Rich Sommer was born Richard Olen Sommer II on February 2, 1978 in Toledo, Ohio. Educated at Concordia College in Minnesota, he majored in theater as well as being a singer in the world-renowned Concordia Choir. He has also studied improv work at the Brave New Workshop at Minneapolis, and has started an improv group called the Slush Puppies. He later received his masters’ degree in acting from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.
Sommer’s acting experience has primarily been on stage, with performances at the Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis and the New York City-based Upright Citizens Brigade. His theater roles include parts in Far Away, A Lie of the Mind and Off the Map. He has also worked with the Cleveland Play House, appearing on productions of Twelfth Night, The Blue Room and The Underpants. In 2004, he worked on the horror Death 4 Told, starring in the segment “Folklore.” The film starred Margot Kidder, Harley Kaplan and Brian Cade as well. Sommer’s best known film role was in 2006’s film adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada. He was cast as Anne Hathaway’s drinking buddy Doug. Soon after, Sommer appeared on a number of commercials. Some of the companies he has worked with include Nextel, Sprint and Bud Light. He later appeared on an episode of Law & Order, playing Mike Scholl. He later worked on a direct-to-video film titled Pose Down, a 2007 dark comedy. The next year, he was given a role in the series Without a Trace, as well as joining the cast of the AMC series Mad Men before that. He portrayed the chartrecter Harry, an up-and-coming media buyer at Sterling Cooper advertising agency, whose preoccupation is to shadow Pete and plan his bachelor party. Sommer has also signed up to play an FBI agent in the sci-fi drama Radio Free Albemuth, an adaptation of a novel by author Philip K. Dick.
(Photo courtesy of AMC)