Jon Hamm is no overnight sensation.
He was working as a teacher in Missouri and decided to go to L.A. to pursue his dream. That dream has taken over 10 years to come to fruition and "Mad Men" was the reason. As the mysterious Don Draper, Hamm has finally become a star.
But rather than rest on that success Hamm has wisely shown that he is not a one-trick pony. His three-episode arc on "30 Rock" as Tina Fey's love interest showed Hamm's ability with comedy as did his hosting of "SNL."
Hamm now plays an FBI agent in Ben Affleck's "The Town." At the Toronto Film Festival Hamm talked about working with Affleck but before we started the interview he wanted to tell me of his connection to Milwaukee.
Gino Salomone has loved movies and entertainment since he was a boy on Milwaukee's Northwest Side. He squinted from the glare of the movie lights that his family shot as a child, and his proudest high school accomplishment was a 30-minute "feature" he made for John Marshall High School.
He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a degree in Mass Communication.
Salomone created a business called Rerun Reunions through which he booked personal appearances for actors from "Gilligan's Island," "The Brady Bunch," "MASH," and from "Saturday Night Live."
Salomone has one screen credit, the Lab Technician in "Naked Gun 2 1/2." He was cut out of two other movies. Hollywood has not called since.
He is also the movie critic for WISN-TV where his feature, "Gino Goes to the Movies" airs on the weekend newscasts. He also reviews movies for the Dave and Carole Show on 96.5 WKLH radio. His interviews have been used by E! as well as the TV Guide Channel.
