If you're familiar with both "Mad Men" and "L.A. Noire", you've likely noticed that they share a few actors, most obviously Aaron Staton, who plays Ken Cosgrove in Mad Men, and is L.A. Noire's protagonist, Cole Phelps. Some have noticed there's a few more familiar faces, myself included. After playing through the entire game, I was sure there were more Mad Men actors than most people knew.
I searched LAN's IMDB page, checking each actor for appearances in Mad Men. There's more matches than I expected, with twenty different actors appearing in multiple Mad Men episodes, and a further thirty with single-episode appearances.
Below is a list of those actors, sorted first by number of Mad Men appearances, then by billing order in L.A. Noire.
| Actor | Mad Men character (# of appearances) | L.A. Noire character |
|---|---|---|
| Aaron Staton | Ken Cosgrove (52) | Cole Phelps |
| Rich Sommer | Harry Crane (52) | John Cunningham |
| Vincent Kartheiser | Pete Campbell (52) | Walter Clemens |
| Michael Gladis | Paul Kinsey (39) | Dudley Lynch |
| Alexa Alemanni | Allison (20) | Elizabeth Eberly |
| Audrey Wasilewski | Anita Olson Respola (7) | Jennifer Horgan | Myra Turley | Katherine Olson (6) | Barbara Lapenti |
| Andy Umberger | Dr. Arnold Wayne (6) | Dr. Malcolm Carruthers |
| La Monde Byrd | Hollis (6) | Nat Spencer |
| Ryan Cutrona | Gene Hofstadt / Gene Driscoll (6) | Police Chief William Worrell |
| Patrick Fischler | Jimmy Barrett (4) | Mickey Cohen |
| Joseph Culp | Archie Whitman (4) | Walter Robbins |
| Rich Hutchman | Bud Campbell (3) | Benny Cluff |
| Jerry O'Donnell | Gerry Respola (3) | Chuck Hadley |
| Mark Kelly | Dale (3) | Patrolman Fred Wallis | < /tr>
| Kate Norby | Carol McCardy (2) | Lorna Pattison |
| Carla Gallo | Karen Ericson (2) | Gloria Bishop |
| Adria Tennor | Joyce Darling (2) | Joanna Alford |
| John Douglas Williams | Warren McKenna (2) | Harry the Bookmaker |
| Miranda Lilley | Judy Campbell (2) | Darcy Connors |
| Randy Oglesby | Walter Veith (1) | Capt. Lachlan McKelty |
| JD Cullum | George Casey (1) | Ray Pinker |
| James Immekus | Charlie (1) | Hank Merrill |
| Jim Abele | Jack Konig (1) | Curtis Benson |
| Brian Krause | Kess (1) | Clem Feeney |
| Scott Michael Morgan | Ralph Stubbs (1) | Don Steffens |
| Hal Landon Jr. | Achilles (1) | Oswald Jacobs |
| Jonathan Runyon | Dan Lindstrom (1) | Cliff Harrison |
| Barbara Kerr Condon | Mrs. Clifford Lyman (1) | Mrs. Beverly Evestram |
| Trever O'Brien | Doug (1) | James Jessop |
| Frank Novak | Curtis (1) | Joe Nesco |
| John Thaddeus | Driver (1) | Steven Bigelow |
| Akie Kotabe | Akira Takahashi (1) | Japanese Soldier |
| Ron Perkins | Jim Hartsdale (1) | Fred Nicholson |
| Randolph Adams | Bullpen (1) | Steven Hendricks |
| Andy Hoff | Charlie Fiddich (1) | Lieutenant Taylor |
| Kevin Scott Allen | Farmer 2 (1) | Arthur Moss/Various |
| Katherine Boecher | Annie (1) | Audrey Gill |
| Michael Dempsey | Marty Hasselbach (1) | Detective Sergeant Fnis Brown |
| Joanne Baron | Saleslady (1) | Elinor Hopkin |
| Michael Yurchak | Dennis Mitchell (1) | Patrolman Emmet Campbell |
| Jim Giordano | Ronnie Santorella (1) | Frank Zefferelli |
| Brian Catalano | Man 1 (1) | Morris Greenfield |
| Kate Connor | Nancy Wallace (1) | Margaret Black |
| Daniel Kountz | Gary Osborn (1) | Francis Watkins |
| Trisha LaFache | Lola (1) | ? |
| Kiersten Lyons | Charlotte (1) | Karen Hiltscher |
| Jay Seals | Marvin Woodman (1) | Daniel Wellington |
| Dusty Sorg | Convention Guy (1) | Lefty Roberts |
| Karimah Westbrook | Sharon (1) | Female Pedestrian 1 |
Missing from both IMDB and the game booklet is the character Stuart Barnes, seen in "Buyer Beware". I'm sure it's Patrick Cavanaugh, who plays Smitty Smith on Mad men.
