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Rob Estes is probably best known for his starring role as Chris Lorenzo, the fast-and-loose Palm Beach homicide detective in the cult favorite, “Silk Stalkings.” More recently he played recurring roles on “Providence,” “Suddenly Susan” and “Gilmore Girls.” His first big break in television was on the daytime soap “Days of Our Lives.”

Estes has starred in such telefilms as “Sweet Temptation,” opposite Beverly D’Angelo, and the 2004 ABC Family romantic comedy “I Do, They Don’t.” In 2000 he also produced and starred opposite Jason Alexander in the independent feature “How to Go on a Date in Queens,” with Ron Perelman and Kimberly Williams.

A graduate of USC, Estes took a utilitarian approach to entering Hollywood, initially making plans for a career as a stuntman. It was quickly apparent, however, that his talents deserved a wider berth. Following several years on the hit show “Melrose Place,” he starred in several well received but ultimately unsuccessful television pilots. Frustrated with being limited to his work on screen, Estes made the decision to rediscover his craft on stage. He received excellent reviews in his starring role in Tennessee Williams’ “The Rose Tattoo” at the Hudson Theatre in Los Angeles. When he moved with his family to Seattle in early 2003, he sought out opportunities in that city’s thriving theatre scene. He had co-starring roles in productions in Seattle and at the nationally-recognized Coeur D’Alene Rep in Idaho. This experience culminated in his co-starring performance as the duplicitous Solyony in Chekhov’s Three Sisters (adapted by Craig Lucas) at the famed Intiman Theatre, under the tutelage of Artistic Director Bartlett Sheer.

Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Estes continues to reside in Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle. He has two children, Mason and Maya.

(Courtesy of ABC)
A stalwart of American television in both prime-time and daytime venues, performer Rob Estes capitalized on his devastatingly slick and suave image throughout his career. A native of Norfolk, VA, Estes attended USC after high school. The actor first turned viewers' heads in the soap opera venue, as passionate lifeguard Glenn Gallagher on NBC's seminal Days of Our Lives -- a role he held from 1986 to 1987. Thereafter, he landed a string of guest assignments on various series and roles in TV movies, but scored his next major career coup on an after-dark drama, the "guilty pleasure" series Silk Stalkings (1991-1999) -- in which he played the lead, sex crimes expert Chris Lorenzo. The program had an unusual history: NBC and the USA cable network originally co-produced it and ran it concurrently on each Thursday from November 1991-November 1993, but from 1993 on, CBS dropped it, the USA network produced new episodes in exclusive syndication, and Estes remained with the cast for two additional years.



Thereafter, Estes amassed a long and extensive series of ongoing roles on prime-time series. These included restaurant proprietor Kyle McBride on the fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons of Melrose Place (1996-1999); multi-episode guest turns as John Hemming and Oliver Browne in, respectively, the medical drama Providence and the Brooke Shields sitcom Suddenly Susan; and obnoxious, abusive ex-husband Nick Townsend on the blockbuster procedural series CSI: Miami. In 2007, Estes signed on to portray Lt. Tom Hogan on the short-lived ABC procedural drama Women's Murder Club. Shortly after that program's May 2008 cancellation, the CW network announced Estes' enlistment to play Mills family patriarch-cum-Beverly Hills high-school principal Harry Mills on its much anticipated series drama 90210, a spin-off of the original Beverly Hills 90210. Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

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