Written by: Rik
Date posted: April 29, 2018
At the height of its popularity, some friends of ours were such big fans of Mad Men and so insistent of its quality, my contrary instincts were triggered and I vowed to never, ever, watch it even if it was the best thing ever. The best part of 10 years later, it turned up on Netflix and, given that I was playing through L.A. Noire at the time, I figured I’d held the grudge for long enough and decided to give it a go.
Frankly, I’ll watch anything, especially on the commute to work, but I did rather get into it, until midway through the sixth season when either the fatigue of binge-watching set in, or the show just wasn’t quite as good any more. Don Draper (Jon Hamm) was being really annoying, a large part of an episode was based on trying to sell an advertising campaign for margarine, and it suddenly all seemed a bit silly. Plus I discovered that Netflix UK doesn’t have the rights to all of the final season, so even if I persevered I would be denied a sense of closure.
Anyway, there are quite a few characters from Mad Men who pop up in L.A. Noire (as well as lots of other familiar faces who fit into the “what’s he/she been in?” category). Most of them are just cameos, and not all of them are major members of Mad Men cast, but here are a few I noticed (I’m sure there are many more):
***WARNING: Spoilers – if you consider knowing that a face you know pops up in the game a spoiler even if nothing is said about the story – ahead***
Malcolm Carruthers/Dr Arnold Wayne
L.A. Noire‘s Medical Examiner Malcolm Carruthers (Andy Umberger) is also seen in Mad Men as Dr Arnold Wayne, Betty Draper’s psychiatrist in Season 1.
Dudley Lynch/Paul Kinsey
A series regular in the early years of Mad Men, the actor who plays copywriter Paul Kinsey (Michael Gladis) turns up as a suspect, Dudley Lynch, in an early Traffic case (“A Marriage Made in Heaven”) and again, later on, if you keep up with your street crime missions.
Barbara Lapenti/Katherine Olson
The owner of a boarding house, Barbara Lapenti is the recipient of one of Phelps’ biggest questioning mood-flip outbursts of the game, during the Homicide case “The Silk Stocking Murder”. Actress Myra Turley also played Peggy Olson’s mother Katherine in Mad Men.
Mickey Cohen/Jimmy Barrett
L.A. Noire gangster Mickey Cohen (Patrick Fischler), who makes multiple appearances in the game, also features in a recurring role as comedian Jimmy Barrett in Season 2 of Mad Men.
John Cunningham/Harry Crane
Mad Man’s TV executive Crane (Rich Sommer) appears as a person of interest in L.A. Noire‘s arson case “The Gas Man”.
Walter Clemens/Pete Campbell
Also turning up in “The Gas Man” is Walter Clemens, played by Mad Men‘s Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser).
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