Jon Hamm once used to teach high school students

Born in St. Louis, Jon Hamm was the son of a father who managed a trucking company and a mother who was a secretary. His parents divorced when he was 2, and he went to live with his mother. Hamm began acting in first grade, playing Winnie-the-Pooh in a school play, and was intrigued. When his mother died when he was 10, he moved in with his father, who encouraged his interest in theater.

He studied acting at the University of Missouri and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English. Initially he taught high school in St. Louis, but Hollywood kept beckoning. Eventually Hamm headed west in his mid-20s, with only his old car and $150 in his pocket.

Hollywood wasn’t initially impressed. For three years he didn’t get a single role.

“I always looked older than my real age,” Hamm recalled. “It made casting me tougher, if not impossible.”

He worked the obligatory day jobs, including waiting tables, planning to move back to St. Louis if the acting thing didn’t work out by the time he was 30.

In the nick of time, when he was 29, he was cast as Paula Cale’s love interest on the NBC drama

Providence in 2000. That same year he made his film debut in Clint Eastwood’s Space Cowboys (2000). He went on to supporting roles in such films as Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) and We Were

Soldiers (2002). Mad Men (2007-2015) gave him a new lease on life, and he went on to substantial bigscreen roles in The Town (2010), Friends with Kids (2011), Million Dollar Arm (2014), Baby Driver (2017) and Beirut (2018).