Robert Hepler Lowe (/loʊ/; born March 17, 1964)[1] is an American actor. He came to prominence as a teen idol in the 1980s, appearing in teen and young adult film roles in The Outsiders (1983), Oxford Blues (1984), St. Elmo's Fire (1985), and About Last Night... (1986). Thereafter, his film career decreased and he ventured into television, making his breakthrough as Sam Seaborn on the NBC political drama The West Wing (1999–2003), for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination and two G