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Rich Sommer

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Rich Sommer
Image
Sommer in 2012
Born (1978-02-02) February 2, 1978 (age 48)
Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
Education
OccupationActor
Years active2004–present
Spouse
Virginia Donohoe
​
(m. 2005)​
Children2

Richard Sommer (born February 2, 1978)[1] 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

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Sommer was born in Toledo, Ohio,[2] and raised in Stillwater, Minnesota, where he was educated at Oak-Land Junior High School and Stillwater Area High School.[3] He then went on to attend Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, where he majored in theater and sang in The Concordia Choir.[4] Sommer studied improvisation at the Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis, and started an improv group, the Slush Puppies, in Moorhead.[5] In 2004, he received his Master of Fine Arts in acting from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.[6] 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

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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.

Image
Sommer at the 15th Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2009

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.[7]

In 2011, Sommer guest starred in two episodes of The CW's drama-thriller series Nikita as electrical engineer and CIA consultant Malcolm Mitchell.[8] The following year, he co-starred with Bob Odenkirk and Jenna Fischer in the romantic comedy film The Giant Mechanical Man.[9] In May 2012, he began performances of the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of Harvey on Broadway, co-starring alongside Jim Parsons.[10] Also that same year, he guest starred in NBC's police procedural series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Boyd Hartwell.[11]

On March 1, 2014, it was reported that Sommer had been cast in the CBS pilot Good Session; however, the network later declined to pick up the project to series.[12] In November 2014, Sommer reprised his role as Harlan Emple in an episode of CBS's procedural drama series Elementary, after guest starring as the character in an episode the previous year.[13] From February 2 to March 13, 2016, Sommer starred in the Off-Broadway revival of Sam Shepard's play Buried Child, with Ed Harris and Amy Madigan.[14] That same year, he also co-starred in Rob Reiner's biopic LBJ as Press Secretary Pierre Salinger, alongside Woody Harrelson in the title role.[15]

In 2018, Sommer appeared in the horror mystery film Summer of 84, opposite Graham Verchere, Judah Lewis and Tiera Skovbye.[16]

Sommer is a fan favorite on the podcast Never Not Funny, hosted by comedian and podcasting pioneer Jimmy Pardo. In 2020, he became a recurring guest on the streaming version of The George Lucas Talk Show, appearing as himself and as his own fictional roommate, Steven Charleston.[17]

Personal life

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Sommer lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Virginia Donohoe, whom he married on August 13, 2005. They have two children.[18][19]

Sommer is a fan of tabletop games and hosted a podcast about them called CARDBOARD![20]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2006 The Devil Wears Prada Doug
2010 Radio Free Albemuth FBI Agent #2
2012 Celeste and Jesse Forever Max
The Giant Mechanical Man Brian
Fairhaven Sam
2015 Hello, My Name Is Doris Robert
My Name Is David His GRE Student
2016 LBJ Pierre Salinger
2017 Girlfriend's Day Buddy
A Crooked Somebody Michael Vaughn
2018 Summer of 84 Wayne Mackey
A Futile and Stupid Gesture Harry Crane
2019 Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection Shesthaal (voice) English dub
2021 King Richard Patrick Dougherty
2023 Fair Play Paul [21]
BlackBerry Paul Stannos
2026 Tony † Pierre Bourdain Post-production
TBA Misty Green † Post-production

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2007 Law & Order Mike Scholl 1 episode
2007–2015 Mad Men Harry Crane Main role, 92 episodes
2008 Without a Trace Will Herring 1 episode
The Office Alex Episodes: "Weight Loss", "Customer Survey"
2009 Law & Order Zach Marshall 1 episode
The Storm Dr. Jack Hoffman 2 episodes
2010 Ugly Betty Jimmy Wilson Episode: "Fire and Nice"
Burn Notice Winston 1 episode
2011 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Scott Horan Episode: "Man Up"
Curb Your Enthusiasm Veterinarian Episode: "Vow of Silence"
Nikita Malcolm Mitchell 2 episodes
2012 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Boyd Hartwell 1 episode
2013–2018 Elementary Harlan Emple 3 episodes
2014 The League Freddie Mandino 1 episode
2015 The Simpsons Young Man (voice) Episode: "My Fare Lady"
Comedy Bang! Bang! Agent Bill Ritz 1 episode
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp Graham Miniseries, 6 episodes
Playing House Brian 1 episode
2015–2017 Regular Show Various voices 7 episodes
2016 Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Apple Engineer 1 episode
Grey's Anatomy Noah 1 episode
Filthy Preppy Teens Melville 1 episode
Adventure Time Grand Prix (voice) 1 episode
TripTank Man / Gary (voice) 1 episode
Masters of Sex Dale Connelly 2 episodes
2016–2017 Love Dustin Recurring role, 5 episodes
2016–2020 Elena of Avalor Captain Daniel Turner (voice) Recurring role, 9 episodes
2017 Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later Graham Miniseries, 6 episodes
2017–2019 GLOW Mark Eagan Recurring role, 12 episodes
2018 Adam Ruins Everything (voice) 3 episodes
Champaign ILL Zack Chevalier 1 episode
2019 FBI Dr. Ed Praeger 1 episode
2019–2020 In the Dark Detective Dean Riley Main role, 26 episodes
2020 Run Laurence Richardson Recurring role, 5 episodes
F Is for Family Various voices 1 episode
2020–2022 Close Enough Keith Nash (voice) 3 episodes
2020–2023 The George Lucas Talk Show Himself / Steven Charleston 4 episodes
2022 The Dropout Kevin Hunter Miniseries, 1 episode
2022–2023 Minx Lenny 3 episodes
2022–2024 Alice's Wonderland Bakery Captain Dodo / various (voice) Recurring role, 14 episodes
Firebuds Mr. Wexell (voice) Recurring role, 5 episodes
2023 White House Plumbers Egil Krogh Miniseries, 1 episode
2024 Clipped Seth Burton Miniseries, 4 episodes
2024 Mr. Throwback Dr. Rich Recurring role, 5 episodes
2025 Big City Greens Bank Boss (voice) 1 episode
2026 R.J. Decker Bryce 1 episode
2026 9-1-1 LAFD Captain Thorne 1 episode

Theatre

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Year Title Role Notes
2012 Harvey Duane Wilson Studio 54
2013 The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin Chris Wyatt Laura Pels Theatre
2016 Buried Child Bradley Jewel Box Theatre

Video games

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Year Title Role
2011 L.A. Noire John Cunningham
2016 Firewatch Henry (voice)
2020 Half-Life: Alyx Larry / Drone / Combine Soldier (voice)
2020 Dota 2 Aghanim (voice)

Awards and nominations

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Year Association Category Work Result
2007 Satellite Awards[22] Best Cast – Television Series Mad Men Won
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Nominated
2008 Won
2009 Won
2010 Nominated
2012 Nominated
2015 Nominated
2016 The Game Awards[23] Best Performance Firewatch Nominated
2017 New York Game Awards Great White Way Award for Best Acting in a Game Won

References

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  1. ^ "Birthdays". The Modesto Bee. The Associated Press. February 2, 2022. p. 2A. Actor Rich Sommer is 44.
  2. ^ "Rich Sommer". Allmovie. Retrieved November 7, 2023. Born - Feb 2, 1978 in Toledo, Ohio, United States.
  3. ^ Divine, Mary (April 24, 2015). "'Mad Men' actor Rich Sommer comes home for Stillwater benefit". TwinCities.com.
  4. ^ "Saberi, Sommer to Receive Sent Forth Awards". Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota). March 4, 2014. Archived from the original on August 17, 2018. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  5. ^ Royce, Graydon (July 27, 2011). "It's a mad, mad, mad weekend for Brave New Workshop". Star Tribune.
  6. ^ Washington, Julie (November 25, 2008). "Rich Sommer of 'Mad Men' puts his 'cigarettes' down to help out at Case Western Reserve University / Cleveland Play House graduate program". Cleveland.com.
  7. ^ Ausiello, Michael (January 16, 2010). "'Ugly Betty' exclusive: 'Mad' man Rich Sommer woos Betty". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2012.
  8. ^ Masters, Megan (March 16, 2011). "Nikita Scoop: Mad Man Infiltrates Division!". TVLine.
  9. ^ Fernandez, Jay A (June 12, 2010). "Three Actors Cast in 'The Giant Mechanical Man' Romantic Comedy". The Hollywood Reporter.
  10. ^ Leeds, Sarene (April 26, 2012). "'Mad Men' Actor Rich Sommer: 'Harry's Not a Douchebag'". Rolling Stone.
  11. ^ Stanhope, Kate (April 17, 2012). "Exclusive SVU Video: Chloe Sevigny Gets "Sociopathic" as a Self-Destructive Housewife". TV Guide.
  12. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 1, 2014). "Rich Sommer Cast In CBS Pilot 'Good Session'; Brian Howe In 'Save the Date'". Deadline Hollywood.
  13. ^ Abrams, Natalie (July 31, 2014). "Exclusive: Mad Men's Rich Sommer Returning to Elementary". TV Guide.
  14. ^ Clemet, Olivia (December 3, 2015). ""Mad Men" Star Rich Sommer Joins Cast of Upcoming Off-Broadway Revival of Sam Shepard's Buried Child". Playbill.
  15. ^ Lincoln, Ross A (September 21, 2015). "Allison Tolman, Michaela Watkins Join Will Ferrell-Amy Poehler Comedy; LBJ Packs Cast As Production Starts". Deadline Hollywood.
  16. ^ Squires, John (July 12, 2017). ""Mad Men" and "Riverdale" Stars Head Back to the 'Summer of '84'". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  17. ^ "The George Lucas Talk Show" Episode XII: The Empire Contracts Covid (TV Episode 2020) - IMDb, retrieved January 12, 2021
  18. ^ Farley, Christopher John (March 19, 2012). "A Mad Man on the Loose". The Wall Street Journal.
  19. ^ Michaud, Sarah (September 2, 2010). "Rich Sommer Welcomes Son Patrick Ryan". People. Retrieved March 27, 2012.
  20. ^ "Cardboard! With Rich Sommer".
  21. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 7, 2022). "'Fair Play': Sebastian de Souza, Eddie Marsan & Rich Sommer Join MRC & T-Street Finance World Thriller". Deadline Hollywood.
  22. ^ Maxwell, Erin (December 17, 2007). "Satellite Award winners announced". Variety.
  23. ^ Stark, Chelsea (December 1, 2016). "The Game Awards: Here's the full winners list". Polygon.
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