Don Draper
| Don Draper | |
|---|---|
| Mad Men character | |
Jon Hamm as Don Draper.
|
|
| First appearance | "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" (1.01) |
| Last appearance | "Person to Person" (7.14) |
| Created by | Matthew Weiner |
| Portrayed by |
Jon Hamm Brandon Killham (Young Dick Whitman) |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Don, Dick |
| Aliases | Richard Whitman (birth name) |
| Occupation | Senior Partner and Creative Director, Sterling Cooper & Partners (season 6–present; End of Season 7 Part 1 for Creative Director) Founding Partner, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (seasons 4–6) Creative Director, Sterling Cooper (seasons 1–3) |
| Family | Archibald Whitman Evangeline Abigail Whitman (stepmother) Uncle Mac (stepfather) |
| Spouse(s) | Megan Calvet (1965–1970) Betty Hofstadt (1953–1964) Anna M. Draper (widow of real Don Draper, div. 1953) |
| Children | Sally Beth Draper (daughter) Robert "Bobby" Draper (son) Eugene Scott Draper (son) |
| Relatives | Adam Whitman (half brother) |
| Romances | Midge Daniels (ex-lover) Rachel Katz (ex-lover) Bobbie Barrett (ex-lover) Suzanne Farrell (ex-lover) Dr. Faye Miller (ex-girlfriend) Sylvia Rosen (ex-lover) Bethany Van Nuys |
| Don Draper | |
|---|---|
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army
|
| Rank |
First Lieutenant Private (as Richard Whitman) |
| Unit | 40th Infantry Division |
| Battles/wars | Korean War |
| Awards |
 Purple Heart Medal Korean Service Medal Navy and Marine Corps Medal
|
Donald Francis "Don" Draper is a fictional character and the protagonist of AMC's television series Mad Men, portrayed by Jon Hamm. Up to the Season 3 finale, Draper was Creative Director of Manhattan advertising firm Sterling Cooper. He then became a founding partner at a new firm, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, after he and his superiors left their previous agency in advance of an unwanted acquisition. The agency later merged with a rival firm, Cutler Gleason & Chaough, to become Sterling Cooper & Partners while pursuing a contract from Chevrolet.
The character of Don Draper is partially inspired by Draper Daniels, a creative director at Leo Burnett advertising agency in Chicago in the 1950s, who worked on the Marlboro Man campaign.
Most of the characters in the series are portrayed as knowing little, if anything, of Draper's history and true identity; Harry Crane remarks, "Draper? Who knows anything about that guy? No one's ever lifted that rock. He could be Batman for all we know." Clues are given through flashbacks, confessions, and clandestine visits with figures from his past.
As the series unfolds, it is gradually revealed through flashbacks that "Donald Francis Draper" is an assumed identity; the character was born Richard "Dick" Whitman. Whitman was born in Illinois to a prostitute who died in labor and an abusive alcoholic father, Archibald "Archie" Whitman, who was killed when a spooked horse kicked him in the face while a ten-year-old Dick watched. He then lived with his stepmother Abigail and his younger half brother Adam, until they moved in with Abigail's sister Ernestine, and Ernestine's husband Mac, who runs a bordello. When Ernestine dies, Abigail and Uncle Mac begin living together as a couple. While Uncle Mac is kind to Dick, Abigail is physically and emotionally abusive.
During this period of his life, Whitman begins to suffer from croup and is left under the care of a prostitute named Aimee, who takes his virginity when she rapes him.
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Wikipedia