The Queen of Pin-ups

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Bettie Page was the second of six children born to Walter Roy Page & Edna Mae Pirtle. Though legally "Betty" - she started spelling her name with an "ie" instead as a child. Her family struggled plenty, frequently moving from place to place in search of stability, with her parents divorcing & Bettie and two of her sisters staying in a orphanage for a year at one point. Despite this, Bettie was a great student & was voted "Girl Most Likely to Succeed" - along with graduating as the salutatorian of her high school class. (She then went on to graduate college with a bachelor of arts - despite wanting to become a teacher initially.) Bettie married her first husband Billy in 1943, right before he shipped out for WW2 - and traveled to live between CA, TN, Florida, and Haiti.

After divorcing Billy in 1947, Bettie moved from California to New York City to pursue work as an actress. Once there, she apprenticed at a local theater and took on some acting classes & gigs - but most importantly found unexpected work as a pinup model - after a chance Coney Island meeting with Jerry Tibbs, a cop pursuing photography on the side. Once her first pinup portfolio was put together in 1950 - her modeling career quickly picked up speed, with Bettie frequently posing for "camera clubs" - and appearing in magazines like Beauty Parade and Wink.

One of these earl 50s "camera clubs" was with Irving Klaw for mail-order photos & short 8mm and 16mm films with pin-up and BDSM themes. Apparently the girls would only be paid for the whole afternoons shoot if they did "an hour of bondage" - so Bettie did exactly that, and now is considered the first famous bondage model because of it! She also shot a couple burlesque films with Klaw, alongside Lili St. Cyr and Tempest Storm.

She continued modeling in New York - but would also travel to Florida to shoot with Bunny Yeager among others, outdoors - on boats - with wild animals! In 1955, Bettie landed the centerfold spot in January's Playboy after Bunny Yeager submitted shots of her, and won the title “Miss Pinup Girl of the World". Pin up and glamour models of the time typically had short, months-long careers, but Bettie continued modeling through 1957.

In 1957, she stepped out of the spotlight at the height of her career - and settled down in Florida. (Later becoming a born-again Evangelist.) Between 1958 & 1972, she tried to become a missionary, attended three bible colleges, moved back to Nashville, re-enrolled in college (later dropping out), briefly remarried her first husband - moved back to Florida, and was divorced twice more. In her "new life" - when people would recognize her and ask if she was Bettie Page, she’d answer, “Who’s that?”. In 1978, she moved to Southern California - and had a nervous breakdown, was diagnosed with acute schizophrenia, and was later arrested for assault & placed under state supervision for 8 years.

Through the late 80s & early 90s - Bettie's modeling days had a resurgence of popularity, and she had no idea! Her brother, Jack then helped her get an agent - and tried to get her royalties for her work, but it was of course - a giant, legal, mess. In the meantime, numerous interviews, books & even comics were produced with Bettie's name attached - and sometimes her direct involvement. (Now that she was aware of being a not-so-cult superstar, of course. Though she did refuse to be photographed or taped, most of the time.) That's...a lot. And there's a lot I'm leaving out! There's a lot of speculation as to the why, and how of Bettie Page - and even now trying to stitch together conflicting accounts & quotes from Bettie herself is kind of a pain in the ass even with the amount of things I've watched and read about her life. I guess it's more fun to keep em guessing, right?

Bettie Page passed away in 2008, at 85 years old in Los Angeles.
(She is now buried at Westwood Memorial Park, LA. I wanted to visit her gravesite the last time I was in California but the weather foiled my plans. Looks like I'll have to go back!)