A handsome, versatile character actor, St. Louis native Jon Hamm got his first taste of celebrity at the age of six when he was cast as Winnie the Pooh in his first grade class play. Moving to Hollywood years later, Hamm gradually made a name for himself as a popular guest star on television, before graduating to TV stardom in his own right. Kicking off his career in the late 1990s, Hamm made his big screen debut as a young rocket-ship jockey in director-star Clint Eastwood’s geriatric adventure drama, “Space Cowboys.” His star-making role, however, became that of 1960s ad executive, Don Draper, in the critically adored cable dramedy series, “Mad Men.”

Moving out to L.A. in the 1990s, Hamm caught his big break in 2000, landing a semi-regular role as romantic firefighter Burt Ridley, on “Providence.” That led to Hamm’s next engagement, a two-season gig as Police Inspector Nate Basso on “The Division.” From there, it was a steady domino-effect of employment. Over the next few years, Hamm popped up as a guest-star on such hit series as “CSI: Miami,” “Related,” “Numb3rs” and “The Sarah Silverman Program.” “The hardest part was just getting that first domino to fall,” Hamm later jokingly recalled.

And it was not over. A successful six-episode recurring arc on the ABC dramedy “What About Brian” led Hamm to another semi-regular gig on the Emmy-nominated espionage-drama, “The Unit.” In 2007, Hamm was tapped by Matthew Weiner, a former writer-producer for “The Sopranos,” to star in his new cable series “Mad Men.” In it, Hamm played Don Draper, the embattled creative director of the fictional Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency. So impressive was his work, he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama Series in early 2008, and later that year, received an Emmy nod for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, as well. He had the opportunity to repeat his Golden Globe win in early 2008 when he was nominated for the same award later that year. In 2009, he earned an Emmy nod in the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series category for his performance as Liz Lemon’s neighbor and love interest on “30 Rock.”

On the big screen, Hamm had a showy role as Captain Matt Dillon in the 2002 war epic, “We Were Soldiers.” Hamm’s best known feature work, however, was probably his supporting turn in the 2002 romantic comedy “Kissing Jessica Stein,” in which he played Charles, a hapless would-be suitor for the title character – played coincidentally by the actor’s real-life longtime girlfriend, Jennifer Westfeldt. After a small supporting part in the low budget indie, “Ira & Abby,” Hamm landed a high-profile role as NASA official Dr. Michael Granier in the blockbuster remake of the 1951 sci-fi movie, “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”

Hamm also had appeared in the 2011 hit comedy “Bridesmaids” with Wiig. In this film, Hamm played Wiig’s cruel love interest. In 2014, Hamm starred in the heartwarming sports movie “The Million Dollar Arm.” The film is based on a true story about a sports agent who recruits several Indian cricket players and tries to transform them into major league baseball pitchers. The following year, he had a chance to work with his former drama student Ellie Kemper in her Netflix comedy series Unbreakable “Kimmy Schmidt.” Most recently, he has starred in the Netflix original comedy, “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp.”