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January Jones: Snapshot

Name: January Jones
Date of Birth: January 05, 1978
Birth Place: Hecla, S.D.

With her Grace Kelly looks and all-American appeal, it's no surprise that January Jones got her start as a model for Abercrombie & Fitch before getting her acting break as a 1960s housewife on AMC's Mad Men.

The South Dakota native spent much of her early career in Hollywood playing "girlfriend" roles, from the virginal girl next door in 2003's American Wedding to a ditzy blonde in Love Actually. But it wasn't until she was cast in Mad Men – in a role expanded just for her – that Jones proved she was more than a pretty face.

As bitter, vindictive housewife Betty Draper, Jones's profile blew up, nabbing her Golden Globe and Emmy award nominations, a hosting stint on Saturday Night Live and a role as telepath Emma Frost in 2011's X-Men: First Class.

Off-screen, Jones has become a stylish red carpet standout and a girl-about-town, having romanced Ashton Kutcher, singer Josh Groban and SNL's Jason Sudeikis. Still, Jones has proved to be adept at keeping the most important things private, like the identity of her son Xander's father.

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January Jones: Five Fun Facts

Growing up in Sioux Falls, S.D., January Jones was no stranger to teenage hijinx. "One night she went out the basement window. Our dog was barking, which got her caught," her dad Marv later explained to PEOPLE. "Next time, she tried taking the dog with her."
In one of her first acting gigs – a commercial for the Jack in the Box fast-food chain – January Jones parodied Gwyneth Paltrow's Oscar acceptance speech, wearing a pink dress and sporting slicked-back hair.
Though she was born in the first month of the year, January Jones was actually named after January Wayne, the sex-happy heroine at the center of Jacqueline Susann's salacious novel Once Is Not Enough. "Imagine realizing you're named after that character!" she joked to GQ.
A football fanatic, January Jones's computer screen saver is a picture of her with NFL quarterbacks, brothers Eli and Peyton Manning. "The most starstruck I get is around football players," she told W magazine.
As a kid, January Jones wanted to be a meteorologist or a marine biologist, and she now stumps for a good sea cause: shark conservation.

January Jones: Biography

1996: Bright Lights, Big City
After Jones is approached by a modeling scout while shopping, her mother Karen says she can go to New York City to pursue work as a model – but only after completing school. "So I hurried up and finished high school almost a year early," Jones tells Interview magazine. "Three days after I turned 18, I went to New York."
1998: A Model Romance
While modeling for Abercrombie & Fitch, Jones meets fellow mannequin Ashton Kutcher, whom she begins dating. During their three-year relationship, Jones gets disillusioned with the world of fashion and ventures into acting. "I wasn't really inspired by the modeling world but the commercials became really fun," she later tells Vanity Fair, adding that Kutcher discouraged her career change. "If anything, I should thank him," she says. "Because the minute you tell me I can't do something, that's when I'm most motivated."
2003: Movin' on Up
After years of playing bit parts, Jones is suddenly everywhere in 2003, from playing a lesbian porn star in Anger Management and a virginal bridesmaid In American Wedding to a Midwestern airhead in Love Actually. "I remember her being particularly bright," Love Actually's director Richard Curtis tells GQ. "That completely classic American beauty tied in with the fact that she's funny as well…it was quite a combination."