Jon Hamm: Snapshot

Name
Jon Hamm
Date of Birth
March 10, 1971
Birth Place
St. Louis, Mo.
Jon Hamm has been called America's last alpha male – a distinction earned from his star-making role as dapper ad exec Don Draper on the Emmy-winning series Mad Men.

The St. Louis native, who is happily unmarried to writer-actress Jennifer Westfeldt, waited tables and racked up TV credits (Providence, The Division, What About Brian) for nearly a decade in Hollywood before time traveling to the 1960s.

Hamm, who's earned a best actor Golden Globe and three Emmy nominations for his breakthrough role, proved he's more than just a dashing man in a suit: He's hosted SNL thrice, played Tina Fey's boyfriend on 30 Rock and topped the box office thrice, with 2008's The Day the Earth Stood Still, 2010's The Town, and 2011's Bridesmaids.

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Jon Hamm: Five Fun Facts

  1. In the first grade, Jon Hamm played Winnie the Pooh on stage. "My mom made the bear suit. She got a Butterick pattern and sewed it and I had a pillow sort of strapped to me and, you know, ears," he told Vanity Fair. "There exists to this day a very grainy super-8 image of that that I beg – I hope to God – never gets out."
  2. Don Draper may smoke religiously on Mad Men – but Jon Hamm despises cigarettes. "I quit smoking when I was 24," Hamm told PEOPLE. "It's glamorous on film, but it's not glamorous waking up and smelling like an ashtray."
  3. What's the secret to Jon Hamm's perfectly coifed do? "[Mad Men's hairstylists] load it up with about three pounds of hair spray and gel, and it won't move," he told Time. "It is locked down. Crispy."
  4. "My nicknames have gone from Hammer to Ham and Cheese to Ham and Eggs," Jon Hamm told PEOPLE of being teased about his surname. "When you have a last name like mine, what are you going to do?"
  5. Actress Sarah Clarke, who played Bella's mom in The Twilight Saga, was Jon Hamm's high school prom date. "He was someone you could talk to about stuff in a different way," she told Elle of her pre-fame pal.

Jon Hamm: Biography

2001

Jon Hamm

Providence & More

While waiting tables, Hamm scores his first substantial acting gig – a recurring role on the TV drama Providence. Around this time, he appears in the Mel Gibson film, We Were Soldiers, and a slew of TV roles follow, enabling him to quit his day job. "I've probably been a waiter longer than I've really been anything else," he tells Vanity Fair of finally getting his Hollywood break.

2007

Jon Hamm

Mad About Hamm

Hamm gets the role of a lifetime, being cast as mysterious Madison Avenue ad executive Don Draper in AMC's first original series, Mad Men. The show earns him a Golden Globe win for outstanding lead actor in 2008, as well as repeated lead Emmy nominations. "We knew some people were watching and liked it," Hamm tells EW. "But to get the actual validation of 'We think you're the best' is amazing – and totally unexpected."

2008

Jon Hamm

October

Jon's Funny Bone

At the height of "Mad Mania," Hamm switches gears, hosting Saturday Night Live, where he mocks his TV character and even hawks Jon Hamm's John Ham ("The Ham You Can Eat in the Bathroom"). "He has that ridiculous sense of humor that we like to employ, a chasing-the-giggle kind of fun that’s dark and weird," longtime pal comedian Sarah Silverman tells Elle. In 2010, the actor returns for more gags, with two more hosting stints on SNL.

Read More on Jon Hamm's Life

Photo Credits

Top Left: Jason LaVeris/Getty

BIOGRAPHY (top to bottom): Everett; Frank Ockenfels/AMC; Dana Edelson/NBC

Edited by Janet Mock and Julia Wang

Jon Hamm

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