Jon Hamm first became successful and critically-acclaimed for playing handsome, whip-smart, but internally broken Don Draper in the hit AMC series, Mad Men. Since then, Hamm has pursued comedy and action roles...and showed fans that he really is capable of anything.

Born on March 10^th, 1971, Hamm grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. Hamm first dabbled in acting when he was in the first grade - he took on the role of Winnie the Pooh in a school play, but it was more than two decades later before he pursued a professional career as an actor. Today, Hamm is one of the most recognizable names and faces in Hollywood.

Like many actors, Hamm waited tables while he worked towards fame. Hamm attributes a lot of his success to giving himself a set deadline to ‘make it’ in the industry. Hamm said, “The last thing I wanted to be out here was one of those actors who's 45 years old, with a tenuous grasp of their own reality, and not really working much. So, I gave myself five years. I said, if I can't get it going by the time, I'm 30, I'm in the wrong place. And as soon as I said that, it's like I started working right away.”

Here are 20 things that fans don’t know about Jon Hamm’s life.

20 Forever A Bachelor

While Don Draper has had multiple marriages, Jon Hamm has never been married. Jon was common law with his ex, actor Jennifer Westfeldt, but this is the closest he’s ever come to holy matrimony. Hamm believes that marriage is more important for people when they’re having children than those who are in long-term relationships, without kids in mind.

19 Why He Almost Didn't Get Mad Men

Jon Hamm was unknown when he got the coveted role of ad mogul, Don Draper. Hamm says, “I was on the bottom of everyone's list." Rumor has it that the show's creator, Matthew Weiner, believed that Hamm was too classically good-looking to take on the role of Don, but Hamm’s persistence eventually won them over. Weiner also liked Hamm’s take on a character who had it all together on the outside but was broken inside.

Hamm says, "I really really really wanted to do it and really really really responded to the character. And really really felt like I had a handle on it and fit the part well, for whatever reason. I knew it was an enormous risk for the network to put all their chips on… certainly no celebrity of any kind. No name to promote."

18 He's A Former Drama Teacher Who Taught Someone Famous

As someone who began his journey into the world of acting later than most, Hamm had another career before Hollywood. Hamm was a teacher at his own former school, and one of his former students was fellow Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt co-star, Ellie Kemper.

Three years into acting, Hamm was dropped by his agency, William Morris, for not bringing in enough work. Hamm says it was rough: “But also: gut check time. I thought: 'I could go home, I could teach…' I had already taught (drama) and yes, I think I probably was a good teacher."

Instead, he stayed...and maybe he flirted with his landlady just a little bit when he needed a couple of extra days to pay his rent.

17 He's Happy Fame Came Late

Hamm was 36 years old when he earned his first major role in Mad Men, which isn’t typical in Hollywood...unless you’re Hamm or George Clooney.  Having struggled and worked as a waiter for some time, he has the age and wisdom to appreciate fame.

Hamm says, “I was sort of… I was aiming for the middle. I just wanted to be happy and relatively successful. And the great thing about our industry is you can just plug away at it and you can have a pretty nice life. You can go on a trip once in a while, maybe have a kid, get a decent car that doesn’t break down. I had no grand idea of who I was going to be.”

16 His Blue Light Past

Work is work, right? One of Hamm’s pre-fame jobs was working on the set of an adult film as a set dresser. Describing his job, Hamm says, "You gotta move cameras around, and ashtrays; and continuity is apparently an issue".

It was then when a stranger (who later became his long-term partner) called him and asked him to be in a play she was working on in New York City. Jon said he borrowed some money, crashed on a couch and made it happen.

15 Paul Rudd Is His BFF

Paul Rudd and Jon Hamm first met when Hamm was in college. Hamm said, “A good friend of mine’s older brother was [Rudd’s] roommate in college. And so, he came back from college for Thanksgiving or something like that and we all played Trivial Pursuit together.”

Rudd has admitted it wasn’t a fast friendship because both men were interested in the same woman. Still, years later, when Hamm moved to LA when he was 25, he reconnected with the one acquaintance he knew, Rudd...and was relieved to have the friendship that blossomed from there.

Hamm said in a podcast that the friendship with Rudd was “all I needed”.

14 How Much He's Worth

He came from humble roots, but Jon Hamm is now rich, with 30 million dollars to his name. For some of his commercial work, he's paid a lot, like the voiceover he did for Mercedes-Benz. He’s said to have gotten around one million dollars for that job. It's likely he earned that sum for just one day's work.

13 His SNL Girlfriend?

Hamm has been single for several years now with no public romantic relationships to report on. However, there have been rumors swirling around that Hamm is dating Saturday Night Live producer, Lindsay Shookus.

A source told People Magazine that the two recently attended a play together, “They sat together on the aisle and looked like they were having a great time. It very much felt like they were on a date.” Their reps have said they are just friends.

12 His 20 Year Relationship

For nearly 20 years, Jennifer Westfeldt was Jon Hamm’s main squeeze. Jon would often show people photos of his dog and Jennifer, calling his life, ‘pure bliss’. Hamm often noted that, although they were not married, it was the “same difference”.

Hamm said of their breakup, “It’s hard. It’s hard to be single after being together for a long time. It’s really hard. It sucks.” Hamm also said, “'I may be a narcissist in the way that most actors are, but I think it’s not to the detriment of those in my life. I try to be a good friend, a good partner, and all that stuff.”

11 A Tough Childhood

Hamm has said he channeled some of the grief from his childhood into the character, Don Draper, and perhaps that’s part of what has made Draper resonate with so many people. Hamm’s parents divorced when he was two and he was raised by his mother. Then, she died of stomach cancer when he was just 10. At that point, his dad was in charge of his care. He lost his father when he was just 20.

Hamm says, “I don’t have a good way to say, ‘Oh, it was so terrible’, or it was so this, or so that, but yeah, I had a hard time,” he says. “It had an effect on me. You know, not great.”

10 Pursuing His Dream On A Shoe String Budget

At 25, Hamm really was a Hollywood cliché. He arrived in town with 150 dollars in his pocket and his car. The year was 1995 and he began auditioning for roles. Hamm had a bunch of small parts on television shows before hitting the gold mine of Mad Men, including parts on Ally McBeal, Gilmore Girls, and Providence.

9 On Struggling With Depression

When Hamm’s older sisters saw how much the 20-year-old was struggling after his father passed away, the two encouraged him to get professional help. Hamm says, “I had no concept of what that even meant. I’m a 20-year-old idiot, in the Midwest. This is not Woody Allen New York. We don’t sit around and talk about our feelings. We certainly don’t sit around and compare shrinks.”

Hamm said he went and talked to a female therapist and it helped. Hamm adds, “Talking to anybody helps. Talking to your friends helps. But your friends are your friends. They’ll tell you what you want to hear. The shrink doesn’t sugar-coat it. It’s a wonderful third-person perspective that you get from an analyst. It’s invaluable, I think.”

8 That Time He Was Arrested In University

Hamm is a law-abiding guy today, but it turns out he has had some run-ins with the law when he was younger. In 1990, while attending the University of Texas, he was one of the people involved in a violent fraternity hazing incident. The fraternity even allegedly set the poor pledge’s clothes on fire.

The fraternity was shut down and Hamm was placed on probation. The charges were dismissed five years later, presumably for good behavior.

7 He Doesn't Smoke

In the 60s, everyone smoked, and certainly everyone on Mad Men was a heavy smoker. Hamm, like many of his co-stars, doesn’t smoke in real life. He’d quit when he was 24, before he even moved to LA. On the set, Hamm and the others would smoke herbal cigarettes, which isn’t the best for you, but at least those cigarettes didn’t contain addictive nicotine.

6 Why He Didn't Keep Any Mad Men Props

It’s very common for celebs to keep souvenirs from their work, particularly when they’ve worked on a project for years. During a Variety video interview, Hamm was asked if he kept Don’s iconic hat (which was the same hat for the entire series). Hamm said that since much of the clothing was rented, it would be stealing to take anything, so the rental hat was simply returned.

5 A Fantasy Football Fan

While Rudd and Hamm haven’t really worked together, there are other things that bond the friends – mostly sports. Rudd says he got his start with fantasy football because of Jon: “Tha's how I even started [playing] Fantasy Football was [Jon] Hamm, who invited me into his league.”

Rudd admits that Hamm usually wins, and adds, “He is a competitive dude.”

4 His Fun Friendship With Tina Fey

When Hamm was cast to play a love interest on 30 Rock, Fey and Hamm instantly hit it off and became fast friends. Tina said in an acceptance speech, “In 2009 (Hamm) agreed to help present me the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor...My whole family was there. At the party afterwards my cousin came up to me and said, 'I just met Jon Hamm! And he is so handsome! But I have to say I kind of like it better when he's dressed like Don Draper.'

And I said: 'Yeah, he actually doesn't do it for me at all. I really like John Slattery, he is kind of more my deal.' At which point I heard a little voice over my shoulder say, 'I can f--ng hear you." And it was Jon! And yet, here he is! Giving me another award!" Tina added, "I don't know what to tell you, buddy. You can keep showing up at these things, but I just don't like you like that! I'm Team Slatts and you can't stand it!"

3 How He Picks Roles

Some believe that Hamm decided to take on more comedy following Mad Men because he was bored of playing the brooding Don Draper for nearly a decade. Hamm told News.com.au, “It’s certainly part of it. I tend to pick jobs using various criteria but mostly it’s ‘would I want to see this movie?’. I have wildly eclectic tastes so I have a wildly eclectic sort of career as well. So, I am fortunate enough to have credibility on both sides of the aisle, in the comedy world and the drama world.”

2 Keeping Close To Childhood Roots

Jon has worked hard to keep up his friendships outside of Hollywood. These friendships are particularly important since he lost both parents at such a young age.

Hamm says when you’re famous, “You have other people defining you or judging you or telling you that you’re wearing the wrong colour clothes or your haircut is stupid or whatever — especially with the advent of the social media world and the anonymous trolls who can be just poisonous and evil — and when you check in with your actual friends you get the straight talk.”

1 He's Got Team Spirit

It seems that good old-fashioned sports are how Jon Hamm says in shape. When he was younger, he played football, and today Hamm still plays baseball.

The competitive actor says of sports, “Obviously you play to win, but it’s not the only reason you play — you play because you want to get together with the group of people and you want to get outside and get moving, you want to contribute and you don’t want to let your teammates down. All that stuff — those are the lessons that make you a better person.”

Sources: E! Online, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Variety, Esquire, The Guardian, Screen Rant, People