Jonathan Daniel "Jon" Hamm is an actor, director, and producer popularly known for essaying the role of the advertising executive Don Draper in the award-winning drama series Mad Men (2007 - 2015). Hamm received 10 awards for his role during the seven seasons of the show that was one of the most acclaimed TV series on American television. He has also appeared in several Hollywood films and his first lead role came with the 2010 movie Stolen.

Early Life
Hamm was born to Deborah, who worked as a secretary and Daniel Hamm, who ran a trucking company in Missouri, USA. After his parents divorced when he was two years old, Hamm lived with his mother. Later, when he was 10, his mother died of colon cancer and Hamm started living with his father.

As a child, Hamm was never serious about acting, although, he had participated in several plays while he was in school. He completed his schooling from the John Burroughs School and was part of several sports teams, viz. football, baseball, and swimming. While he was in school, he dated Sarah Clarke, who later went on to become an actress. Hamm`s father died when he was 20. After he graduated in 1989, he was enrolled at the University of Texas. However, following an incident at the campus, he had to complete the terms of deferred adjudication - the charges were later dismissed in 1995. He was then enrolled at the University of Missouri where he auditioned for a theater company and was eventually cast in one of the productions titled - A Midsummer Night`s Dream. Hamm graduated in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree and soon started teaching acting to eight-grade students.

A couple of years later, Hamm moved to Los Angeles permanently: pursuing a career in acting.

Personal Life
Hamm was in a relationship with actress and screenwriter Jennifer Westfeldt for a period of 18 years. Although the couple never married, they were together from 1997 to 2015.

Theater Career
Hamm struggled as an actor initially and, although he appeared in several plays with the Sacred Fools Theater Company, he failed to make an impression. He was also represented by the William Morris Agency but after failing to get any acting jobs, he was eventually dropped by the agency.

Television Career
The actor appeared as a contestant on the dating show, The Big Date in 1996. However, his first appearance as an actor came with the popular TV series Ally McBeal. Hamm later went on to appear in a few TV series before he got a substantial role in the TV series Providence. He appeared as a romantic firefighter `Burt Ridley` for a total of 18 episodes. From 2002 to 2004, Hamm was seen portraying the role of Inspector Nate Basso in the TV show The Division. In subsequent years he appeared in minor roles on TV shows such as CSI: Miami (2005), Charmed (2005), Numb3rs (2006), and The Sarah Silverman Program (2007).

By 2007, the actor had been a part of several TV series and movies, however, none of his roles really uplifted his career. In was only in 2007 that Hamm`s career catapulted when he was cast in the lead role as Don Draper in AMC`s drama series, Mad Men. The TV series revolved around a fictional 1960s advertising agency wherein Hamm played the role of an advertising executive. Hamm, who was cast amongst more than 80 candidates, loved the script but wasn`t sure if he would be given preference against actors, which have a proven track record.

Mad Men debuted in 2007 with around 1.4 million viewers and Hamm went on to receive rave reviews for his act. The actor essayed the role of Don Draper for all the seasons of the show and bagged a total of 10 awards including the 2015 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and the 2016 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Television Series Drama.

While he was associated with Mad Men, he appeared in several other TV series such as The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (2012) wherein Hamm was seen in the recurring role as a servant of Dave Mountford (Blake Harrison), a sociopath billionaire, The Greatest Event in Television History (2012 - 2013), Web Therapy (2014), and Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp (2015). In 2016, Hamm appeared on Angie Tribeca and The Last Man on Earth (2016).

Movie Career
As an actor
Hamm made his Hollywood debut with Clint Eastwood`s 2000 movie Space Cowboys. In the next few years, he was seen in movies such as Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) and We Were Soldiers (2002). He was also part of Scott Derrickson`s movie The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008). However, his first leading role came with the 2009 movie Stolen directed by Anders Anderson. Hamm, who portrayed the character of a man investigating his son`s kidnapping, did not achieve much success with the role. The Hollywood Reporter`s Frank Scheck stated that Hamm was unable to do much with his "underwritten role". He also had a voice cameo in the animated movie Shrek Forever After (2010).

By 2010, Hamm was already a recognized face of the television industry and was offered several scripts that either were set in the 1960s or had him playing an advertising agent. He was then offered the role of an FBI agent in Ben Affleck`s The Town (2010). The actor later confessed that he was happy to be offered a role that was opposite to Don Draper. In the following year, Hamm appeared as `High Roller` in Zack Snyder`s Sucker Punch (2011). In the next few years, he appeared in movies such as Million Dollar Arm (2014), and the animated movie Minions voicing the character of Herb Overkill. His 2016 release includes the movie Keeping Up with the Joneses which also stars Zack Galifianakis, Isla Fischer, and Gal Gadot. His other releases include Richard Jewell (2019), Wild Mountain Thyme (2020) and Top Gun: Maverick (2021).

As a Producer
In 2011, Jon Hamm along with his then-partner Jennifer Westfeldt produced and starred in the movie Friends with Kids alongside Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Adam Scott, Edward Burns, Megan Fox and Chris O`Dowd.