Early life

Hamm was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Deborah and Daniel Hamm. His father ran a family trucking company and his mother was a secretary. He is of German, English, and Irish descent; his surname originates with German immigrants. Hamm's parents divorced when he was two years old, and he lived in Creve Coeur with his mother until her death from colon cancer when he was 10. Hamm then moved in with his father. Hamm's first acting role was as Winnie the Pooh in first grade at 16, he was cast as Judas in Godspell, and enjoyed the experience, though he did not take acting seriously. Hamm attended the private John Burroughs School in Ladue, where he was a member of the football, baseball, and swim teams. During this time, he dated future actress Sarah Clarke. His father died when he was 20.

Following graduation in 1989, Hamm enrolled at the University of Texas, where he was a member of the Upsilon Chapter of Sigma Nu fraternity. While Hamm was attending the University of Texas, he was arrested for participating in a violent hazing incident that occurred in November 1990 in which another student, Mark Sanders, was beaten with a paddle and a broom, where Hamm was leading Sanders around the fraternity house with the claw of a hammer beneath Sander's genitals, and had his clothes set on fire. The incident led to the fraternity being shutdown on campus. Hamm completed the terms of a deferred adjudication and the charges were dismissed in August 1995.

“	Acting was fun, but my grandfather would always tell me, 'It's never too late to be an engineer.' You were supposed to get a 'job' and do acting on weekends or at school.	”
— Jon Hamm

Hamm enrolled at the University of Missouri. At Missouri he answered an advertisement from a theater company looking for players in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, auditioned, and was cast in the production. Other roles followed, such as Leon Czolgosz in Assassins. After graduating in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts in English, Hamm returned to his high school to teach eighth-grade acting. One of his students was Ellie Kemper, who later became an actress and would go on to star in the Netflix original series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, in which Hamm has a recurring role; another was Beau Willimon, who became a screenwriter.

Career

Early work

“	I came in the Dawson's Creek era; it was all about tiny guys who looked like teenagers, and I haven't looked like a teenager ever. So I was, like, auditioning to be their dads. At 25.	”
— Hamm, on not finding work as a young actor

Hamm has known actor Paul Rudd for many years, and visited him in Hollywood in 1992. Not wishing to stay in a "normal career", Hamm moved to Los Angeles permanently in 1995 with an automobile and $150. He moved into a house with four other aspiring actors and began working as a waiter while attending auditions. He acted in theatre, including as Flavius in a production of Shakespeare's Timon of Athens with the Sacred Fools Theater Company.

Finding employment as an actor was difficult, despite representation by the William Morris Agency because unlike other actors his age, he could not be cast in youth-oriented productions like Dawson's Creek due to his older appearance. In 1998, having failed to obtain any acting jobs after three years, he was dropped by William Morris. Hamm continued working as a waiter, and briefly as a set designer for a softcore pornography film. After repeatedly failing to obtain promising roles, he set his 30th birthday as a deadline to succeed in Hollywood, stating:

You either suck that up and find another agent, or you go home and say you gave it a shot, but that's the end of that. The last thing I wanted to be out here was one of those actors who's 45 years old, with a tenuous grasp of their own reality, and not really working much. So I gave myself five years. I said, if I can't get it going by the time I'm 30, I'm in the wrong place. And as soon as I said that, it's like I started working right away.

In 2000, Hamm obtained the role of romantic firefighter Burt Ridley on NBC's drama series Providence. His one-episode contract grew to 19, and led him to quit waiting tables. Hamm made his feature film debut with one line in Clint Eastwood's space adventure Space Cowboys (2000); more substantial roles followed in the independent comedy Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) and the war film We Were Soldiers (2002), during filming of which he turned 30. His career was further bolstered when he played the recurring role of police inspector Nate Basso on Lifetime's television series The Division from 2002 to 2004. Other minor roles followed on the television series What About Brian, CSI: Miami, Related, Numb3rs, The Unit, and The Sarah Silverman Program. Hamm's Mad Men castmate Eric Ladin had said that one of the reasons he looks up to Jon is that while he "made it" later than most actors, Hamm never gave up on acting.

International recognition

Hamm received his breakthrough role in 2007 when he was cast from more than 80 candidates as the protagonist character Don Draper in AMC's drama series Mad Men. In the series, set in a fictional 1960s advertising agency, he plays a suave advertising executive with an obscure past. Hamm recalled, "I read the script for Mad Men and I loved it. I never thought they'd cast me—I mean, I thought they'd go with one of the five guys who look like me but are movie stars", and that an actor with a "proven track record" would likely have been chosen if another network had aired the show. He went through numerous auditions, and explained each time to the casting directors what he could bring to the character, if given the part. Alan Taylor and Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner thought that Hamm was too handsome for the role, but decided that "it was perfect to cast sort of the perfect male in this part"; Weiner also sensed that the actor had not been raised by his parents, similar to Draper's backstory.

Hamm used memories of his father to portray Draper, a well-dressed, influential figure in business and society hiding great inner turmoil and facing changes in the world beyond his control. Mad Men debuted on July 19, 2007, with almost 1.4 million viewers. It quickly developed a loyal audience, with Hamm receiving strong reviews. Robert Bianco of USA Today was complimentary of Hamm, noting that his interpretation of Draper was a "starmaking performance". The Boston Globe's Matthew Gilbert called Hamm a "brilliant lead". For his work, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series - Drama in 2008. Also in 2008, he was nominated for both the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. In 2009, Hamm was again nominated for the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award in the same category, and received another Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. In 2010, Hamm received his third Golden Globe Award nomination. Mad Men concluded its seven-season run on May 17, 2015. Hamm received his first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series on September 20, 2015 after receiving 12 Emmy nominations for acting on and producing the series.

Hamm's next film role was in the 2008 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still, a remake of the 1951 film of the same name. Although the film received mixed reviews, it was financially successful, earning $230 million worldwide at the box office. Hamm hosted the sixth episode of the 34th season of Saturday Night Live on October 25, 2008. He played various roles, including Don Draper in two sketches. He returned to host again on January 30 and October 30, 2010. In 2009, Hamm guest starred in three episodes of the NBC situation comedy show 30 Rock as Drew Baird, a doctor who is a neighbor and love interest of Liz Lemon's (Tina Fey). For these performances, he received three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

Hamm's film projects post 2009 included the independent mystery thriller Stolen and his first leading role, in which he plays a man trying to demystify the circumstances surrounding his son's kidnapping. The Hollywood Reporter's Frank Scheck stated that the feature never came together, and said that Hamm was unable to do much with his "underwritten role". Hamm had a voice cameo in the animated feature Shrek Forever After, released in May 2010, as an ogre leader named Brogan. He appeared as an FBI agent in The Town with Ben Affleck; after receiving "about 40 scripts that were all set in the 60s, or had me playing advertising guys", Hamm was pleased that the film offered a role "the opposite to Don Draper". The feature received generally favorable reviews, and earned $144 million worldwide. His next acting role was as defense attorney Jake Ehrlich in the independent drama Howl, based on Allen Ginsberg's 1956 poem of the same name. On December 12, 2010, Hamm made a guest appearance as an FBI supervisor on Fox's animated series The Simpsons. Returning to film, he appeared in Zack Snyder's 2011 action-fantasy movie Sucker Punch, as the character High Roller, and the doctor. He also had a supporting role in the comedy Bridesmaids as Kristen Wiig's "rude and arrogant sex buddy". Hamm was next seen in the independent feature Friends with Kids (2011) which he produced alongside partner Jennifer Westfeldt. The story centers around a group of friends whose lives are changed as the couples in the group begin to have children.

He has a recurring role in the sitcom The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret as the servant of sociopathic billionaire Dave Mountford (Blake Harrison), the role of which is later revealed to in fact be a fictionalized version of Hamm, complaining that being made into Dave's servant has made him need to be written out of four episodes of Mad Men. Hamm hosted the 21st ESPYS Awards on July 17, 2013. and played sports agent J.B. Bernstein in Disney's sports drama Million Dollar Arm the following year.

Hamm starred alongside Daniel Radcliffe in the Ovation television dark comedy A Young Doctor's Notebook, playing an older version of Radcliffe's character, from December 2012 to December 2013. He had a number of roles in 2015, including the comedy shows Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, as well as the animated comedy Minions as the voice of Herb Overkill. Minions was a major box office success, despite mixed reviews; it grossed a total of over $1 billion worldwide.

Personal life

In 1997, Hamm began a relationship with actress and screenwriter Jennifer Westfeldt. They own homes in Los Angeles and the Upper West Side in New York. In an interview discussion about his relationship with Westfeldt, Hamm said: "We may not have a piece of paper that says we're husband and wife, but after 10 years, Jennifer is more than just a girlfriend. What we have is much deeper and we both know that. To me, people get married when they're ready to have kids, which I'm not ruling out." Along with Westfeldt, Hamm has appeared in Gap-related campaign advertisements. In April 2009, Hamm and Westfeldt formed their own production company, Points West Pictures. Hamm and Westfeldt are advocates of animal rescue and have adopted a mixed breed dog named Cora from the Much Love Animal Shelter in California. In September 2015, Hamm and Westfeldt announced they were ending their relationship.

Although his role as Don Draper required him to smoke, Hamm gave up smoking when he was 24. On set he does not smoke actual cigarettes, but rather herbal cigarettes that do not contain tobacco or nicotine. In March 2015, Hamm's representative confirmed that Hamm had recently completed inpatient treatment for alcoholism.

Hamm reported developing vitiligo throughout the filming of Mad Men.

Internationally viewed as a sex symbol, Hamm was named one of Salon.com's Sexiest Man Living in 2007, and was named one of People magazine's Sexiest Men Alive in 2008. Hamm also won GQ's 'International Man' award in September 2010. In November 2008, Entertainment Weekly named him one of their Entertainers of the Year. He again was named one of the magazine's Entertainers of the Year in 2010.

Hamm is an avid golfer and tennis player. He is a devoted fan of the National Hockey League (NHL) team the St. Louis Blues, even appearing in two television spots advertising for the team. He is also a fan of the Major League Baseball (MLB) team the St. Louis Cardinals, and narrated the official highlight film for the 2011 World Series which the Cardinals won. He is also a cricket fan, having been introduced to the sport by Daniel Radcliffe when filming A Young Doctor's Notebook.

In March 2010, Hamm was hired by Mercedes-Benz as their new voiceover for their campaign with the S400 Hybrid vehicle. Hamm replaced actor Richard Thomas. Also, in 2013 American Airlines debuted a commercial titled "Change is in the Air" featuring Hamm as the voice-over. Hamm is an American Airlines frequent flier and his Mad Men character Don Draper often spoke of aspiring to win such accounts as American Airlines.

Hamm identifies as a Democrat.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Space Cowboys	Young Pilot No. 2
2001	Kissing Jessica Stein	Charles
2002	We Were Soldiers	Capt. Matt Dillon
2006	Ira and Abby	Ronnie
2007	The Ten	Chris Knarl
2008	The Day the Earth Stood Still	Dr. Michael Granier
2009	A Single Man	Hank Ackerley (voice)	Uncredited
2009	Stolen	Tom Adkins Sr.
2010	Shrek Forever After	Brogan (voice)
2010	The A-Team	Agent Lynch	Uncredited
2010	The Town	Adam Frawley
2010	Howl	Jake Ehrlich
2011	Sucker Punch	High Roller / Doctor
2011	Bridesmaids	Ted	Uncredited
2012	Friends with Kids	Ben	Also producer
2013	The Congress	Dylan Truliner (voice)
2014	Million Dollar Arm	J.B. Bernstein
2015	Minions	Herb Overkill (voice)
2016	Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie	Himself	Cameo
2016	Aardvark	Craig Norman	Post-production
2016	Keeping Up with the Joneses		Post-production
2016	Marjorie Prime		Post-production
2017	Baby Driver	Buddy	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	The Big Date	Himself	Contestant
1997	Ally McBeal	That Guy	Episode: "Compromising Positions"
2000	The Trouble with Normal	Jackson	Episode: "Pilot"
2000	The Hughleys	Buzz	Episode: "Lies My Valentine Told Me"
2000-2001	Providence	Burt Ridley	18 episodes
2001	Early Bird Special	Red-Headed Cop	Episode: "Pilot"
2002	Gilmore Girls	Peyton Sanders	Episode: "Eight O'Clock at the Oasis"
2002-2004	The Division	Inspector Nate Basso	16 episodes
2005	CSI: Miami	Dr. Brent Kessler	2 episodes
2005	Point Pleasant	Dr. George Forrester	2 episodes
2005	Charmed	Jack Brody	Episode: "Ordinary Witches"
2006	Numb3rs	Richard Clast	Episode: "Hardball"
2006	Related	Danny	Episode: "Related"
2006-2007	The Unit	Wilson James	5 episodes
2006-2007	What About Brian	Richard Povich	6 episodes
2007	The Sarah Silverman Program	Cable Guy	Episode: "Muffin' Man"
2007-2015	Mad Men	Don Draper	92 episodes; also producer
2008-2015	Saturday Night Live	Himself / Various roles	10 episodes
2009-2012	30 Rock	Dr. Drew Baird / Abner / David Brinkley	7 episodes
2010	The Simpsons	FBI Investigator (voice)	Episode: "Donnie Fatso"
2010-2012	Conan	Don Draper	2 episodes
2010-2016	Childrens Hospital	Derrick Childrens / Arthur Childrens	6 episodes
2011	Robot Chicken	Various voices	2 episodes
2012	The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret	Himself / Dave's Employee	4 episodes
2012	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Himself	Episode: "Jon Hamm Wears A Light Blue Shirt & Silver Watch"
2012	Martha Speaks	Ham Johnson (voice)	Episode: "Cora! Cora! Cora!/Cora Encore!"
2012	Metalocalypse	Various voices	Episode: "Writersklok"
2012	American Dad!	Himself (voice)	Episode: "Can I Be Frank (With You)"
2012	Family Guy	Himself (voice)	Episode: "Ratings Guy"
2012-2013	The Greatest Event in Television History	Rick Simon / Ghost of Jon Hamm	2 episodes
2012-2013	A Young Doctor's Notebook	Older Dr. Vladimir Bomgard	8 episodes; also executive producer
2013	Bob's Burgers	O.T. (voice)	Episode: "O.T.: The Outside Toilet"
2013	Archer	Captain Murphy (voice)	2 episodes
2013	2013 ESPY Awards	Himself (host)	Television special
2013	Clear History	Will Haney	Television film
2014	Web Therapy	Jeb Masters	2 episodes
2014	Black Mirror	Matt Trent	Episode: "White Christmas"
2014-2015	Parks and Recreation	Ed	2 episodes
2015-2016	Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt	Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne	7 episodes
2015	7 Days in Hell	Narrator	Television film
2015	Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp	Falcon	4 episodes
2015	Toast of London	Himself	Episode: "Hamm on Toast"
2016	Wander Over Yonder	Cartoon Lord Hater (voice)	Episode: "The Cartoon"
2016	SpongeBob Squarepants	Don Grouper (voice)	Episode: "Factory Fresh"

Music videos

Year	Artist	Song	Role
2011	The Lonely Island (ft. Rihanna)	"Shy Ronnie 2: Ronnie & Clyde"	Bank Hostage
2011	Herman Düne	"Tell Me Something I Don't Know"
2012	Aimee Mann	"Labrador"	Tom Scharpling

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
2007	Satellite Award	Best Cast - Television Series	Mad Men	Won
2008	Golden Globe Award	Best Actor - Television Series Drama		Won
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
	Satellite Award	Best Actor - Television Series Drama		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated
	Television Critics Association Award	Individual Achievement in Drama		Nominated
2009	Golden Globe Award	Best Actor - Television Series Drama		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	30 Rock	Nominated
		Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Mad Men	Nominated
	Satellite Award	Best Actor - Television Series Drama		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Won
	Television Critics Association Award	Individual Achievement in Drama		Nominated
2010	Golden Globe Award	Best Actor - Television Series Drama		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	30 Rock	Nominated
		Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Mad Men	Nominated
	National Board of Review	Best Cast	The Town	Won
	Satellite Award	Best Actor - Television Series Drama	Mad Men	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Won
2011	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award	Best Cast	The Town	Nominated
	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Actor in a Drama Series	Mad Men	Won
	Golden Globe Award	Best Actor - Television Series Drama		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated
	Television Critics Association Award	Individual Achievement in Drama		Won
2012	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
	MTV Movie Award	Best On-Screen Dirtbag	Bridesmaids	Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Drama Series	Mad Men	Nominated
		Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	30 Rock	Nominated
		Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Mad Men	Nominated
	Satellite Award	Best Actor - Television Series Drama		Nominated
	Television Critics Association Award	Individual Achievement in Drama		Nominated
2013	Golden Globe Award	Best Actor - Television Series Drama		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Drama Series		Nominated
		Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated
2014	Teen Choice Award	Choice Movie Actor: Drama	Million Dollar Arm	Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Drama Series	Mad Men	Nominated
		Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
2015	Television Critics Association Award	Individual Achievement in Drama		Won
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Drama Series		Nominated
		Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series		Won
		Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt	Nominated
2016	Golden Globe Award	Best Actor - Television Series Drama	Mad Men	Won
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated
	Annie Award	Voice Acting in a Feature Production	Minions	Nominated

Charities

Jon Hamm supports the following charitable cause: Cancer.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]