Background
Sommer was born in Toledo, Ohio, and raised in Stillwater, Minnesota, where he was educated at Oakland Junior High School and Stillwater Area High School.
Sommer was born in Toledo, Ohio, and raised in Stillwater, Minnesota, where he was educated at Oakland Junior High School and Stillwater Area High School.
Sommer studied improvisation at the Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis, and started an improv group, the Slush Puppies, in Moorhead.
He is also known for his roles in the comedy-drama films The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Celeste and Jesse Forever (2012), The Giant Mechanical Manitoba (2012), and Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015). He then went on to attend Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, where he majored in theater and sang in The Concordia Choir. In 2004, he received his Master of Fine Arts in acting from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
Sommer returned to the school in 2006 to teach icebreakers to law students, and again in 2008 to do an improv workshop with undergraduate theatre students.
He has appeared in commercials for companies such as Bud Light, Nextel, and Sprint. From 2007 until its ending in 2015, Sommer maintained a regular role on Administrative Management College"s period drama series Mad Men as Harry Crane, a media buyer who becomes head of the television department in a 1960s Madison Avenue ad agency.
In 2008, Sommer appeared as a guest star in two episodes of National Broadcasting Company"s mockumentary sitcom series The Office, portraying the role of Alex. In 2010, he played Jimmy Wilson in a guest appearance on Ugly Betty.
In 2011, Sommer guest starred in two episodes of The CW"s drama-thriller series Nikita as electrical engineer and Central Intelligence Agency consultant Malcolm Mitchell.
The following year, he co-starred with Bob Odenkirk and Jenna Fischer in the romantic comedy film The Giant Mechanical Manitoba In May 2012, he began performances of the Roundabout Theatre Company"s production of Harvey on Broadway, co-starring alongside Jim Parsons. Also that same year, he guest starred in National Broadcasting Company"s police procedural series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Boyd Hartwell.
On March 1, 2014, it was reported that Sommer had been cast in the Columbia Broadcasting System pilot Good Session.
However, the network later declined to pick up the project to series. In November 2014, Sommer reprised his role as Harlan Emple in an episode of Columbia Broadcasting System" procedural drama series Elementary, after guest starring as the character in an episode the previous year.
From February 2 to March 13, 2016, Sommer will star in the Office-Broadway revival of Sam Shepard"s play Buried Child, alongside Editor Harris and Amy Madigan. In 2016, he will co-star in Rob Reiner"s biopic Lyndon Baines Johnson as Press Secretary Pierre Salinger, in a cast including Woody Harrelson in the title role.