Don Draper

Don Draper
Mad Men character
Jon Hamm as Don Draper.
Portrayed by	Jon Hamm
First appearance	Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (1.01)
Created by	Matthew Weiner
In-universe information Other names "Don" (nickname) "Dick" (nickname) Richard Whitman (birth name) Occupation Founding Partner, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce Parents Archibald Whitman (father; deceased) Abigail Whitman (step-mother) Evangeline (mother; died in childbirth) Siblings Adam Whitman (half-brother; deceased) Spouse Betty Draper (wife) Children Sally Draper (daughter, with Betty Draper) Robert "Bobby" Draper (son, with Betty Draper) Eugene "Gene" Scott Draper (son, with Betty Draper) Other relatives Uncle Mack (step-mother's common-law husband)

Donald Francis "Don" Draper, is a fictional character and a protagonist of AMC's television series Mad Men. He is portrayed by 2008 Golden Globe winner Jon Hamm. Up until the third season finale, Draper was the creative director of a New York advertising firm, Sterling Cooper. He became a founding partner at a new firm, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, after he and his superiors abandon their old agency, and form a new firm in advance of an unwanted acquisition.

Draper's character is partially based on Draper Daniels, the creative head of the Leo Burnett advertising agency in Chicago in the 1950s who created the Marlboro Man campaign. In 2009 he was elected by Ask Men as the most influential man in the world, ahead of such people as Usain Bolt and Barack Obama.

Character biography

Most of the characters in the series know little, if anything, of Draper’s history and true identity. Clues are given through flashbacks, confessions, and secret visits to figures from his past.

The name "Don Draper" is an alias; his given name is Dick Whitman. Draper's birth mother was a prostitute and his father, Archibald Whitman, was her client; in a flashback sequence, the birth mother threatened to cut off Archibald's dick and fry it in "hog fat" if she became pregnant. After his mother died in childbirth, the midwife attending her gave Dick his name, using the vulgarity the birth mother used. See http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20298245,00.html, accessed March 22, 2010.

Dick was raised by his birth father and his wife, Abigail. When Dick was ten years old and while Abigail was pregnant, Archibald was killed by spooked horse that kicked him in the face during an electrical storm; Dick was a witness. Subsequently, Dick and his half-brother Adam were raised by Abigail and a man referred to as "Uncle Mack," but their relationship was not further described. It is suggested that Adam was fond of his older half-brother and also that Dick suffered abuse at the hands of Archibald and Abigail although the details were not provided. However, Don/Dick states in The Gypsy and the Hobo during his confession to Betty about his past that Uncle Mack was kind to him.

Korean War

When Whitman was in his twenties, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was sent to serve in the Korean War. Whitman was put under the command of 2Lt. Donald Draper, an engineer, who was in charge of building a field hospital, with only Whitman to assist him.

The two men are fired upon by the enemy, but they are unharmed and begin to light cigarettes. When Lt. Draper mistakenly tells Whitman that he has soiled himself (he actually has gasoline on his pants), Whitman accidentally drops his lighter and ignites a pool of gasoline, which sets off a stockpile of explosives. Lt. Draper is killed in the explosion and his face burned beyond recognition. Upon seeing this, Whitman removes Lt. Draper's tags and switches them for his own to escape the Army and Korea.

Whitman, as Draper, awakens in the hospital and is awarded a Purple Heart. He is then sent home with Lt. Draper's body (believed to be Whitman's) to offer the Army's regrets to the Whitmans. He avoids meeting the Whitmans but is spotted by Adam. Whitman makes his escape and begins his life as Don Draper.

Life as "Don Draper"

Draper was working as a used car salesman when he was tracked down by Anna Draper, the real Draper's widow. The two remained friends until Draper met and married Betty Hofstadt. After securing a legal divorce, he continues to support Anna, a piano teacher, financially.

Not many details have been provided as to how Don Draper became the creative director of Sterling Cooper. For some time, Draper was a used car salesman. He wrote copy for a fur company. It was at this job that he met his future wife, Betty. Roger Sterling claims that he "discovered" Draper in this job, and brought him to work at Sterling Cooper. At some point, Don and Betty move into a house at 42 Bullet Park Road, Ossining in Westchester County, New York.

Draper eventually became the creative director and a junior partner at Sterling Cooper. He is considered an asset to the company as he has considerable talent for understanding the desires of others and selling ideas. He has occasionally been courted by other advertising firms. Almost everyone at the firm respects his talent, but his true character remains mysterious and heavily guarded. This is most true for account executive Pete Campbell, who seems to view Draper as both a mentor and a hindrance to his advancement within the firm. When Campbell purposely takes a package addressed to Draper from Adam, he discovers Draper’s true identity. He attempts to blackmail Draper with this information. However, Don goes directly to Bert Cooper, the firm's senior partner, with Campbell following behind. Campbell reveals Don's true identity to Cooper, who shrugs off the news. However, Cooper later uses the same information to compel Don to sign under duress an employment contract.

Peggy Olson starts as Draper's secretary, but with his support, eventually becomes a copywriter. In the show's second season, the relationship between Peggy and Don is revealed to be more complex than it first appears, each having helped the other while in trouble. Peggy is one of few people in the office to refer to Draper by his first name on a regular basis. Despite this, Don generally does not show her any favoritism and aggressively shuts down her request for a pay raise (which she argues she should be given under emerging "equal pay for equal work" statutes) and leads her to seriously consider taking a job at another agency.

Betty remains unaware of Don's past until she stumbles upon a collection of photographs and other documents from his previous life which Don keeps in a locked drawer in his desk. When Betty confronts Don and demands to know the truth, Don breaks down and reveals to her the secret of his true identity. Their marriage suffers another setback when Betty realizes, in the wake of John F. Kennedy's assassination, that she does not love or trust Don. She relocates to Nevada to file for divorce shortly thereafter. After being kicked out of the Draper family residence, Don moves into an apartment, apparently on his own.

In December 1963, Don convinces Bert Cooper, Roger Sterling, and Lane Pryce, along with Peggy, Pete and Harry Crane, to leave Sterling Cooper rather than take their chances when they learn that their parent company is being purchased by rival firm, McCann Erickson. They form the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce agency, working out of a hotel suite.

Personality

In many respects, Draper is the stereotype of an American upper-middle class white man of Post-World War II America. It becomes clear during the second season that many of Draper's less admirable qualities (his infidelity, for example) are his way of dealing with internal conflicts.

Draper appears to be one of the very few men at Sterling Cooper who does not engage in the sex-centered, locker-room style conversations that characterize its corporate culture. In fact, Draper keeps his extramarital affairs to himself and otherwise appears to be a decent and chivalrous man. Despite this, he characterizes what one psychiatric analysis describes as, "the worst of all possible men," who commit to meaningless and unfulfilling serial monoagamies in hopes of filling their emotional void. In contrast to other characters, Don's relationships are marked with a "starving neediness" which, without exception, result in disappointing failure.

He warns Pete Campbell, in the first episode ("Smoke Gets In Your Eyes"), about his rude remarks to and about Peggy Olson, whom he has just met.

In the first episode of the second season (For Those Who Think Young), Draper is in an elevator listening to two younger men having a crude sexual conversation. Draper is disgusted and, when an older woman enters the elevator and they continue their graphic conversation, Draper twice tells one of the men to remove his hat. The man ignores Draper, who proceeds to remove the man's hat himself, thereby ending the men's conversation and sparing the woman further embarrassment.

During the episode "Six Month Leave", Draper admonishes several subordinates for mocking Freddy Rumsen's episode of urinary incontinence which was the result of his drinking.

In "My Old Kentucky Home" (Season 3, Episode 3), Draper attends a festive Kentucky Derby party hosted by Roger Sterling, where he watches as Sterling serenades his young wife in blackface minstral makeup. He and Pete Campbell seem to be the only two guests who disapprove of the spectacle.

Draper also adheres to a more strict code of business ethics than many of his colleagues. A second season arc has Draper upset about being told to drop a small airline client in favor of a chance at American Airlines. In season three, he is hesitant to sign a wealthy client eager to pour his fortune into promoting jai alai, a sport he thinks will replace baseball as "America's game," knowing he is about to squander his fortune on a doomed enterprise.

He also keeps the secret of Art Director Sal Romano, a closeted and struggling homosexual, whom Don sees in a compromising position in a Baltimore hotel during a fire escape. Although Don continues to keep the secret, he nonetheless expresses loathing distaste for Sal's sexual orientation when he fires him in Season 3 because the son of the president of a large client is irate at Sal's refusal to accept his sexual advances in the film editing room.

He has demonstrated a bold streak, perhaps best displayed in his snap decision to get fired from Sterling Cooper in order to form a new advertising agency.

Draper and women

Draper met his wife Betty Draper when she was modeling furs. Don surprised Betty by buying her the fur she wore on a photo shoot; this gesture appears to be the start of their relationship. Betty and Don marry when she is in her early 20s, and she gave birth to their first child, Sally, soon thereafter. A few years later, she gave birth to their first son, Bobby. In season three, Betty gave birth to their second son, whom she named Eugene, after her late father, whom Don Draper despised, and who despised him as a phony.

Don cheats on Betty repeatedly throughout seasons one and two. In season one, Draper is involved with Midge, a pot-smoking beatnik who likes to wear different wigs. She is an illustrator and works out of her small, dingy apartment. Midge's beatnik lifestyle and friends do not appeal to Don, but she offers him an escape from his high-pressure job. Don receives a bonus check of $2,500 from Sterling Cooper and asks her to run away with him to Paris. However, Don changes his mind, perhaps because he realizes Midge is in love with a fellow beatnik, or perhaps because the instinct to escape is fleeting, and instead stuffs the check in her blouse. He tells her to go buy a car with it and leaves.

Also during season one, Don pursues Rachel Menken. She is Jewish and the daughter of Abraham Menken, the elderly founder of Menken's department store. Rachel, 28, is educated, sophisticated, and business savvy. She is helping her father run the family's stores. Despite bickering with her during initial business meetings, Draper begins an affair with her. She ends their affair on November 8, 1960, the night the 1960 Presidential election results are being tabulated ("Nixon vs. Kennedy," Season 1, Episode 12) and leaves on a cruise to Europe.

In season two, Draper turns to an older woman, Bobbie Barrett. She is the wife of Jimmy Barrett, a comic and TV personality with whom Sterling Cooper is working. Don does not like Bobbie's demanding and often unprofessional behavior, and at one point squeezes her crotch in a restaurant corridor to coerce her into making a business concession. However, she is very sexually aggressive and Don caves in to her during a severe hail storm in his car (Episode 3, "The Benefactor").

Draper and Bobbie continue their torrid affair, taking a trip to the beach at "Stony Brook" on Long Island, but their plans are interrupted by an accident followed by his arrest caused by Draper drinking while driving. Unable to post bond with the cash in his pocket, Don reaches out to Peggy Olson, who travels huge distance from Brooklyn to Long Island by car, and puts up the $100 needed to post Don's bail, and later boards Bobbie until her injuries from the accident heal. Bobbie and Don continue their affair until Episode 6 ("Maidenform"), when Bobbie lets slip that Draper's previous mistresses have been talking about his sexual skills.

Don still has to conduct business with Bobbie and Jimmy and the four of them (including Betty) meet up at The Stork Club for a night out on the town. It is at the end of the night (Season 2, Episode 7, "The Gold Violin") that Jimmy tells Betty that their spouses are having an affair. Betty is shocked and sickened. Jimmy finishes the night by telling Draper off with Betty in the background.

A distraught Betty confronts Don (Episode 8, "A Night to Remember), but he repeatedly denies cheating, which infuriates Betty. Eventually, Betty appears willing to put the suspicion behind her. Later, however, Betty sees Jimmy's Utz Chips television commercial air for the first time. The commercial was filmed weeks before Jimmy found out about his wife's adultery with Draper. Coincidentally Jimmy's lines are: "Imagine my horror when a night on the town turned ugly . . . am I crazy? I don't think so." The commercial reignites Betty's anger, who calls her husband at work and tells him not to come home. This begins a period of Don living in hotel rooms, sleeping in his office, and him disappearing for weeks during a Los Angeles business trip with Campbell. Betty's father has another stroke (Episode 10, "The Inheritance") and to keep up appearances, the two of them pretend to be a happily married couple while staying at her father's home. Betty surprises Don with a sexual encounter in the middle of the night, leading Don to believe that she has now forgiven him. When they arrive back at home, however, Betty tells a confused Don not to move back in. Betty later discovers that she is pregnant.

Don impulsively decides to join Campbell on a business trip to Los Angeles (Episode 11, "The Jet Set"). In California, Don meets a mysterious European Viscount with a 21-year-old daughter named Joy. Despite telling Campbell that the trip is strictly business, Don instead joins Joy and her "jet set" family of self-described nomads at their lavish vacation home in Palm Springs. Joy is topless in the pool one night, trying to seduce Don again, despite being surrounded by other relatives and even small children, around their large pool. Draper realizes that this "sexual freedom" is excessive, even for him and seeks out his confidant, Anna Draper (Episode 12, "The Mountain King.") Anna reassures Don, who tells her that he's "ruined everything", that his loving Betty doesn't mean he has to tell her everything. Don then bathes in the Pacific Ocean, in a symbolically baptismal gesture of new beginnings, and returns home to profess his love for Betty and ask her to take him back.

In season three, Don had an affair, lasting several months, with his daughter Sally's teacher, Suzanne Farrell. Their relationship builds slowly over several accidental meetings and conversations laden with innuendo. They finally consummate their attraction in August, 1963 (Episode 9, "Wee Small Hours").

Suzanne is similar to Don in that both have damaged brothers. While Don's brother Adam was simply unstable, Suzanne's brother suffers from epilepsy and he realizes that there is no good place in the world for him. Having rejected his own brother's efforts to come back into his life, Don takes pity on Suzanne's brother, who wants just the opposite, to be out of her life and to unburden her. As a result, Don allows Suzanne's brother to run away from the next in a series of dead end jobs that Suzanne has arranged for him, and to withhold that information from Suzanne, his partly good deed becoming yet another strand in the web of lies and deceit perpetuated on everyone he knows or loved.

Don ended the affair with Suzanne on Halloween, 1963. Intending only to go into the house for a suitcase for a weekend trip, Don is stunned to find Betty at home. Before he can make his escape, however, Betty reveals her access to the secret drawer in Don's desk, and coerces him into telling her the truth about his past, revealing his name to be Dick Whitman, and providing the details of lives of his family, all of whom are now deceased. (Episode 11, "The Gypsy and the Hobo"). Don never went back to the car where Suzanne awaited him, apparently for hours, before she slunk back home.

Despite his numerous affairs, Don did at times reject the advances of women. In season one, Draper rejects Eleanor Ames, the twin sister of Mirabelle Ames. In season two, Episode 2 ("Flight 1"), Don rejected the advances of a young, beautiful Asian waitress. In Episode 9 ("Six Month Leave"), Don ignored the advances of a woman at a secret, high-class, basement casino where he and Roger Sterling were celebrating. Don also denied Bobbie Barrett's advances at times.

At various times, the violent incident with Bobbie and a related incident in which Don punched Jimmy and sent him to the floor for revealing to Betty the affair Don and Bobbie had loom on the surface. At times, Don glares at Betty, suggesting that he is only moments away from an act of violence against her, though season 3, he has not physically assaulted her.

Draper and vehicles

Don sold used cars at the time Anna Draper found him, and on at least one occasion enjoyed the company of motorcyclists while he was staying with Anna. At the outset of the series, Don drives a mundane Dodge -- with a hint that its selection was a symbol of Don's humble beginnings -- until goaded by Roger Sterling into buying a Cadillac that he will come to love because it is a chick magnet. Sterling told him that the Cadillac was as sign that Don had arrived.