Bettie Page

Bettie Mae Page (born April 22, 1923), sometimes known as Betty Page, is an American model and pin-up girl, active mostly in the 1950s. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Page's parents divorced when she was 10 years old, forcing her and her sister to live for a year at an orphanage. A strong student in high school, she reportedly missed earning the title of school valedictorian and a scholarship to Vanderbilt University by a quarter of a grade point, but graduated from Peabody College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1943. She married Billy Neal, who had attended high school with her, but who shortly afterwards left her for active duty in World War II, and whom she divorced in 1947.

Her modelling career

After working briefly in Haiti as a secretary at a furniture company, she moved to New York City, where she supported herself as a secretary while looking for work as an actress. While she appeared in a couple of Off-Broadway plays in 1956, Page found her fame and success in modelling, first for camera clubs, then later for commercial redistribution. She learned of this line of work through a chance encounter in 1950 with Jerry Tibbs on a deserted beach at Coney Island. Tibbs also suggested her trademark bangs.

Related Topics:
Haiti - New York City - Off-Broadway - 1956 - Coney Island

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At first Page posed for camera clubs, sometimes in the nude, because the photographs were not to be published. In 1951 her image appeared on the cover of men's magazines with names like Eyeful, Wink, Titter, Black Nylons, or Beauty Parade. At the same time she posed for photographer Irving Klaw for mail-order photographs with a bondage or sado-masochistic theme, making her the first famous bondage model.

Related Topics:
Irving Klaw - Bondage - Sado-masochistic - Bondage model

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During one of the annual pilgrimages to the sun, sand and surf she adored, Bettie Page met Bunny Yeager in Miami, Florida in 1954. At that time Page was the top pin-up model in New York, and Bunny Yeager an aspiring photographer. Bunny signed Page for a photo session at the now defunct USA Africa Wildlife Park in Boca Raton, Florida. The "Jungle Bettie" photographs from this shoot are some of her most celebrated and include nude shots with a pair of cheetahs. The leopard skin patterned "Jungle Girl" outfit she wore for the shoot was made by Bettie herself.

Related Topics:
Bunny Yeager - Miami, Florida - Boca Raton, Florida - Cheetah

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After Bunny Yeager sent shots of Bettie Page to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, she was featured as "Playmate of the Month" and centerfold for Playboy magazine in its January 1955 issue. Bettie also became one of Hugh Hefner's obsessions. When Page was almost forced to file for bankruptcy, it was Hefner who bailed her out.

Related Topics:
Playboy - Hugh Hefner - Playmate of the Month

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In an industry where the average career of a model was measured in months, Page was in demand for several years, modelling until 1957. Although she frequently posed in the nude, she never appeared in any scenes with explicit sexual content. When Howard Hughes, movie maker and billionaire, sent her a letter asking to meet her, she declined.

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The reasons for her departure from modelling work are varied. Some authorities state she was burnt out and her marriage to Armand Walterson in 1958 was the cause. Others mention the "Kefauver Hearings" of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, which ended Irving Klaw's mail-order photography business. In any case, shortly after her marriage to Walterson, she had a religious conversion December 31, 1958, and severed all contact with the prior life. For many years, the last known facts of her life was her divorce from Walterson in the early 1960s, and that she was working as a secretary for a Christian organization.

Related Topics:
Kefauver - Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency

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