'Mad Men' star Jon Hamm signs new 3-year contract

[June 23, 2011]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Don Draper is getting job security and a raise.

Jon Hamm, who plays 1960s advertising executive Draper on AMC's "Mad Men," has signed a new contract with series studio Lionsgate Television Group. Hamm's publicist, Slate PR, said Tuesday that the deal keeps him with the show for three more years.

The actor will receive a substantial raise for the upcoming fifth season. By the contract's final year, he'll earn more than $250,000 an episode, Variety.com reported, citing unidentified sources.

Hamm had been signed through season six of "Mad Men." The new deal keeps him on board through the seventh season.

Series creator Matthew Weiner signed a contract in March for a sixth season and a possible seventh. Weiner's protracted negotiations delayed the show's return from this year to early 2012.

[Associated Press]

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