January Jones

Early life

Jones was born on January 5, 1978 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She spent much of her childhood in Hecla, South Dakota, where her family moved in 1979. She is the daughter of Karen, who manages a Scheels sporting goods store, and Marvin Jones, a coach, gym teacher, and fitness director. She has two sisters, Jacey and Jina. She is named after January Wayne, a character in Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough. She is of Czech, Danish, English, Welsh, and German descent.

Career

Jones has had supporting roles in Anger Management (2003), Love Actually, and Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. In 2005, she appeared as a U.S. border guard's wife in the film The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones. In We Are Marshall (2006), she played the role of Carol Dawson, wife of American football coach William "Red" Dawson. Jones also starred in Good Kill (2014), opposite Ethan Hawke.

She played the lead female role in the movie Love's Enduring Promise as a pioneer family's oldest child. Her character falls in love with a mysterious man who saves her father's life.

She also appeared in the AMC original television drama series Mad Men for seven seasons as young suburban housewife and mother Betty Draper Francis. She received two Golden Globe nominations and one Emmy nomination for her performances.

Jones is also known for her role as Cadence Flaherty, the love interest of both Steve Stifler and Paul Finch in the 2003 comedy film American Wedding, the third installment of the American Pie film series.

She played a con artist in the Law & Order episode "Quit Claim" who, as a lone surviving suspect connected to a real estate scam involving organized crime, frustrates the efforts of Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter. She also appeared in The Boat That Rocked, a British film about offshore pirate radio in the 1960s, renamed Pirate Radio for North American release in 2009.

Jones was ranked No. 82 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2002. She appeared on the cover of "The Hot Issue" of British GQ magazine in May 2009. She appeared on the cover of the November 2009 issue of American GQ magazine, and has been a 'topic' in the magazine several times. On November 14, 2009, Jones hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live which featured the musical guest The Black Eyed Peas.

In 2011, Jones starred in two thriller films, first in Unknown alongside Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, and later in Seeking Justice alongside Nicolas Cage and Guy Pearce. She portrayed Emma Frost in X-Men: First Class.

She appears in the Fox television show The Last Man on Earth, playing the character of Melissa Chartres.

Personal life

Jones announced in Vanity Fair magazine in 2009 that she has joined Oceana as a celebrity spokesperson, working to save endangered sharks.

Jones gave birth to a child on September 13, 2011.