Rob Lowe is an American actor, director, producer and podcaster. He rose to fame in the 1980s as a teen idol and member of the Brat Pack. Lowe’s first major film was “The Outsiders,” and he also appeared in “Class,” “St. Elmo’s Fire” and “About Last Night….” The star was also notorious in his younger years for his problems with addiction, as well as having relationships with many women. It wasn’t until he met his wife Sheryl Berkoff that he was ready to go into recovery and overcome his addiction.
Lowe saw his career take off for a second time when he starred as Sam Seaborn in Aaron Sorkin’s political drama “The West Wing.” The actor was nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards for his performance. He was on the show from 1999 to 2003. After that, Lowe appeared on the series “Brothers and Sisters” from 2006 to 2010.
The star is also remembered for his role on “Parks and Recreation” and is currently starring in the series “9-1-1: Lone Star.” Despite having such a busy schedule, Lowe makes time for his wife and two sons. He married Sheryl in 1991, and their son Matthew was born in 1993. In 1995, their son John Owen came into the world.
Getting sober was a huge turning point in Lowe’s life, and he said being a husband and father was a huge motivation for giving up alcohol and drugs. After being married for over three decades, Lowe and Sheryl are still deeply in love, and the actor has shared how much his wife means to him. Keep reading to learn more about Lowe’s relationship with Sheryl and how it affected his sobriety.
With their sons grown and out of the house, Lowe and his wife are able to have more time together. The couple has a strong connection, even after all these years. He sees his long marriage to Sheryl as one of life’s “miracles” and said, “She saw things in me that nobody had ever seen before.”
Lowe also said that his wife is one of the only people to have really “seen” him. For this reason, he was ready to give up his partying lifestyle. “I had the feeling that if I was ever going to be able to make it work with anybody, it was Sheryl,” Lowe explained. “Alcohol and drugs were only going to make that next to impossible.”
Lowe is 57 in 2022, but getting older hasn’t changed how he feels about Sheryl. The actor only has great things to say about her. “I still think she’s the hottest, sexiest, most beautiful, insane, complicated, entertaining person that I know, in addition to being a great mother,” Lowe said.
In 2021, Lowe shared, “Listen, she may have saved my life, really. I mean, she met me when I was at the end of my ’80s run of wild boy craziness and she was worth changing my life for. And so I am really lucky that that happened to me. Maybe I had changed it on my own, maybe, but it’s a big maybe. And just when I met her, I knew that if I could not make it with her, I definitely could not make it work with anyone else.”
Being a dad and raising a family with the woman he loves was enough of a motivation to change his life. While he didn’t give up his career, he did make time to be sure that he could be there for his family. Lowe said:
“And I always wanted that life, I really wanted kids. I wanted a normal life outside of Hollywood. I wanted to insert myself in Hollywood for what I needed to do and get out like a light and live as normal of a life as I can, and we were able to do that because I think we were very well matched.”
Lowe’s sons really look up to their father and see their parents’ marriage as a great example. His son Matthew said, “He’s great with relationship advice. He’ll say, ‘When I found your mother, I knew she was the one. I married my best friend, and it’s worked out perfectly for me. So take that advice.’ … He gives little pearls of wisdom like that that I keep with me. Hopefully, I will end up in a 30-year marriage like him.”
Lowe tries to be a good example for everyone and encourages others to pursue recovery if they are struggling with addiction. He shared:
“And you know, anybody who’s struggled or overcome any kind of addiction knows what it’s like to face a struggle every day … it’s a daily reprieve as they say … and it’s definitely the thing that changed my life the most. I like to say to people who were out there who were thinking about it, do it. If you’re thinking about it, do it. It can be done, and the rewards are just unimaginable — unimaginable.”