Celebrity Biographies
Jon Hamm
He will remain in the collective unconscious as the prototype of one of those men who drink whiskey as if it were water, smoke a lot, boast of womanizing and behave in a ‘macho’ style. Jon Hamm has embroidered the role of Don Draper, publicist who stars in the Mad Men series , who has even put retro style back on the fashion map.
Born in St. Louis (Missouri), on March 10, 1971, Jonathan Daniel Hamm is the son of a secretary and a businessman in the trucking industry. His childhood was quite miserable, because first his parents divorced, and he went to live with his mother, who died of cancer when he was 10 years old. He spent time with his father, who also passed away prematurely. His teachers and some friends of his parents helped him get ahead.
In high school, Hamm turned out to be an excellent athlete, dating future actress Sarah Clarke . He discovered his potential as an actor when he played Winnie the Pooh in a student performance. While he was graduating in English from the University of Missouri, he went to castings for theater companies and ended up playing various characters.
He started as an acting teacher at the same institute where he had studied, and had as a student Ellie Kemper , who was successful with the series The Office . A great friend of the actor Paul Rudd , he used to go frequently to Hollywood to see him, and seduced by the possibilities for his career that this city gave him, he ended up moving permanently in 1995. He arrived with a car and $150, and to be able to pay for the apartment he shared with other aspiring actors he looked for a job as a waiter. But success resisted him and they didn’t give him roles his age because he seemed older. At 30, he had only been in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas , Space Cowboys and a few other films, in minor roles.
His career began to take off when he played police inspector Nate Basso in the series The Division . Then he was offered many more roles in series like The Unit , Numb3rs and What do we do with Brian? , but his life would definitely change when he was chosen among more than 80 candidates to play the protagonist of the Mad Men series . He was given the role of Don Draper, a womanizing, alcoholic advertising executive who keeps cautiously silent about his past.
He won the Golden Globe for his work in 2008, and has since been nominated three times in a row. Additionally, the series has garnered an unbeatable response from critics who compare it to hits like The Sopranos and The Wire . He alternates the filming of each season of the series with appearances in various films, such as Sucker Punch , where he played a doctor, and The Town, city of thieves , in which he was the FBI bloodhound chasing the protagonists.
On a personal level, Jon Hamm is in a relationship with Jennifer Westfeldt , lead actress and co-writer of Kissing Jessica Stein .