Christina Rene Hendricks (born May 3, 1975) is an American actress best known for her starring role as Joan Holloway in the AMC series
Mad Men, and as Saffron in Fox's short lived series
Firefly.
Hendricks was born in Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee and raised in Twin Falls, Twin Falls County, Idaho from third through eighth grade. In 1989, her family moved to Fairfax, Virginia, where Hendricks appeared in several high school plays and local community theatre. She got her start acting in Junior Musical Playhouse productions, including
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Hendricks is a natural blonde; she has been dying her hair red since she was 10 years old.
As an actress, Hendricks has made her mark in a number of guest TV appearances. Her first television break came when she became a regular in the series
Beggars & Choosers. Since then, she has starred in the series
The Big Time and
The Court, opposite Sally Field and Craig Bierko, as well as the law drama
Kevin Hill. She has also had recurring roles in
ER and
Firefly. She guest-starred in episodes of
Angel,
Miss Match,
Tru Calling,
Presidio Med,
Without a Trace, and
Las Vegas. Hendricks also starred opposite Kip Pardue in
South of Pico. Hendricks has appeared in three episodes of the NBC TV show
Life in the recurring role of Olivia, detective Charlie Crews' soon-to-be stepmother and Ted Earley's love interest.
However, her best-known role is that of Joan Holloway on the Emmy- and Golden Globe- winning AMC series
Mad Men. The show centers on the macho, booze-soaked world of advertising in New York City in the early 1960s. Hendricks' character is the curvaceous office manager of Sterling Cooper, providing dubious mentoring to a group of women who must deal with the come-ons and callousness of professional advertising executives.
Mad Men premiered on July 19, 2007 and wrapped its second season in October 2008.
She is engaged to fellow actor Geoffrey Arend; a wedding date has not been set.