The “Queen of Pinups”, Ms. Bettie Page has been an icon since the 1950’s. Her early years were rough, she was abused by her father and lived in an orphanage for a year. In high school she maintained good grades and was voted, ” Most Likely to Succeed”. After college in 1943 she married a classmate who was soon after drafted to the Navy, they divorced three years later. In 1950, while walking along the Coney Island shore, she met, a police officer with an interest in photography. She was a willing model, he took pictures of her and put together her first pinup portfolio. Page entered the field of “glamour photography”, 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. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, selected one of Page’s pictures to use as the Playmate of the Month centerfold in the January 1955 issue of the then two-year-old magazine. 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”. Page unlike most pin-up girls was in demand for several years, continuing to model until 1957.
The latter part of her life was marked by depression, violent mood swings, and several years in a state psychiatric hospital. She lived comfortably thanks to Playboy and the royalties she made from her image. On December 11, 2008 at the age of 85 Bettie Page died in Los Angeles, California. In an interview with Associated Press, Hefner said of Page, “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”. Her headstone includes the words “Queen of Pin-Ups”.
