Roger Sterling

Roger Sterling
Mad Men character
Roger Sterling, as portrayed by John Slattery.
First appearance	"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" (1.01)
Last appearance	"Person to Person" (7.14)
Created by	Matthew Weiner
Portrayed by	John Slattery
Information
Occupation	Founding Partner of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce
Family	Roger Sterling, Sr. (deceased father) Nellie Sterling (deceased mother)
Spouse(s)	Mona Sterling (ex-wife) Jane Sterling (ex-wife) Marie Calvet (wife)
Children	Margaret Hargrove (daughter; with Mona) Kevin Harris (son; with Joan)
Relatives	Brooks Hargrove (son-in-law) Ellory Hargrove (grandson) Jessica (maternal aunt)
Romances	Ida Blankenship (deceased ex-lover) Annabelle Mathis (ex-lover) Joan Harris (ex-lover) Marie Calvet (lover)

Roger H. Sterling, Jr. played by John Slattery, is a fictional character on the AMC TV series Mad Men. He formerly worked for Sterling Cooper, an advertising agency his father co-founded in 1923, before he became a founding partner at the new firm of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce in late 1963.

Roger Sterling is a US Navy veteran of World War II, having served in the Pacific theater, including in The Battle of Okinawa.

The "Sterling" in the firm's name refers to Roger's father rather than Roger. His father was the senior partner in the firm, which is why his name appears before that of Bertram Cooper. A picture in Cooper's office shows Roger as a child alongside Cooper as a young adult. In the same scene, Cooper refers to the picture and calls Roger "Peanut," indicating that Roger has known Cooper for most of his life. In Season 2, Bertram Cooper mentions that "the late Mrs. Cooper" introduced Sterling to his wife, Mona (played by Slattery's real-life spouse, Talia Balsam), whom Sterling is in the process of divorcing in favor of Don's former secretary, the 20-year-old Jane Siegel. Bertram Cooper's sister, Alice Cooper, babysat Sterling when he was a child.

Sterling is a notorious womanizer and a heavy drinker (living like he was "on shore leave") until two heart attacks in the same year force him to slow down, at least for a while. His health scare does not affect his drinking or smoking habits, however. He retains considerable affection from both Sterling Cooper employees (with whom he has far more contact than Bert Cooper) and his family. By 1962, Sterling has returned to work and is seen to indulge in his old habits. Numerous episodes in the third season imply that he is genuinely happy with Jane: for example, he turns down an old flame trying to rekindle their relationship. Mona later remarries, which angers Roger at his mother's memorial service when she brings her new husband Bruce, to the event. Roger and Mona have a daughter, Margaret, who is spoiled and demanding. She marries a very suitable young man, Brooks Hargrove, of the same class and social set into which she was raised. The wedding is inadvertently scheduled for November 23, 1963, the day after President John F. Kennedy is assassinated. Margaret then has a son, Ellery, and periodically sees her father to ask for money. However, as the 1960s wear on, Margaret "turns on, tunes in, and drops out." She runs away from her family and moves to a communal farm in upstate New York, where she has a garden, lives in a ramshackle old barnhouse, and has promiscuous sex and little showering with other members of the commune. She rejects Roger and Mona's efforts to take her back home, throwing back in Roger's face that she was abandoned by him, so now she in turn can abandon her son. Roger and Mona then help to raise their grandson, and are shown to be watching the Apollo moon landing with him.