Peggy Olson

Margaret "Peggy" Olson is a fictional character on the AMC television series Mad Men. She was portrayed by Elisabeth Moss and served as the show’s female lead. Initially, Peggy is secretary to Don Draper (Jon Hamm), creative director of the advertising agency Sterling Cooper. She soon discovers her passion for copywriting and due to her talent, Draper takes her on as his protégé. Her rise is an integral part of the series and plays a key role in every season of Mad Men. After Don, she has the highest amount of episode appearances, appearing in 88 out of the 92 episodes. Moss received critical acclaim for her performance and received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations, a Golden Globe nomination, three Critics' Choice Television Award nominations, and has been nominated for two individual nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards for her performance. She has also won two Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series along with the cast of Mad Men. The characterization of Peggy Olson also won universal acclaim, with several critics and publications regarding Olson as one of the greatest characters in television history. Biography Peggy Olson is initially presented as an innocent but determined young woman, eager to be a success in her job at Sterling Cooper after having graduated from the respected Miss Deaver's secretarial school. She was born on May 25, 1939, and was brought up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York in a Roman Catholic Norwegian and Irish-American family. When she was 12 years old, her father died of a heart attack in front of her. Peggy has an immense dislike of the double standard in the treatment and expectations of men and women.