judge Denise de Bellefeuille dismissed two allegations regarding labor-code violations due to lack of legal basis.^[27]

The legal battle ended in May 2009, the press reported that court records showed that lawsuits filed by both nannies and Lowe have been dismissed in Santa Barbara. Attorneys for both women and Lowe sought the dismissals.^[28]

Charity work[link]

Lowe was the first male spokesperson for the 2000 Lee National Denim Day fundraiser, which raises millions of dollars for breast cancer research and education. His grandmother and great-grandmother both suffered from breast cancer, and his mother died of the disease in late 2003.

Lowe is a founder of the Homeowner's Defense Fund, a Santa Barbara County non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to local control of land-use planning and transparency in government. The average price of tract homes in Santa Barbara in early 2006 was $1,100,000, which motivated some to propose denser housing on existing lots. While in favor of increasing housing density, he has sought to build a 14,260-square-foot (1,325 m²) mansion for himself in Montecito, California.^[29] Lowe's protest over the appearance of the address of the empty lot in the Santa Barbara News-Press precipitated a mass resignation of senior employees at that newspaper on July 6, 2006,^[30] and was a proximate cause of the Santa Barbara News-Press controversy.

Filmography[link]

Film[link]