Happy Birthday, Christina Hendricks!

Today (May 3rd) is Christina Hendricks’ birthday! This super talented beauty is not only fun to watch on screen, but she is also a role model for women everywhere. Most of us know her as Joan of Mad Men, but let’s take a look at some fun facts and get to know this birthday girl a little better.

• Christina was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, to a mother who was a psychologist and a father who worked for the US Forest Service. Her father, Robert Hendricks, was from Birmingham, England, and through her father she has dual U.S./U.K. citizenship.
• In high school, Christina rocked the goth look. “I was a goth girl in high school. Perhaps the powdered white face and the black lipstick were not the most attractive. I felt fabulous at the time but looking back, uh, probably not the best idea.” Proof that even Christina Hendricks went through that awkward, trying-to-find-yourself, high school phase!
• She was voted the Best Looking American Woman by Esquire magazine back in 2010, to which I say, duh! This gorgeous red head could take the award every year, as far as I’m concerned.
• Hendricks started her acting career in children’s musical theater, and then began modeling when she was 18. She continued modeling for nine years, and began making guest television appearances. She started as a regular in Beggars and Choosers, and since then has been cast in The Big Time, The Court, and Kevin Hill. ER and Firefly snagged Christina and all her talent for recurring roles, and she continued to make guest appearances in other TV shoes, such as Angel, Miss Match, Tru Calling, Presidio Med, Without a Trace, and Las Vegas.
• Hendricks is probably most well known for her roles in two of my very favorite television shows, Mad Men (Joan Harris, the sexy and sharp office manager) and Firefly (Saffron, the villainous vixen). Her work on Mad Men has provided her with nominations for four Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actress in A Drama Series. Dang, girl. Work it.

• Christina has also starred Broken Bell’s music video for “The Ghost Inside,” as well as Everclear’s “One Hit Wonder.”
• Also musically talented, Christina can play the accordion, which is a skill she demonstrated during an episode of Mad Men.

• We’ve always known her as a red head, but Hendricks is in fact a natural blonde. She has been dying her hair red since she was ten years old! Her inspiration was Anne of Green Gables.
• Christina is known for her hourglass figure, and she has been credited as having an “ideal” shape for a woman. While I don’t believe there should be any “ideal” shape for a woman, I do think that Hendricks brings a refreshingly curvy form of beauty that we miss out on so much in our skinny girl, thigh gap culture. She has been called the “new modern ideal of Hollywood glamour… full figured, voluptuous; a throwback to the days of Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell and Veronica Lake.”
• She has always been frustrated for gaining attention for her physical features. Christina does not like the term “full-figured,” and once scolded a reporter who used that term while interviewing her. “I was working my butt off on the show (Mad Men) and then all anyone was talking about was my body.”

• Vivienne Westwood said of Hendricks that she is the “embodiment of beauty” and selected her to represent her jewelry collection in 2011.
• Christina married actor Geoffrey Arend in October on 2009. And I think they are completely adorable together.

• Here are a few inspirational quotes from the fabulous birthday girl herself:

“I thought, well, you might see curves there, but that’s just a bone – so even if I lose weight that’s not going to change anything. That’s how I look. That’s my shape. Do the math.“

“I think Joan’s advice would be: always know more than anyone else, always be as discreet as possible. And never cry at work.“

“I’ve always been someone who really watches other people, human behavior. To watch it and be able to express it through your version has always been really exciting to me.“

Happy birthday, Christina!

Featured Image via DIYFashion, Image via madmen.wikia.com, Image via style.mtv.com, Image via letspolka.com