Joan Harris

Joan Holloway
Christina Hendricks as Joan Holloway
First appearance	Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
Created by	Matthew Weiner
Portrayed by	Christina Hendricks
In-universe information
Gender	Female
Occupation	Office manager

Joan Holloway (born February 24, 1931) is a fictional character on AMC's television series Mad Men. She is portrayed by Christina Hendricks. On the show, Joan is seen as the office manager of the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency. Her primary responsibilities are to manage the girls in the secretarial and steno pool. She is also seen during meetings between the heads of departments, taking notes and reminding the male staff of their duties to their clients (like keeping in touch with clients by telephone and keeping track of account details that may affect the client's budget). Joan is also the queen bee of the office girls. She is frequently seen giving advice to the administration girls, particularly to Peggy, about their appearances or their boyfriends. Joan had an ongoing affair with the married Roger Sterling, but the relationship ended after Sterling suffered a heart attack. We do not know whether it was Joan or Roger who actually ended things, but they are shown to have lingering feelings and affection for each other. When important clients insist that Roger be present at a meeting soon after his heart attack, Joan applies makeup to Roger's face to hide his pallor. Joan has also been known to use Roger Sterling's office as a place to be alone when distressed. After Marilyn Monroe's death, Roger walks into his office to find Joan lying on his couch and dabbing her eyes. Realizing that Joan is upset over the similarities she sees between her life and Marilyn Monroe's, Roger comforts Joan by telling her that she will not end up alone and in despair like Monroe.

Joan also had an intimate relationship with Sterling Cooper copywriter Paul Kinsey, which ended before the series began. Her roommate Carol, whom Joan knows from college, has expressed a sexual interest in Joan too, although Joan ignored her romantic overtures.

In the second season, Joan is engaged to a doctor named Greg. Greg appears to be a few years younger than Joan. As the season goes on, Joan is clearly torn between wanting to be a well-off, married woman (which has been implied to be the pinnacle of Joan's ambitions) and fearing that she will become a bored, lonely housewife. Her feelings are exacerbated when she is briefly given additional responsibilities at Sterling Cooper. Joan discovers that she likes reading soap-opera scripts to determine ad placement, and that she has a knack with charming the clients. After a few days, Harry Crane hires a young man to take over the ad placement job from Joan. Joan is clearly very disappointed, but quietly gives up.

Towards the end of the season, we learn that Joan and her fiance Greg are having problems in their intimate moments. In the episode "The Mountain King," Greg picks Joan up for a dinner date at Sterling Cooper. Greg meets Roger Sterling for the first time and immediately becomes suspicious that Roger seems to know Joan's likes and dislikes. Joan has not told Greg that she used to have sex with Roger, and instead, she just tells Greg that she has worked there for nine years and that is why Roger knows her tastes. He then follows Joan as she goes into Don Draper's office to lock up and forces himself on her. Joan tells him several times to stop and struggles, but Greg overpowers her and rapes her on the floor. Later in the episode, Joan is seen telling Peggy that Greg "really is a wonderful man," as though she is trying to convince herself of that. It is not known if Joan breaks off her engagement.