Vincent Kartheiser

Vincent Paul Kartheiser (born May 5, 1979) is an American actor best known for playing Pete Campbell in Mad Men and Connor in the WB TV series Angel.

Early life

Kartheiser was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Janet Marie (née Gruyé), who ran a nursery, and James Ralph Kartheiser, who sold construction equipment. The youngest of six children, he has four sisters, Andrea, Colette, Elise and Theresa, and a brother, Nathan. He is of German, and to an extent Polish, Finnish, Swedish and Luxembourgian ancestry.

Career

Some of Kartheiser’s first acting experiences were on stage of Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis, including roles in Pippi Longstocking, Our Town, Dr. Seuss’ The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.

He made his screen debut with a bit role in the 1993 film Untamed Heart. Kartheiser found himself cast in mostly family fare, including The Indian in the Cupboard (1995) and a starring role in the film Alaska (1996). The film led to Kartheiser getting the lead role in Masterminds the following year.

Pete Campbell

Not to be confused with the character on Soap.

Peter Dyckman "Pete" Campbell (born February 28, 1934) is a fictional character on AMC's television series Mad Men. He is portrayed by Vincent Kartheiser.

Kartheiser has won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series twice along with the cast of Mad Men. He is the only actor out of the six main cast members of Mad Men to not receive a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

Biography

Pete Campbell was born to upper-crust Manhattan family. His mother Dorothy "Dot" Campbell née Dykeman is descended from an old-money family whose riches date back to before the Revolution, and among her ancestors was a farmer with Isaac Roosevelt. Pete has a strained relationship with his parents, who are emotionally distant and who disapprove of their son's decision to go into advertising. In Season Two, after his father dies in a plane crash over Jamaica Bay, Pete is unable to cry. Upon their father's death, Pete's older brother Bud examines their father's finances in relation to their inheritance from the family trust. Bud discovers that their father depleted the money put into the trust through years of a lavish lifestyle. When Bud tells Pete the news, they both seem unsurprised by their father's actions. Following this, Pete states that he in fact hated his father.