Jon Hamm

Born March 10, 1971, Jon Hamm is perhaps best-known for his role as creative director Don Draper on AMC’s Mad Men. Orphaned by the age of 20, Hamm left his home state of Missouri to pursue an acting career in Hollywood.

After three years of struggling to find work, Hamm made his movie debut in 2000’s Space Cowboys (opposite Clint Eastwood and Tommy Lee Jones). Though he only had one line in the film, he soon appeared in movies such as Kissing Jessica Stein and We Were Soldiers, as well as the television show Providence.

Hamm later earned recurring roles on ABC’s What About Brian? and CBS’ The Unit before he struck gold with the Emmy-nominated Mad Men. The actor later returned to the silver screen with roles in 2008’s The Day the Earth Stood Still (costarring Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly) and the 2010 crime drama The Town (costarring Ben Affleck and Blake Lively).

Hamm has been in a relationship with actress Jennifer Westfeldt since 1997.