Jon Hamm's second name may be German, but Hamm himself was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Life was tough for him as a child - his parents divorced when he was two, and his mother then passed away due to cancer when he was only ten. His father took him back in, and the two stayed in Missouri but moved to Clayton. With his father's support, Hamm took acting classes and performed in school plays, but didn't take it as a serious profession.
He still wasn't sure about acting when he started studying at the University of Missouri, but was persuaded to take a part in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' when a local theater company found themselves short of performers. Finally, the bug caught hold. He stayed with the theater company, appearing in several more productions, and resolved that he would pursue acting until the age of 30 and give up if he didn't have a big money role by then. He got his breakthrough TV role in 'Providence' when he was 29.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.