Kiernan Shipka

**Kiernan Brennan Shipka** is an American actress. She is known for playing Sally Draper on the AMC series *Mad Men*.

She is recurring in the first season of *Feud* as B. D. Hyman.

## Early Life

Shipka was born in Chicago, Illinois, to John Young Shipka, a real estate developer, and his wife, Erin Ann (née Brennan). Her father is of one half Bohemian/Czech, and one quarter German, with his other ancestry being English, some Scottish, and distant French. Her mother is of three quarters Irish and one quarter Italian ancestry. Her surname is from her Bohemian roots. She has been taking ballroom dancing classes since the age of five. Her family relocated to Los Angeles, California when she was six to support her acting career.

## Career

Shipka made her official onscreen debut at just five months old in an episode of NBC’s long-running medical drama *ER*. She then began doing commercial print modeling when she was a small child. She completed over two hundred print jobs and two dozen commercials before making the jump to television with a series regular role in the CBS pilot *The Angriest Man in Suburbia*.

After numerous guest stints on series including NBC’s *Heroes*, USA’s *Monk*, and the FOX sketch comedy *MADtv*, and a leading role in the independent feature film *Dimension*, the then six year old quickly landed a small role on AMC's *Mad Men*. Showrunner Matthew Weiner was so impressed by Shipka’s great emotional depth and her understanding of the character that he began expanding her role, and she became a full-fledged series regular when the show entered its fourth season. As part of *Mad Men'*s ensemble cast, she won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2008 and 2009.

When not working on *Mad Men*, Shipka continues to work in both film and television and has amassed an impressive list of credits, including *Flowers In The Attic*, opposite Heather Graham and Ellen Burstyn, *Carriers* with Chris Pine, *Lower Learning* with Eva Longoria and Jason Biggs, *House Broken* with Danny DeVito, and the Hallmark Channel original movie *Smooch*. In 2012, she completed a comedic turn as herself in an episode of the ABC series *Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23*, and can be heard in the regular role of Jinora on the Nickelodeon animated series *The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra*. Kiernan also filmed an independent film in New York, entitled *Very Good Girls*, starring Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen. She is currently guest-starring in *Feud* as Bette Davis' daughter, B. D. Hyman.

## Personal Life

Shipka currently resides in Los Angeles with her parents and two German Shepherds. She is a gifted ballet dancer and is passionate about fashion, which she sees as a method of self-expression. Inspired by the classic styles of Grace Kelly, she sometimes designs her own clothing and has served as a guest fashion blogger for Lucky magazine. She plays the piano and guitar and writes her own music, and enjoys watching television comedies and the Food Network.

## Trivia

* In 2014, Shipka was named one of "The 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014" by *Time* magazine.
* She is one of the youngest people to be interviewed on *Inside the Actors Studio* (1994-present).
* Shipka has taken Muay Thai boxing classes and has a black belt in taekwondo, which she received in June 2012.

## External Links

* Offical Website
* Kiernan Shipka on Wikipedia
* Kiernan Shipka at the Internet Movie Database
* Kiernan Shipka on Twitter
* Kiernan Shipka on Instagram
* Kiernan Shipka on Facebook