Betty Draper

Infobox character | colour = #7DC622
name = Elizabeth "Betty" Draper
other_names =


caption =
portrayer = January Jones
creator = Matthew Weiner
species =
gender = Female
first = Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
last =
cause =
age = 32(?)
occupation = Housewife
title =
family =

episode = 21
children = Sally, Robert
relatives = Gene (father)
footnotes =

Betty "Birdie" Draper (née Hofstadt [http://www.lippsisters.com/bible/characters/betty-draper/] ) is a fictional character on AMC's television series "Mad Men". She is portrayed by January Jones.

Biography

Betty was born Elizabeth Hofstadt in approx. 1932 [http://www.lippsisters.com/bible/characters/betty-draper/] . Her first kiss was with a Jewish boy named David Rosenberg. She spent the summer after graduating from Bryn Mawr College modeling in Italy before starting work as a model for a designer, Giovanni. After that, her career moved her to Manhattan where she had an apartment with several roommates, including Juanita Carson. It was during this time that she met Don Draper. Betty's mother passed away early in 1960, around 3 months before the events of "Ladies Room". Her father, Gene (Ryan Catrona), has a girlfriend called Gloria, whom Betty doesn't like.

Her other confidantes have included her neighbor Francine Hanson, and Glen Bishop, the young son of divorcee Helen Bishop. After Betty's mother passed away, her father began dating another woman, Gloria, with whom Betty has difficulty accepting. He currently lives in Cape May. She has a brother, William, who is currently married with (rowdy) children.

Betty and Don currently live in Ossining, New York, with their two children Sally and Bobby.

In the spring of 1960, Betty started to see a psychiatrist - Dr. Wayne - because her hands were repeatedly and inexplicably going numb. However, sometime between November of that year and February 1962, she stopped seeing him. It was during these meetings that, after discovering her husband was in contact with the doctor, she admitted she knew of her husband's infidelities.

During the second season episode 'A Night to Remember', Betty and Don seem to have reached an agreement, but after a dinner party where Betty is embarrassed to be considered a 'demographic' by Don and his associates, she confronts her husband for the first time about his adultery, specifically with Bobbie Barrett. Don, however, denies having an affair. The next day, with a glass of wine in hand, Betty searches through Don's belongings for any proof of his indiscretions, only to come up empty. Betty awakens Don - who's sleeping on the couch - that night and explains that she doesn't want things to 'be like this.' He repeats that he did not do anything and when she asks if he hates her, he insists that he loves her and doesn't want to 'lose this.'

When preparing dinner the next day, an Utz commercial featuring Jimmy Barrett airs on the television. After seeing this, she calls Don at work and tells him she doesn't want him to come home.

Quotes

*"It's hard to hold onto anything these days." ("Ladies Room")

*"I don’t know why I’m here. I mean, I do, I’m nervous, I guess. Anxious. I don’t sleep that well. And my hands. They’re fine now, it’s like when you have a problem with your car and you go to a mechanic and it’s not doing it anymore. Not that you’re a mechanic. I guess a lot of people must come here worried about the bomb. Is that true? It’s a common nightmare, people say. I read it in a magazine. My mother always told me that it wasn’t polite to talk about yourself. She passed away recently. I guess I already said that." ("Ladies Room")

*"As far as I’m concerned, as long as men look at me that way, I’m earning my keep. Then every once in a while I think, no. This is something else. I don’t want my husband to see this." ("Red in the Face")

* (about her mother) "She wanted me to be beautiful so I could find a man. There’s nothing wrong with that. But then what? Just sit and smoke and let it go ‘til you’re in a box?" ("Shoot")

References