Betty Draper
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth "Betty" Francis (née
Hofstadt, formerly Draper) is a fictional character on AMC's television series
Mad Men
, portrayed by January Jones
. The character's appearance is often compared to Grace Kelly
.
Blonde and beautiful but emotionally immature, Betty Draper is introduced as the housewife of lead character Don Draper
, a philandering advertising executive secretly living under a false identity. Subplots in the first three seasons of Mad Men involve Betty's struggles with unhappiness, parenting their children, and her husband's infidelity. In the third season, Betty falls in love with Henry Francis, an older man who works for the governor of New York. After discovering that Don lied to her about his identity and past, Betty divorces him and marries Henry. In the fourth season, Betty Francis is a less central character, but continues to conflict with Don, now over their children and house.
was married, but only by a mention in dialogue, and there was no intention to show his home life. January Jones was instead initially considered, along with Elisabeth Moss
, for the ambitious workplace character Peggy Olson
; Moss was ultimately cast as Peggy. Show creator Matthew Weiner
then wrote two scenes featuring Betty Draper, and Jones successfully auditioned for the part two days later. Although there was no full script or any plots written for Betty Draper at the time, Jones was promised by Weiner that the character would be developed.
Weiner has attributed Mad Mens visual style to the influence of film director Alfred Hitchcock
, who featured a signature "icy blonde" female character in many of his films.
with an anthropology degree, and briefly modeled in Italy before moving to Manhattan. It was during this time that she met Don Draper
– he was writing ad copy for a fur company, and she was one of their models. He began courting her by buying her the fur coat she wore at a shoot. Betty and Don were married in May 1953. Betty's mother died early in 1960, three months before the events of the episode "Ladies Room." Her father, Gene (Ryan Cutrona
), had a girlfriend named Gloria, whom Betty doesn't like and whom her father married sometime in the 18 months between seasons 1 and 2; Gloria left Gene when he began showing signs of mental deterioration in Season 3.
Her father lived in a Philadelphia suburb (Bryn Mawr) and had a summer home in Cape May
, New Jersey
. He moved in with the Drapers during season 3, and later died in that season, set in 1963. She has a brother, William, who is married and whose daughters Don and Betty consider to be "rowdy." Her confidantes have included her neighbor Francine Hanson and Glen Bishop, the young son of divorcee Helen Bishop. Betty has a strained relationship with her children, particularly with her daughter.
, with their children Sally (played by Kiernan Shipka
) and Bobby. In the second episode, set in the spring of 1960, Betty starts to see a psychiatrist because of repeated spells of numbness in her hands. It was during these meetings that, after having discovered that the psychiatrist was giving reports of her sessions to Don, she either admitted, or to "test the waters," threw out the suspicion that she knew of her husband's infidelities. By the start of the second season, set in February 1962, the consultations are discontinued.
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.
Betty does turn to Don when she learns that her father Gene has suffered a stroke. She and Don leave the children with a neighbor and drive to visit her father; Betty is visibly impatient with both her father's wife Gloria and her brother William. She and Don are careful to present a united front. At the end of a stressful day, Betty makes Don sleep on the floor of the guestroom, but later joins him on the floor where they make love. The next morning, Betty's father mistakes Betty for her mother Ruth, suggesting that they "go upstairs." Betty is severely shocked and frightened, but tries to pretend that everything is all right. When she and Don return to New York, Betty asks Don to leave again.
In the Season 2 finale, Betty discovers she is pregnant. Although she brings up the subject of abortion with her doctor, and also has sex with a random man at a bar, at the end of the episode she asks Don to return home and tells him that she is pregnant.
In Episode 11, Don is cornered by Betty, who has managed to unearth evidence of Don's past life via pictures and documents from a locked drawer in his desk. He tells her about his life as Dick Whitman, how he came to exchange dog tags with Lieutenant Don Draper, and his half-brother Adam's suicide. While apparently somewhat sympathetic to his feelings of guilt about the latter, Betty is highly conflicted about the fact that Don has hidden this aspect of his life from her for the duration of their relationship and marriage.
After President Kennedy's death and Margaret Sterling's wedding, Betty meets with Henry Francis, who confesses to her that he wishes to eventually marry her. They passionately kiss, and after the encounter, Betty returns home to tell Don she no longer loves him, leaving him stunned. This culminates in her seeing a divorce lawyer in the season 3 finale. During the same episode, Roger, whose daughter is friends with Francis' daughter, unintentionally reveals to him that Betty and Francis are involved. An incensed Don confronts Betty. After calling her a whore, he assures her that she "won't get a nickel" in the ensuing divorce and that he intends to seek sole custody of the children.
The next morning, Don and Betty inform the children of the this arrangement and both children react badly. After moving into Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Pryce's new office, Don calls Betty and tells her that he will not fight her, and wishes her the best. The season ends with Betty taking a plane to Reno with Gene and Henry.
NEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Hofstadt, formerly Draper) is a fictional character on AMC's television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
, portrayed by January Jones
January Jones
January Kristen Jones is an American actress. She is best known for playing Betty Draper on Mad Men.-Early life:...
. The character's appearance is often compared to Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
.
Blonde and beautiful but emotionally immature, Betty Draper is introduced as the housewife of lead character Don Draper
Don Draper
Donald "Don" Draper is a fictional character and the protagonist of AMC's television series Mad Men. He is portrayed by 2008 Golden Globe winner Jon Hamm. Until the third season finale, Draper was Creative Director of Manhattan advertising firm Sterling Cooper...
, a philandering advertising executive secretly living under a false identity. Subplots in the first three seasons of Mad Men involve Betty's struggles with unhappiness, parenting their children, and her husband's infidelity. In the third season, Betty falls in love with Henry Francis, an older man who works for the governor of New York. After discovering that Don lied to her about his identity and past, Betty divorces him and marries Henry. In the fourth season, Betty Francis is a less central character, but continues to conflict with Don, now over their children and house.
Casting and character development
The character of Betty Draper was not originally part of the pilot episode. The script established that lead character Don DraperDon Draper
Donald "Don" Draper is a fictional character and the protagonist of AMC's television series Mad Men. He is portrayed by 2008 Golden Globe winner Jon Hamm. Until the third season finale, Draper was Creative Director of Manhattan advertising firm Sterling Cooper...
was married, but only by a mention in dialogue, and there was no intention to show his home life. January Jones was instead initially considered, along with Elisabeth Moss
Elisabeth Moss
Elisabeth Singleton Moss is an American actor. Her notable roles include that of Zoey Bartlet, the third and youngest daughter of President Jed Bartlet, on the NBC television series The West Wing , and secretary turned copywriter Peggy Olson on the AMC original series Mad Men .-Early life and...
, for the ambitious workplace character Peggy Olson
Peggy Olson
Margaret "Peggy" Olson is a fictional character in the AMC television series Mad Men, and is portrayed by actress Elisabeth Moss. Initially, Peggy is secretary to Don Draper , creative director of the advertising agency Sterling Cooper. Later, she is promoted to copywriter, the first female writer...
; Moss was ultimately cast as Peggy. Show creator Matthew Weiner
Matthew Weiner
Matthew Weiner is an American writer, director and producer of television drama. He is the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner of the AMC television series Mad Men. He is also noted for his work on the HBO series The Sopranos, on which he served as a writer and producer...
then wrote two scenes featuring Betty Draper, and Jones successfully auditioned for the part two days later. Although there was no full script or any plots written for Betty Draper at the time, Jones was promised by Weiner that the character would be developed.
Weiner has attributed Mad Mens visual style to the influence of film director Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, who featured a signature "icy blonde" female character in many of his films.
Backstory
Betty was born Elizabeth Hofstadt in 1932. According to her son's birth certificate, she was born in Cape May, presumably the same location as her Father's summer home. She grew up in Lower Merion township, a suburb of Philadelphia located in the "Main Line." She has mentioned having a German grandmother. She graduated from Bryn Mawr CollegeBryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
with an anthropology degree, and briefly modeled in Italy before moving to Manhattan. It was during this time that she met Don Draper
Don Draper
Donald "Don" Draper is a fictional character and the protagonist of AMC's television series Mad Men. He is portrayed by 2008 Golden Globe winner Jon Hamm. Until the third season finale, Draper was Creative Director of Manhattan advertising firm Sterling Cooper...
– he was writing ad copy for a fur company, and she was one of their models. He began courting her by buying her the fur coat she wore at a shoot. Betty and Don were married in May 1953. Betty's mother died early in 1960, three months before the events of the episode "Ladies Room." Her father, Gene (Ryan Cutrona
Ryan Cutrona
Ryan Cutrona is an American actor. Cutrona has played supporting roles in several films and numerous television series. A majority of his roles are military parts due in large part to his background. Cutrona's father was a General in the United States Army, and he was born at West Point, spending...
), had a girlfriend named Gloria, whom Betty doesn't like and whom her father married sometime in the 18 months between seasons 1 and 2; Gloria left Gene when he began showing signs of mental deterioration in Season 3.
Her father lived in a Philadelphia suburb (Bryn Mawr) and had a summer home in Cape May
Cape May
Cape May is a peninsula and island ; the southern tip of the island is the southernmost point of the state of New Jersey, United States. It runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. He moved in with the Drapers during season 3, and later died in that season, set in 1963. She has a brother, William, who is married and whose daughters Don and Betty consider to be "rowdy." Her confidantes have included her neighbor Francine Hanson and Glen Bishop, the young son of divorcee Helen Bishop. Betty has a strained relationship with her children, particularly with her daughter.
Season one
As the series begins, Betty and Don live in a large house in suburban Ossining, New YorkOssining (village), New York
Ossining is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 25,060 at the 2010 census. As a village, it is located in the Town of Ossining.-Geography:Ossining borders the eastern shores of the widest part of the Hudson River....
, with their children Sally (played by Kiernan Shipka
Kiernan Shipka
Kiernan Brennan "Kiki" Shipka is an American child actress noted for playing Don and Betty Draper's daughter Sally on the AMC series Mad Men.-Career:...
) and Bobby. In the second episode, set in the spring of 1960, Betty starts to see a psychiatrist because of repeated spells of numbness in her hands. It was during these meetings that, after having discovered that the psychiatrist was giving reports of her sessions to Don, she either admitted, or to "test the waters," threw out the suspicion that she knew of her husband's infidelities. By the start of the second season, set in February 1962, the consultations are discontinued.
Season two
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, but does not find it. Betty awakens Don - who is 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 UtzUtz Quality Foods, Inc.
Utz Quality Foods, Inc. , based in Hanover, Pennsylvania, is the largest independent privately held snack brand in the United States. The company was founded in 1921 and distributes a variety of potato chips and other snack foods throughout the United States....
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.
Betty does turn to Don when she learns that her father Gene has suffered a stroke. She and Don leave the children with a neighbor and drive to visit her father; Betty is visibly impatient with both her father's wife Gloria and her brother William. She and Don are careful to present a united front. At the end of a stressful day, Betty makes Don sleep on the floor of the guestroom, but later joins him on the floor where they make love. The next morning, Betty's father mistakes Betty for her mother Ruth, suggesting that they "go upstairs." Betty is severely shocked and frightened, but tries to pretend that everything is all right. When she and Don return to New York, Betty asks Don to leave again.
In the Season 2 finale, Betty discovers she is pregnant. Although she brings up the subject of abortion with her doctor, and also has sex with a random man at a bar, at the end of the episode she asks Don to return home and tells him that she is pregnant.
Season three
Season 3 begins with Betty in her third trimester, seemingly reconciled with Don. In Episode 5, she gives birth to Eugene Scott Draper, whom she names after her recently deceased father. After giving birth, Betty comes to the quick realization that her dream of everything being perfect will never happen. During episode 302, Betty and Don attend a garden party hosted by Roger Sterling and his new wife, Jane Siegel Sterling, where she meets Henry Francis, who is later revealed to be an advisor to then-New York governor Nelson A. Rockefeller. He is infatuated with her, and though she seems reluctant to return his feelings at first, as the season progresses, their affair intensifies. Betty eventually ends it, feeling guilty.In Episode 11, Don is cornered by Betty, who has managed to unearth evidence of Don's past life via pictures and documents from a locked drawer in his desk. He tells her about his life as Dick Whitman, how he came to exchange dog tags with Lieutenant Don Draper, and his half-brother Adam's suicide. While apparently somewhat sympathetic to his feelings of guilt about the latter, Betty is highly conflicted about the fact that Don has hidden this aspect of his life from her for the duration of their relationship and marriage.
After President Kennedy's death and Margaret Sterling's wedding, Betty meets with Henry Francis, who confesses to her that he wishes to eventually marry her. They passionately kiss, and after the encounter, Betty returns home to tell Don she no longer loves him, leaving him stunned. This culminates in her seeing a divorce lawyer in the season 3 finale. During the same episode, Roger, whose daughter is friends with Francis' daughter, unintentionally reveals to him that Betty and Francis are involved. An incensed Don confronts Betty. After calling her a whore, he assures her that she "won't get a nickel" in the ensuing divorce and that he intends to seek sole custody of the children.
The next morning, Don and Betty inform the children of the this arrangement and both children react badly. After moving into Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Pryce's new office, Don calls Betty and tells her that he will not fight her, and wishes her the best. The season ends with Betty taking a plane to Reno with Gene and Henry.