Overview
Rich Sommer (born February 2, 1978) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Harry Crane on the AMC drama series Mad Men (2007–2015) for which he earned two Screen Actors Guild Awards along with the ensemble cast. He is also known for his roles in the comedy-drama films The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Celeste and Jesse Forever (2012), The Giant Mechanical Man (2012), Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015), and BlackBerry (2023) as well as voicing Henry in the 2016 video game Firewatch. He guest starred in a number of Elementary episodes. More recently, he portrayed Detective Dean Riley in The CW crime drama television series In the Dark (2019).
Early life and education
Sommer was born in Ohio and raised in Stillwater, Minnesota, where he was educated at Oak-Land Junior High School and Stillwater Area High School. He then went on to attend Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, where he majored in theater and sang in The Concordia Choir. Sommer studied improvisation at the Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis, and started an improv group, the Slush Puppies, in Moorhead. In 2004, he received his Master of Fine Arts in acting from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Sommer returned to the school in 2006 to teach icebreakers to law students, and again in 2008 to do an improv workshop with undergraduate theatre students.
Career
Sommer's most notable film role to date is as Anne Hathaway's friend Doug in the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada. He has appeared in commercials for companies such as Bud Light, Dairy Queen, Nextel, and Sprint.
From 2007 until its ending in 2015, Sommer maintained a regular role on AMC's period drama series Mad Men as Harry Crane, a media buyer who becomes head of the television department in a 1960s Madison Avenue ad agency. In 2008, Sommer appeared as a guest star in two episodes of NBC's mockumentary sitcom series The Office, portraying the role of Alex. In 2010, he played Jimmy Wilson in a guest appearance on Ugly Betty.
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