Don Draper's Past With Bert Cooper
I recently finished Mad Men and I wanted to know if Bert actually knew about Don's past because he has always been extra affectionate towards him, something he even rarely shows to Roger during the series and even when Peter reveals Don's identity as Dick he simply says, "Who cares?"
So, does Bert know about Don's past or at least more than most of the characters on the show?
Best Answer
Roger knows that Don is a go-getter and doesn't necessarily come from as glamorous a background as most people think, but not necessarily much (if anything) more than that. Remember that Roger is the one who ended up helping Don get into the advertising industry after Don - then a lowly fur coat shop salesman - made a couple of rather ballsy moves that wasn't exactly considered to be polite. As Roger Sterling's page on the Mad Men wiki site puts it:
Some time in the 1950s, Roger enters Heller's, a specialty shop dealing in fur coats to buy Joan a fur coat, where Don Draper is employed as a salesman. Roger comments on an advertisement for Heller's and Don states that it is one of his own. Roger hands Don a card showing that Roger works for an advertising firm. When Roger opens the box for Joan in a hotel room, he realizes that Don has included a portfolio; he considers Don to be "out of line" for including it.
A few days later Don runs into Roger in the lobby of Sterling Cooper, and tries to explain it away as coincidence. He asks Roger if he saw his work; Roger tells him that it was thrown away with the box. Don offers Roger a drink, and though it is 10am, Roger accepts. Over drinks, Don tries to sell Roger on the idea of hiring him. A few days later, Roger sees Don in the lobby again, waiting for the elevator. Roger is beside himself, angry that Don could not take a hint that he was not interested. Don stops Roger; while they board the elevator, he reminds Roger that he had hired Don the previous day. Don smiles as Roger appears confused about his lapse in memory. ("Waldorf Stories")
That may be part of the reason that Roger vocally states that Don's secret past doesn't matter. Not only are the two close (which is another important factor), but Roger knows from personal experience that Don's usefulness is in his talent, creativity, and gumption - and very much not in his history or family name. But there really isn't much (if any) indication that Roger already knew anything about the secret parts of Don's past.
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What was Don Drapers past?
Born in 1926, Richard "Dick" Whitman was the illegitimate child of a prostitute who died during childbirth. Dick lived with his father, Archie Whitman, and his father's wife, Abigail Whitman, until he was 10, at which time his father, a drunk, was kicked in the face by a horse and died.Why did Don see Bert dancing?
This is the second time Bert has appeared to Don since his death \u2014 the first was a song and dance number at the end of the midseason finale "Waterloo." The piece was a nod to actor Robert Morse's own career on Broadway in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, a musical about an advertising department in the ...Did Bert Cooper know about Don?
Bert Cooper While Bert did know that "Don Draper" was fiction, he didn't actually learn that Don's real name was Dick Whitman - nor did Cooper care to.What happened to Bertram Cooper?
Two-time Tony Award winner Robert Morse, best known to TV audiences for his role as Bertram Cooper on AMC's Mad Men, has died at the age of 90, according to The Hollywood Reporter. A cause of death has not been disclosed. \u201cMy good pal Bobby Morse has passed away at age 90.Mad Men - Don Draper Calm \u0026 Confidence
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Images: Juan Pablo Serrano Arenas, Pixabay, Yan Krukov, Spencer Davis