It was not exactly propitious when actor Jon Hamm left his native St. Louis and steered his trusty Corolla into Los Angeles with $150 in his pocket. He planned to squat at his aunt's house for a few months until he got established.

But he quickly accrued $1,600 in parking tickets and watched his beloved Corolla towed to the city yards, never to be seen again.

Still, he stubbornly insists that Lady Luck was on his side, though it was three years before he landed an acting job. Today he's sitting pretty in the leading role on AMC's new "Mad Men," a spot-on series about the ad men of the sexy '60s and the permissive times they reveled in.

It was a long time coming, admits the athletic Hamm.

"When I first came out here I worked at 72 Market Street, owned by Dudley Moore and Tony Bill. I stupidly chose that place because they were nice and they were friendly. I thought this is the place for me. But I lived in Silverlake [about 30 miles away], and it couldn't have been a worse commute," says Hamm, who's dressed in a black suit and blue dress shirt open at the neck.

He waited tables, bartended and catered -- and was good at all of them. But finally he snagged a tiny part on "Providence."

"It was a one-episode guest star, but it turned into 18 episodes," he grins. "It was right when Melina Kanakarades got pregnant, and then she got REALLY pregnant. When that happens they tend not to shoot you as much. They kept bringing me back.

"Nothing out here happens without incredible luck," says Hamm, 36, "being in the right place at the right time and taking advantage of what you have."

From "Providence" he trekked to "The Division" and a film with Dylan Walsh called "We Were Soldiers."

If times were hard for Hamm, he was used to it. His mother died when he was 10. His father followed 10 years later. "What my mother had left me was a trust that was used to pay for my high school and a little bit for college," he says.

"And my father had nothing when he passed away.

"My mother -- it sounds very Dickensian and romantic -- but my mother's dying wish was that I go to this particular private school, John Burroughs School in St. Louis, Mo., because friends had gone there. I have to say it was the single most profound, resonating decision ever made in my life. It wasn't made by me, but it's what every mother should want for her child."

Hamm did finish college with a major in English. It was after he'd resolved that debt that he decided to take the tumble into show biz.

"For me, I think, the idea of not doing this was way more terrifying than doing it. I couldn't imagine the soul-rushing regret of not giving it a shot."

After the three-year lull, Hamm was able to pick up a couple of pilots and eventually wound up on "Providence." "The first domino fell over; it took a tremendous amount of luck and patience to get that first domino to fall."

And it wasn't over. Hamm had to audition six times for "Mad Men." The show was created by Matthew Weiner, one of the writers on "The Sopranos." "Matt was my champion from the beginning. And all the thanks in the world I can muster I give to him for that. Because it's terrifying for a network to say, 'OK, you're the guy.' Nobody knows you. That's why it never happens," he says.

"I can think of two times in my apocryphal experiences in L.A.: Bruce Willis in 'Moonlighting' -- no one wanted to hire him. And Jimmy Smits for 'L.A. Law.' A good friend of mine is a casting director on 'L.A. Law,' and she tells the story they didn't want Jimmy Smits. Who doesn't want him [now]? He's amazing. ... So whenever you have a decision-making process that has 15 people making the decision, you have this weird groupthink. It never works. And Matthew, God bless him, has been the sole creative force."

Hamm lives with his sweetheart of nine years, actress Jennifer Westfeldt ("Kissing Jessica Stein"). He says he's in no hurry to marry and start a family.

	Chris O'Meara, Associated Press New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, shown watching minor league baseball at a Florida State League game May 18 at Legends Field in Tampa, Fla., jokes he doesn't like how he's portrayed on "The Bronx Is Burning." Click photo for larger image.

"I have a lady, she's a great lady. I love her a lot; she loves me. We're on the same page. Whenever that day happens when we're not on the same page, we'll move forward with it. We're interested in having our lives be our lives right now and not a third person's vis-a-vis marriage and whatever that means."

(Luaine Lee, McClatchy-Tribune News Service)

Steinbrenner on 'Burning'

George Steinbrenner wants TV viewers to admire his cuddly side -- and his good hair days.

Asked whether he likes how he's depicted on ESPN's new miniseries "The Bronx Is Burning," the New York Yankees owner joked via his publicist: "They always show me angry; they never found a softer, kinder, gentler George."

Oliver Platt plays Steinbrenner in the eight-part series, adapted from Jonathan Mahler's "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning," about the summer of 1977 and the Yankees' quest to win the World Series.

"He doesn't want to knock the guy's acting; he wants to knock his clothing and hairdo," Steinbrenner spokesman Howard Rubenstein quipped in Friday editions of Newsday.

"George's hair is more neatly trimmed," added Rubenstein. "He doesn't wear a wig; people think that because he's perfectly barbered. He doesn't have a hair out of place."

(Associated Press)

Pain and gain

Beau Bridges endured physical pain while filming two "My Name Is Earl" episodes that won him an Emmy nomination for best guest actor in a comedy series.

Bridges, 65, struggled to break dance while playing Carl, father of the main character in the offbeat NBC series. "It nearly killed me when I shimmied and wiggled down almost to the floor," he said. "I had a little difficulty getting back up."

The script also called for Bridges to throw pet gerbils at another actor, and in the process, one of the animals bit him.

"They do things on the show that are just so bizarre and out of the box and that you just don't see on television," he said. "But somehow, it has this very real place that it comes from. It's very human, and I think that's why it resonates with people."

(AP)