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.