Rich Sommer

Rich Sommer is an American actor born on February 2, 1978, in Toledo, Ohio, who grew up in Stillwater, Minnesota, attending Oak-Land Junior High School and Stillwater Area High School. He studied theater at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, where he also sang in The Concordia Choir, and pursued improvisation training at the Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis, where he founded an improv group called the Slush Puppies. In 2004, he earned a Master of Fine Arts in acting from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, returning to the institution in 2006 to teach icebreakers to law students and again in 2008 to lead an improv workshop with undergraduate theater students.

Sommer's screen career gained early momentum with his appearance as Doug, Anne Hathaway's friend, in the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada. That same year, he joined the cast of AMC's period drama Mad Men, portraying Harry Crane, a media buyer who rises to head the television department at a 1960s Madison Avenue advertising agency. He held the role from the series premiere in 2007 through its conclusion in 2015, earning two Screen Actors Guild Awards as part of the ensemble cast. During that period, he also made guest appearances on NBC's The Office in 2008, playing a character named Alex across two episodes, and appeared on Ugly Betty in 2010 as Jimmy Wilson.

In 2011, Sommer guest starred in two episodes of The CW's Nikita as Malcolm Mitchell, an electrical engineer and CIA consultant. He co-starred with Bob Odenkirk and Jenna Fischer in the 2012 romantic comedy film The Giant Mechanical Man, and that same year appeared in Celeste and Jesse Forever. In May 2012, he made his Broadway debut with the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of Harvey, co-starring alongside Jim Parsons. Also in 2012, he guest starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Boyd Hartwell.

Sommer appeared in multiple episodes of CBS's Elementary, first guest starring as Harlan Emple and then reprising the role in November 2014. In 2016, he starred in an Off-Broadway revival of Sam Shepard's Buried Child, running from February 2 to March 13, alongside Ed Harris and Amy Madigan. That year he also portrayed Press Secretary Pierre Salinger in Rob Reiner's biopic LBJ, opposite Woody Harrelson in the title role. In 2016, he provided the voice of Henry in the video game Firewatch. His film work continued with Hello, My Name Is Doris in 2015, Summer of 84 in 2018, and BlackBerry in 2023. Beginning in 2019, he portrayed Detective Dean Riley in The CW crime drama In the Dark.

Sommer is a fan of tabletop games and hosted a podcast on the subject called CARDBOARD. He has appeared in commercials for Bud Light, Dairy Queen, Nextel, and Sprint. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Virginia Donohoe, whom he married on August 13, 2005; they have two children.