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In 2000, Hamm obtained the role of romantic firefighter Burt Ridley on NBC's drama series Providence. Learn 50 facts about actor Jon Hamm.
1. Jonathan Daniel "Jon" Hamm is best known for playing advertising executive Don Draper in the AMC drama series Mad Men (2007-2015), for which he won the 2015 Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series.
2. For much of the mid-1990s, Hamm lived in Los Angeles, making appearances in television series Providence, The Division, What About Brian, and Related.
3. In 2000, he made his feature film debut in the space adventure film Space Cowboys.
4. The following year, he had a minor role in the independent comedy, Kissing Jessica Stein (2001).
5. Hamm gained wide recognition when Mad Men began airing in July 2007.
6. His performance in Mad Men earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series - Drama in 2008, and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards held in Los Angeles on September 20, 2015.
7. He also directed two episodes of the show Mad Men.
8. In 2008, Hamm appeared in a remake of the science fiction film The Day The Earth Stood Still.
9. His first leading film role was in the 2010 independent thriller Stolen.
10. He also had supporting roles in The Town (2010), Sucker Punch (2011), and Bridesmaids (2011).
11. Hamm has received 16 Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his performances in Mad Men, 30 Rock (2006-2013), and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015-present).
12. 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.
13. He is of German, English, and Irish descent.
14. His surname originates with German immigrants.
15. Hamm's parents divorced when he was two years old.
16. 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.
17. Hamm's first acting role was as Winnie the Pooh in first grade.
18. At 16, he was cast as Judas in Godspell, and enjoyed the experience, though he did not take acting seriously.
19. Hamm attended the private John Burroughs School in Ladue, where he was a member of the football, baseball, and swim teams.
20. He dated future actress Sarah Clarke.
21. His father died when he was 20.
22. Following graduation in 1989, Hamm enrolled at the University of Texas, where he was a member of the Upsilon Chapter of Sigma Nu fraternity.
23. 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.
24. Other roles followed, such as Leon Czolgosz in Assassins.
25. After graduating in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts in English, Hamm returned to his high school to teach eighth-grade acting.
26. 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, which Hamm had a recurring role in; another was Beau Willimon, who became a screenwriter.
27. Hamm has known actor Paul Rudd for many years, and visited Hollywood to meet him in 1992.
28. Not wishing to stay in a "normal career", Hamm moved to Los Angeles permanently in 1995 with an automobile and $150.
29. He moved into a house with four other aspiring actors and began working as a waiter while attending auditions.
30. He acted in theatre, including as Flavius in a production of Shakespeare's Timon of Athens with the Sacred Fools Theater Company.
31. In 2000, Hamm obtained the role of romantic firefighter Burt Ridley on NBC's drama series Providence.
32. His one-episode contract grew to 19, and led him to quit waiting tables.
33. Hamm made his feature film debut with one line in Clint Eastwood's space adventure Space Cowboys (2000).
34. 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.
35. 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.
36. Other minor roles followed on the television series What About Brian, CSI: Miami, Related, Numb3rs, The Unit, and The Sarah Silverman Program.
37. 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.
38. In 1997, Hamm began a relationship with actress and screenwriter Jennifer Westfeldt.
39. Hamm and Westfeldt own homes in Los Angeles and the Upper West Side in New York.
40. 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 [should] get married when they're ready to have kids, which I'm not ruling out."
41. Hamm, along with Westfeldt, has appeared in Gap-related campaign advertisements.
42. In April 2009, Hamm and Westfeldt formed their own production company, Points West Pictures.
43. Hamm and Westfeldt are advocates of animal rescue.
44. They have adopted their own dog, a mixed breed named Cora, from the Much Love Animal Shelter in California.
45. Hamm and Westfeldt announced in September 2015 that they were ending their relationship.
46. Although his role as Don Draper requires him to smoke, Hamm gave up smoking when he was 24.
47. He revealed in an interview that while on set he does not smoke actual cigarettes, but herbal cigarettes that do not contain any tobacco or nicotine.
48. In March 2015, Hamm's representative confirmed that Hamm had recently completed inpatient treatment for alcoholism.
49. Hamm has vitiligo.
50. Hamm is an avid golfer and tennis player.
Source: Wikipedia.org
