Bettie Page
Encyclopedia
Bettie Mae Page was an American
People of the United States
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...

 model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....

 who became famous in the 1950s for her fetish model
Fetish model
A fetish model is a model who models fetish clothing or devices that augment his or her body in a fetish manner or in fetishistic situations, though he or she may not work exclusively in that form of modeling....

ing and pin-up
Pin-up girl
A pin-up girl, also known as a pin-up model, is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as popular culture. Pin-ups are intended for informal display, e.g. meant to be "pinned-up" on a wall...

 photos. She has often been called the "Queen of Pinups". Her look, including her jet black hair
Black hair
Black hair is the darkest and most common of all human hair colors globally. It is a dominant genetic trait, and it is found in people of all backgrounds and ethnicities. It has large amounts of eumelanin and is less dense than other hair colors. Black hair is known to be the shiniest of all hair...

, blue eyes and trademark bangs
Fringe (hair)
Fringe are a shaped cutting of the front part of the hair so that it is combed forward and hangs or curls over the forehead. A classic fringe is cut fairly straight at or above the eyebrows, but fringes can also be ragged or ruffled, spiked up with hair gel, swept to one side or the other, and...

, has influenced many artists.

She was "Miss January 1955", one of the earliest Playmates of the Month for Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...

magazine. "I think that she was a remarkable lady, an iconic figure in pop culture who influenced sexuality, taste in fashion, someone who had a tremendous impact on our society," Playboy founder Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...

 told the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

.

In 1959, she converted to born-again Christianity, and later worked for Billy Graham
Billy Graham
William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...

. Her later life was marked by depression, violent mood swing
Mood swing
-Associated disorders:Mood swings are commonly associated with mood disorders including bipolar disorder and depression. In patients with cases of bipolar disorder, the patient experiences serious mood swings that last for days or even weeks...

s and several years in a state psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...

. After years of obscurity, she experienced a resurgence of popularity in the 1980s.

Early life

Page was the second of six children born to Walter Roy Page and Edna Mae Pirtle. At a young age, Page had to face the responsibilities of caring for her younger siblings. Her parents divorced when she was 10 years old. (In the 1930 Census, a few weeks before Bettie's 7th birthday, her mother Edna Pirtle Page was already listed as being divorced.) After her father, whom Page would accuse of molesting her starting at age 13, was imprisoned, Page and her two sisters lived in an orphanage for a year. During this time, Page's mother worked two jobs, one as a hairdresser during the day and washing laundry at night.

As a teenager, Page and her sisters tried different makeup styles and hairdos imitating their favorite movie stars. She also learned to sew. These skills proved useful years later for her pin-up photography when Page did her own makeup and hair and made her own bikinis and costumes. During her early years, the Page family traveled around the country in search of economic stability.

A good student and debate team member at Hume-Fogg High School
Hume-Fogg High School
Hume-Fogg Academic High School is a public magnet high school located in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, teaching grades 9-12.-History:Hume-Fogg's original incarnation, Hume High School, which opened in 1855 on Eighth Avenue and Broad, was the first public school in Nashville.In 1875 Fogg High...

, she was voted "Most Likely to Succeed". On June 6, 1940, Page graduated as the salutatorian
Salutatorian
Salutatorian is an academic title given, in the United States and Canada, to the second highest graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. This honor is traditionally based on grade point average and number of credits taken, but...

 of her high school class with a scholarship. She enrolled at George Peabody College
Peabody College
Peabody College of Education and Human Development was founded in 1875 when the University of Nashville, located in Nashville, Tennessee, split into two separate educational institutions...

, with the intention of becoming a teacher. However, the next fall she began studying acting, hoping to become a movie star. At the same time, she got her first job, typing for author Alfred Leland Crabb
Alfred Leland Crabb
Alfred Leland Crabb was an American author of historical novels.- Life History :...

. Page graduated from Peabody with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree in 1944.

In 1943, she married high school classmate Billy Neal in a simple courthouse ceremony shortly before he was drafted
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...

 into the Navy for World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. For the next few years, she moved from San Francisco to Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

 to Miami and to Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....

, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

, where she felt a special affinity with the country and its culture. In November 1947, back in the United States, she filed for divorce.

Modeling career

Following her divorce, Page worked briefly in San Francisco, and in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

. In 1949, she moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, where she hoped to find work as an actress. In the meantime, she supported herself by working as a secretary. In 1950, while walking along the Coney Island
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....

 shore, she met Jerry Tibbs, a police officer with an interest in photography. She was a willing model, and Tibbs took pictures of her and put together her first pinup portfolio.

In late-1940s America, "camera clubs" were formed to circumvent laws restricting the production of nude photos. These clubs existed, ostensibly, to promote artistic photography; but in reality, many were merely fronts for the making of pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...

. Page entered the field of "glamour photography
Glamour photography
Glamour photography is a genre of photography whereby the subjects, usually female, are portrayed in a romantic or sexually alluring way. The subjects may be fully clothed or seminude, but glamour photography stops short of deliberately arousing the viewer and being pornographic photography.Glamour...

" as a popular camera club model, working initially with photographer Cass Carr. Her lack of inhibition in posing made her a hit. Her name and image became quickly known in the erotic photography industry; in 1951, her image appeared in men's magazines such as Wink, Titter, Eyefull and Beauty Parade.
From 1952 through 1957, she posed for photographer Irving Klaw
Irving Klaw
Irving Klaw was an American photographer and filmmaker.Klaw is best-known for operating a mail-order business selling photographs and film of attractive women from the 1940s to the 1960s...

 for mail-order photographs with pin-up, bondage
Bondage (BDSM)
Bondage is the use of restraints for the sexual pleasure of the parties involved. It may be used in its own right, as in the case of rope bondage and breast bondage, or as part of sexual activity or BDSM activity.- Private bondage :...

 or sadomasochistic themes, making her the first famous bondage model
Fetish model
A fetish model is a model who models fetish clothing or devices that augment his or her body in a fetish manner or in fetishistic situations, though he or she may not work exclusively in that form of modeling....

. Klaw also used Page in dozens of short, black-and-white 8mm and 16mm "specialty" films, which catered to specific requests from his clientele. These silent featurettes showed women clad in lingerie and high heels, acting out fetish
Sexual fetishism
Sexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, is the sexual arousal a person receives from a physical object, or from a specific situation. The object or situation of interest is called the fetish, the person a fetishist who has a fetish for that object/situation. Sexual fetishism may be regarded, e.g...

istic scenarios of abduction, domination, and slave-training; bondage, spanking, and elaborate leather costumes and restraints were included periodically. Page alternated between playing a stern dominatrix
Dominatrix
Dominatrix or mistress is a woman or women who takes the dominant role in bondage, discipline and sadomasochism, or BDSM. A common form of address for a submissive to a dominatrix is "mistress", "ma'am", "domina" or "maîtresse"...

, and a helpless victim bound hand and foot. Klaw also produced a line of still photos taken during these sessions. Some have become iconic images, such as his highest-selling photo of Page—shown gagged and bound in a web of ropes, from the film Leopard Bikini Bound. Although these "underground
Underground film
An underground film is a film that is out of the mainstream either in its style, genre, or financing.-Definition and history:The first use of the term "underground film" occurs in a 1957 essay by American film critic Manny Farber, "Underground Films." Farber uses it to refer to the work of...

" features had the same crude style and clandestine distribution as the pornographic "stag" films of the time, Klaw's all-female films (and still photos) never featured any nudity or explicit sexual content.

In 1953, Page took acting classes at the Herbert Berghof Studio, which led to several roles on stage and television. She appeared on The United States Steel Hour
The United States Steel Hour
The United States Steel Hour is an anthology series which brought hour-long dramas to television from 1953 to 1963. The television series and the radio program that preceded it were both sponsored by the United States Steel Corporation....

and The Jackie Gleason Show
The Jackie Gleason Show
The Jackie Gleason Show is the name of a series of popular American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970.-Cavalcade of Stars:...

. Her Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

 productions included Time is a Thief and Sunday Costs Five Pesos. Page acted and danced in the feature-length burlesque revue film Striporama
Striporama
Striporama is a 1953 comedy film directed by Jerald Intrator. The film starred a number of burlesque comedy, dance and striptease acts that were popular during the early 1950s. Today, it is best known as one of the few feature films starring pin-up model Bettie Page.-Plot:A meeting of the “Council...

by Jerald Intrator. She was given a brief speaking role, the only time her voice has been captured on film. She then appeared in two more burlesque films by Irving Klaw (Teaserama
Teaserama
-Plot:This is a compilation of several 1950s burlesque acts, so there's no real plot to summarize. There are some strippers, some stand-up comics of the take-my-wife-please variety and cult favorite Bettie Page who introduces the acts and frames the film by strutting her stuff.- Cast :*Bettie Page...

and Varietease). These featured exotic dance routines and vignettes by Page and well-known striptease artists Lili St. Cyr
Lili St. Cyr
Lili St. Cyr , was a prominent American burlesque stripper.- Early years :She was born as Willis Marie Van Schaack in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1918. She had a sister, Rosemary Van Schaack Minsky...

 and Tempest Storm
Tempest Storm
Tempest Storm is the stage name of an American stripper, burlesque star, and motion picture actress. Along with Lili St. Cyr and Blaze Starr, she was one of the best known burlesque performers of the 1950s and 1960s. She is regarded as having one of the longest careers as a burlesque performer,...

. All three films were mildly risque, but none showed any nudity or overtly sexual content.

In 1954, during one of her annual vacations to Miami, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, Page met photographers Jan Caldwell, H. W. Hannau and Bunny Yeager
Bunny Yeager
Bunny Yeager is an American photographer and former pin-up model.Born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. Yeager became one of the most photographed models in Miami. After retiring from modeling, she began her career behind the camera. She met Bettie Page in 1954, and took most of her photographs...

. At that time, Page was the top pin-up model in New York. Yeager, a former model and aspiring photographer, signed Page for a photo session at the now-closed wildlife park Africa USA
Africa U.S.A. Park
Africa USA was an African wildlife tourist attraction that was open from 1953 until 1961. The park was located in Boca Raton, Florida on of land near U.S. 1. Africa USA was truly a theme park before its time, with animals allowed to roam free...

 in Boca Raton, Florida
Boca Raton, Florida
Boca Raton is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, USA, incorporated in May 1925. In the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 74,764; the 2006 population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 86,396. However, the majority of the people under the postal address of Boca Raton, about...

. The Jungle Bettie photographs from this shoot are among her most celebrated. They include nude shots with a pair of cheetah
Cheetah
The cheetah is a large-sized feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species' paws...

s named Mojah and Mbili. The leopard skin patterned Jungle Girl outfit she wore was made, along with much of her lingerie, by Page herself. A large collection of the Yeager photos, and Klaw's, were published in the book Bettie Page Confidential (St. Martin's Press, 1994).
After Yeager sent shots of Page to Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...

founder Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...

, he selected one to use as the Playmate of the Month centerfold in the January 1955 issue of the two-year-old magazine. The famous photo shows Page, wearing only a Santa hat, kneeling before a Christmas tree holding an ornament and playfully winking at the camera.

In 1955, Page won the title "Miss Pinup Girl of the World". She also became known as "The Queen of Curves" and "The Dark Angel". While pin-up and glamour models frequently have careers measured in months, Page was in demand for several years, continuing to model until 1957. Although she frequently posed nude, she never appeared in scenes with explicit sexual content.

In 1957, Page gave "expert guidance" to the FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...

 regarding the production of "flagellation and bondage pictures" in Harlem.

The reasons reported for her departure from modeling vary. Some reports mention the Kefauver
Estes Kefauver
Carey Estes Kefauver July 26, 1903 – August 10, 1963) was an American politician from Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S...

 Hearings
of the United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce (after a young man apparently died during a session of bondage which was rumored to be inspired by bondage images featuring Page). In fact, the Senate committee called her to testify to explain the photos in which she appeared, but then excused her from testifying; however, the print negatives of many of her photos were subsequently destroyed by court order, which ended Klaw's bondage and S&M mail-order photography business. For many years after, the negatives that survived were illegal to print. However, the most obvious reason for ending her modeling career and severing all contact with her prior life was her conversion to born-again Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 while living in Key West, Florida
Key West, Florida
Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...

 in 1959 in combination with the 1957 trials.

Years out of the spotlight

Photographer Sam Menning
Sam Menning
Sam Menning was an American character actor and photographer.Menning began his career in the 1950s as a photographer in New York City before switching to acting during the 1980s. His talent agent, Bonnie Howard, made him her first professional client...

 was the last person to photograph a pin-up of Page before her retirement.

On New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...

 1958, during one of her regular visits to Key West, Florida
Key West, Florida
Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...

 Page attended a service at what is now the Key West Temple Baptist Church. She found herself drawn to the multiracial
Multiracial
The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...

 environment and started to attend on a regular basis. She would in time attend three bible colleges, including the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

 and, briefly, a Christian retreat known as "Bibletown", part of the Boca Raton Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida.

She dated industrial designer Richard Arbib
Richard Arbib
Richard Arbib visionary American industrial designer.-Family:Richard Henry Arbib was the son of Robert Simeon Arbib, Sr...

 in the 1950s. She then married Armond Walterson in 1958; they divorced in 1963.

During the 1960s, she attempted to become a Christian missionary in Africa, but was rejected for having had a divorce. Over the next few years she worked for various Christian organizations before settling in Nashville in 1963. She worked full time for Rev. Billy Graham
Billy Graham
William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...

.

She briefly remarried Billy Neal, her first husband, who helped her to gain entrance into missionary work; however, the two divorced again shortly thereafter. She returned to Florida in 1967, and married again, to Harry Lear, but this marriage also ended in divorce in 1972.

She moved to Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

 in 1979. There she had a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...

 and had an altercation with her landlady. The doctors that examined her diagnosed her with acute schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...

, and she spent 20 months in a state mental hospital in San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area , and serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States...

. After a fight with another landlord she was arrested for assault, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity and placed under state supervision for eight years. She was released in 1992 from Patton State Hospital
Patton State Hospital
Patton State Hospital is a psychiatric hospital located in San Bernardino, California.Opened in 1893 as the Southern California State Asylum for the Insane and Inebriates, it was renamed Patton State Hospital after Harry Patton, a member of the first Board of Managers, in 1927.Patton is a state...

 in San Bernardino County.

A cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...

 was built around her during the 1980s, of which she was unaware. This renewed attention was focused on her pinup and lingerie modeling rather than those depicting sexual fetishes or bondage
Bondage
Bondage may refer to:*Debt bondage, a modern form of slavery in which people are bound by debt, rather than legal ownership*Bondage , the practice of tying people up for pleasure*Self-bondage, the practice of tying oneself up for pleasure...

, and she gained a certain public redemption and popular status as an icon of erotica from a bygone era. This attention also raised the question among her new fans of what happened to her after the 1950s. The 1990s edition of the popular Book of Lists
The Book of Lists
The Book of Lists refers to any one of a series of books compiled by David Wallechinsky, his father best selling author Irving Wallace and sister Amy Wallace....

included Page in a list of once-famous celebrities who had seemingly vanished from the public eye.

Revival

In 1976, Eros Publishing Co. published A Nostalgic Look at Bettie Page, a mixture of photos from the 1950s. Between 1978 and 1980, Belier Press published four volumes of Betty Page: Private Peeks, reprinting pictures from the private camera club sessions, which reintroduced Page to a new but small cult following. In 1983, London Enterprises released In Praise of Bettie Page — A Nostalgic Collector's Item, reprinting camera club photos and an old cat fight photo shoot.

In the early 1980s, comic book artist Dave Stevens
Dave Stevens
Dave Stevens was an American illustrator and comics artist. He is most famous for creating The Rocketeer comic book and film character, and for his pin-up style "glamour art" illustrations, especially of model Bettie Page...

 based the female love interest of his hero Cliff Secord (alias "The Rocketeer
The Rocketeer
The Rocketeer is a superhero created by writer/illustrator Dave Stevens. The character first appeared in 1982 and is a homage to the Saturday matinee heroes of the 1930s and 1940s....

") on Page. In 1987, Greg Theakston
Greg Theakston
Greg Allen Theakston is an American comics artist and illustrator who has worked for numerous publishers. In addition to his many contributions to books and magazines, he is known for developing the Theakstonizing process used in comics restoration. He has used the pseudonym Earl P...

 started a fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...

 called The Betty Pages and recounted tales of her life, particularly the camera club days. For the next seven years, the magazine sparked a worldwide interest in Page. Women dyed their hair and cut it into bangs in an attempt to emulate the "Dark Angel". The media caught wind of the phenomenon and wrote numerous articles about her, more often than not with Theakston's help. Since almost all of her photos were in the public domain, opportunists launched related products and cashed in on the burgeoning craze.

In a 1993 telephone interview with Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous is a television series that aired in syndication from 1984 to 1995. The show featured the extravagant lifestyles of wealthy entertainers, athletes and business moguls....

Page told host Robin Leach
Robin Leach
Robin Douglas Leach is an English celebrity writer famous for hosting his first show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, in the mid-1980s and into the mid-1990s, which focused on profiling well-known celebrities and their lavish homes, cars and other materialistic endeavors...

 that she had been unaware of the resurgence of her popularity, stating that she was "penniless and infamous". Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...

produced a segment on her. Page, who was living in a group home
Group home
A group home is a private residence designed or converted to serve as a non-secure home for unrelated persons who share a common characteristic.-Types of group homes:...

 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, was astounded when she saw the E.T. piece, having had no idea that she had suddenly become famous again. Greg Theakston contacted her and extensively interviewed her for The Betty Page Annuals V.2.

Shortly after, Page signed with Chicago-based agent James Swanson. Three years later, nearly penniless and failing to receive any royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...

, Page fired Swanson and signed with Curtis Management Group, a company which also represented the James Dean
James Dean
James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...

 and Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....

 estates
Estate (law)
An estate is the net worth of a person at any point in time. It is the sum of a person's assets - legal rights, interests and entitlements to property of any kind - less all liabilities at that time. The issue is of special legal significance on a question of bankruptcy and death of the person...

. She then began collecting payments which ensured her financial security.

After Jim Silke made a large format comic featuring her likeness, Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...

 published a comic based on her fictional adventures in the 1990s. Eros Comics published several Bettie Page titles, the most popular being the tongue-in-cheek Tor Love Bettie which suggested a romance between Page and wrestler-turned-Ed Wood film actor, Tor Johnson
Tor Johnson
Tor Johansson , better known by the stage name Tor Johnson, was a Swedish professional wrestler and actor....

.

The question of what Page did in the obscure years after modeling was answered in part with the publication of an official biography in 1996, Bettie Page: The Life of a Pin-up Legend. That year, Bettie Page granted an exclusive one-on-one TV interview to entertainment reporter Tim Estiloz for a short-lived NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 morning magazine program Real Life to help publicize the book. The interview featured her reminiscing about her career and relating anecdotes about her personal life, as well as photos from her personal collection. At Page's request, her face was not shown. The interview was broadcast only once.

Another biography, The Real Bettie Page: The Truth about the Queen of Pinups written by Richard Foster and published in 1997, told a less happy tale.
Foster's book immediately provoked attacks from her fans, including Hefner and Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...

, as well as a statement from Page that it was "full of lies," because they were not pleased that the book revealed a Los Angeles County Sheriff's police report that stated that she suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and, at age 56, had stabbed her elderly landlords on the afternoon of April 19, 1979 in an unprovoked attack during a fit of insanity. However, Steve Brewster, founder of The Bettie Scouts of America fan club, has stated that it is not as unsympathetic as the book's reputation makes it to be. Brewster adds that he also read the chapter about her business dealings with Swanson, and stated that Page was pleased with that part of her story.

In 1997, E! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and well-known public figures...

aired a feature on Page entitled, Bettie Page: From Pinup to Sex Queen.

In a late-1990s interview, Page stated she would not allow any current pictures of her to be shown because of concerns about her weight. However, in 1997, Page changed her mind and agreed to a rare television interview for the aforementioned E! True Hollywood Story/Page special on the condition that the location of the interview and her face not be revealed (she was shown with her face and dress electronically blacked out). In 2003, Page allowed a publicity picture to be taken of her for the August 2003 edition of Playboy. In 2006, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

ran an article headlined A Golden Age for a Pinup, covering an autographing session at her current publicity company, CMG Worldwide. Once again, she declined to be photographed, saying that she would rather be remembered as she was.

In a 1998 interview with Playboy, she commented on her career:
Within the last few years, she had hired a law firm to help her recoup some of the profits being made with her likeness.

According to MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

: "Katy Perry
Katy Perry
Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...

's rocker bangs and throwback skimpy jumpers. Madonna's
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

  Sex
Sex (book)
Sex is a coffee table book written by Madonna with photographs by Steven Meisel Studio and film frames taken from film shot by Fabien Baron. The book was edited by Glenn O'Brien. Sex was released on October 21, 1992 by Warner Books...

book and fascination with bondage gear. Rihanna
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...

's obsession with all things leather, lace and second-skin binding. Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman
Uma Karuna Thurman is an American actress and model. She has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action movies. Among her best-known roles are those in the Quentin Tarantino films Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill...

 in Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (film)
Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...

. The SuicideGirls
SuicideGirls
SuicideGirls is a website that features softcore pornography and text profiles of goth, punk and indie-styled young women who are known as the "Suicide Girls"...

 Web site. The Pussycat Dolls
Pussycat Dolls
The Pussycat Dolls are an American pop girl group and dance ensemble based in Los Angeles; currently consisting of Lauren Bennett, Vanessa Curry, Kristal "Lyndriette" Smith, Tiffany "Taz" Zavala, Kia Hampton and Paula Van Oppen. The Pussycat Dolls were founded by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995...

. The entire career of Marilyn Manson's
Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...

 ex-wife Dita Von Teese
Dita Von Teese
Dita Von Teese is an American burlesque dancer, model, costume designer, author and actress.-Early life:...

" would not have been possible without Page.

Death

According to long-time friend and business agent Mark Roesler
Mark Roesler
Mark Roesler is an American intellectual property rights lawyer and business entrepreneur. He is the chairman, CEO and founder of CMG Worldwide, a marketing and management firm that is the business agent for over 200 of the world's most recognizable celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe, James...

, on December 6, 2008, Bettie Page was hospitalized in critical condition. Roesler was quoted by the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

 as saying Page had suffered a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

 and by Los Angeles television station KNBC
KNBC
KNBC, channel 4, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KNBC's studios and offices are located within the NBC Studios complex in Burbank, California, and its transmitter is located on Mount Wilson...

 as claiming Page was suffering from pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

. A family friend said Page was in a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...

, a claim not denied by Roesler. Her family eventually agreed to discontinue life support, and she died at 18:41 PST on December 11, 2008.

She is buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
The Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery is a cemetery in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles, California. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood....

. Her headstone lists her name as "Bettie Mae Page" and includes the legend "Queen of the Pin-Ups".

Filmography

  • Striporama
    Striporama
    Striporama is a 1953 comedy film directed by Jerald Intrator. The film starred a number of burlesque comedy, dance and striptease acts that were popular during the early 1950s. Today, it is best known as one of the few feature films starring pin-up model Bettie Page.-Plot:A meeting of the “Council...

    (1953)
  • Varietease (1954)
  • Teaserama
    Teaserama
    -Plot:This is a compilation of several 1950s burlesque acts, so there's no real plot to summarize. There are some strippers, some stand-up comics of the take-my-wife-please variety and cult favorite Bettie Page who introduces the acts and frames the film by strutting her stuff.- Cast :*Bettie Page...

    (1955)
  • Irving Klaw Bondage Classics, Volume I (London Enterprises, 1984)
  • Irving Klaw Bondage Classics, Volume II (London Enterprises, 1984)
  • Bettie Page: Pin Up Queen (Cult Epics, 2005)
  • Bettie Page: Bondage Queen (Cult Epics, 2005)
  • 100 Girls by Bunny Yeager (Cult Epics, 2005)
  • Bizarro Sex Loops, Volume 4 (Something Weird Video
    Something Weird Video
    Something Weird Video is an American publisher of video tapes and DVDs, based in Seattle, Washington. They specialize in exploitation film, particularly the works of Harry Novak, Doris Wishman, David F. Friedman, and Herschell Gordon Lewis. SWV videos are available on demand to Comcast subscribers...

    , 2007)
  • Bizarro Sex Loops, Volume 20 (Something Weird Video, 2008)

DVDs

Most, if not all, of Page's existing films have been reissued on DVD, such as Bettie Page: Varietease/Teaserama, as well as a collection of five shorts called Betty Page in Bondage. In 1984, London Enterprises, a producer of S&M films, added music and narration to 28 of Klaw's silent fetish movies for the two-volume video Irving Klaw Bondage Classics. Page appears in half of these featurettes. In 2005, both volumes were released on a single DVD by Cult Epics as Bettie Page: Bondage Queen.

A compilation of her burlesque dancing performances from Striporama, Varietease, and Teaserama plus The Exotic Dances of Bettie Page (13 black-and-white dancing and cat-fight shorts) are on the Cult Epics DVD release Bettie Page: Pin Up Queen.

The DVD 100 Girls by Bunny Yeager (also by Cult Epics) is a documentary with behind-the-scenes footage on Yeager's photo sessions with Page and other pin-up models. Page also appears in another set of Irving Klaw bondage reels in Bizarro Sex Loops, Volume 20, a collection of vintage fetish shorts produced by Something Weird Video
Something Weird Video
Something Weird Video is an American publisher of video tapes and DVDs, based in Seattle, Washington. They specialize in exploitation film, particularly the works of Harry Novak, Doris Wishman, David F. Friedman, and Herschell Gordon Lewis. SWV videos are available on demand to Comcast subscribers...

.

Biopics

In 2004, Cult Epics produced the biographical film Bettie Page: Dark Angel
Bettie Page: Dark Angel
Bettie Page: Dark Angel is a 2004 film directed and produced by Cult Epics founder Nico B.Bettie Page is played by fetish model Paige Richards. The film premiered at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival in February 2004....

. This low-budget straight-to-disc biopic centers on the 1953–1957 Irving Klaw period, faithfully recreating six lost fetish films she did for Klaw. Model Paige Richards plays the title role.

Another biographical movie, The Notorious Bettie Page
The Notorious Bettie Page
The Notorious Bettie Page is a 2005 American biographical film directed by Mary Harron. The screenplay by Harron and Guinevere Turner focuses on 1950s pinup and bondage model Bettie Page.-Plot:...

(2005), follows her life from the mid-1930s through the late-1950s. It stars actress Gretchen Mol
Gretchen Mol
Gretchen Mol is an American actress and former model. She is known for her roles in films like Rounders, Celebrity, 3:10 to Yuma, The Thirteenth Floor,and The Notorious Bettie Page, where she played the title character...

 as the adult Page. Bonus footage added to the DVD release includes rare color film from the 1950s of Page playfully undressing and striking various nude poses for the camera.

Academy Award nominated director Mark Mori
Mark Mori
Mark Mori is an American documentary filmmaker, television producer and screenwriter of documentary and reality television series and specials. He is producing and directing, Bettie Page Reveals All, the authorized documentary film on life of pin-up model, Bettie Page, scheduled for release in 2011...

 is scheduled to release the official authorized documentary biography, Bettie Page Reveals All in 2010. After more than 10 years of working with Bettie Page this film provides a unique look into her life. The film contains exclusive interviews with Bettie Page and important figures in her life and career, such as Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...

.

Guitars

In 2006, Page and Halo Guitars collaborated to produce a limited edition of custom guitars, released at the 2007 Winter NAMM show in southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. The total run of one hundred guitars were hand-made and designed by luthier
Luthier
A luthier is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with a term for the specialty of each maker, such as violinmaker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc...

 Waylon Ford, art was designed by Pamelina H. and the only collector guitar series authorized by Bettie Page.

In popular culture

  • In one of his numerous fictional back-page biographical sketches, Harlan Ellison
    Harlan Ellison
    Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...

     claimed to be "writing a biography of Bettie Page for young adults".
  • Alternative country band BR5-49
    BR5-49
    BR549 is an American country music band. Founded in 1993, the band originally comprised Gary Bennett , Don Herron , "Smilin'" Jay McDowell , Chuck Mead , and "Hawk" Shaw Wilson...

     recorded an ode to Page named "Bettie, Bettie" on their 1996 debut EP Live From Robert's. In interviews, Page stated that this was her favorite of the songs written about her.
  • The Jazz Butcher
    Jazz Butcher
    The Jazz Butcher, also known as The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy and The Jazz Butcher And His Sikkorskis From Hell, are a British musical group founded by Pat Fish.-History:...

     included the song "Just Like Betty Page" on the 1984 album, A Scandal in Bohemia, using Page for a simile in the chorus "You have me/As far as I can see/roped and trussed just like dear Betty Page."
  • The BD-3000 luxury droid in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
    Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
    Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the sixth and final film released in the Star Wars saga and the third in terms of the series' internal chronology....

    was inspired by Bettie Page.
  • Beyoncé pays homage to Bettie Page in her music video for "Video Phone".
  • Swedish concept band DC-Pöbeln (a.k.a. Dagcenterpöbeln) from Örebro
    Örebro
    -Sites of interest:Örebro's old town Wadköping is located on the banks of Svartån . It contains many 18th and 19th century wooden houses, along with museums and exhibitions....

     put Bettie Page on the cover of their only record Bettan/Dödgrävaren in 1985.
  • In a Venture Bros. episode, the then-Lady au Pair (later Dr Girlfriend) is looking for a villainess costume, and is offered the "Bettie Rage" model.
  • In Quentin Tarantino
    Quentin Tarantino
    Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...

    's film Death Proof
    Death Proof
    Death Proof is a 2007 American action thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film centers on a psychopathic stunt man who stalks young women before murdering them in staged car accidents using his "death-proof" stunt car...

    , Rosario Dawson
    Rosario Dawson
    Rosario Isabel Dawson is an American actress, singer, and writer. She has appeared in films such as Kids, Men in Black II, 25th Hour, Sin City, Clerks II, Rent, Death Proof, The Rundown, Eagle Eye, Alexander, Seven Pounds, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Unstoppable.-Early...

     pays homage to Page with her trademark haircut.
  • In Seattle, Washington
    Seattle, Washington
    Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

    , a homeowner became the subject of a short-lived controversy when he had an artist friend paint a large mural of Page on the side of his home. The mural is visible from Interstate 5
    Interstate 5
    Interstate 5 is the main Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific Ocean coastline from Canada to Mexico . It serves some of the largest cities on the U.S...

    , just south of the 65th Street exit.
  • Norwegian deathpunk band Turbonegro
    Turbonegro
    Turbonegro is a Norwegian punk rock band that was initially active from 1989 to 1998, and later reformed in 2002. Their style combines glam rock, punk rock and hard rock into a style the band describes as "deathpunk"....

     song (I Fucked) Betty Page appears on the single Denim Demon
    Denim Demon
    "Denim Demon" is a single from the Norwegian band Turbonegro from their 1996 album Ass Cobra released on 7" Vinyl in 1995 by Munster Records.The back sleeve shows a pic of Turbonegro's fairly unknown afro wig look. Munster re-issued this single in June 1998 due to public demand....

    , recorded in 1995.

External links

  • TheBettiePage.com, web guide to Bettie Page
  • BettieVille.com, Dave's Bettie Page Page, a tribute and guide
  • BettiePageMovie.com, "Bettie Page Reveals All", authorized biography film.
  • Bettie Page (1923–2008) - slideshow by The First Post
    The First Post
    The First Post is a British daily online news magazine based in London. It was launched in August 2005. It publishes news, current affairs, lifestyle, opinion, arts and sports pages, and it features an online games arcade and a cinema featuring short films, virals, trailers and eyewitness news...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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