Named after January Wayne, the tragic heroine of Jacqueline Susann's best-selling novel Once Is Not Enough -- January Jones was born in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Jan. 5, 1978. All-American looks helped Jones land gigs as a model for Abercrombie & Fitch, and a move to Hollywood kick-started her film career soon after.

The blond actress made her big-screen debut with All the Rage (1999), but she didn't truly make a splash until American Wedding (2003), playing the pretty sister of band-camp alumna Alyson Hannigan in the third installment of the American Pie franchise.

While Jones's résumé lists numerous film credits -- including Love Actually, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada and We Are Marshall -- she is best known for her Golden Globe-nominated turn as deceptively demure suburban housewife Betty Draper on the critically acclaimed series "Mad Men."