Rob Lowe Is Relishing Life at 60: How the Midwest Kid Went from Brat Packer to Sober Family Man with 'No Regrets' (Exclusive)

Rob Lowe settles into a weatherworn rocking chair with a view of the Pacific and lights up a Partagás cigar. Moments later the coastal vista — a backdrop of Lowe’s life since he moved to Southern California from Dayton at age 11 — jogs a memory of when his kids Matthew, 30, and John Owen, 28, were in elementary school. 

"I was doing West Wing, and I’d volunteered to be 'parent delegate' on the school whale-watching trip — but we were shooting late, and I was literally missing the boat," Lowe tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story that celebrates the most transformative moments in the Hollywood icon's life. He recalls "flooring it" up the Pacific Coast Highway before leaping into the sea when he spotted the boat in the distance. "I just remember them going, 'There’s a man swimming . . .' and Matthew going, 'I think that’s my dad.' I swam with my sunglasses in my teeth."

It's become a favorite family memory and just one in a lifetime of moments that have shaped the enduring star. At 60, the Midwest kid turned Brat Pack icon is four-and-a-half decades into a versatile career marked by risk-taking zigzags and reinvention. 

Once the consummate Hollywood It Boy who starred in 1983’s The Outsiders and 1985’s St. Elmo’s Fire with a who’s who of up-and-comers including Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez and Andrew McCarthy, Lowe navigated fast-lane celebrity and addiction. A life-changing moment came in the form of an epiphany soon after he met his now-wife Sheryl, who was his makeup artist on the 1990 thriller Bad Influence: "If I couldn’t make it work with her, I couldn’t make it work with anybody," he says.

After a series of incremental "wake-up calls," Lowe went to rehab in 1990 — and never looked back. "I was so ready," he says.

A self-described "worker bee," the star gritted his way back to the A-list via signature roles in Austin Powers, The West Wing and Parks and Recreation. He's had a show on TV every year since 1999 and currently juggles three series, 9-1-1: Lone Star, The Floor and Unstable, co-created by and costarring John Owen. Profoundly thankful for his 33-year marriage to Sheryl, 63, now a luxury jewelry designer, Lowe calls fatherhood "the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Taking stock of the lows, hard-won highs and transformative moments that have changed him, the actor allows that both his life and career have exceeded his wildest dreams. "I mean, the notion of having such a long, great marriage, being sober 34 years, having two healthy, productive, amazing boys, going into my sixth decade, working at this level, I know how rare that is," he says with earnest humility. "If I'd have gotten the wishes that I had wished for myself when I was younger, I would’ve sold myself short. I'm super grateful."

What’s more, even in the face of life's unforeseen and myriad challenges, Lowe wouldn't change a thing. He says: "No regrets."

For more of Lowe's exclusive interview, please pick up this week's cover, on newsstands Friday.