Bettie Page's Climb to Pin-up Stardom

Bettie Page was perhaps one of the biggest pin-up sensations of the 1950s, and she still has fans world wide craving her erotic appeal. Her tumultuous childhood didn't hold her back, and she was able to become one of the most successful and memorable models in American history. Numerous other pin-up girls modeled in Bettie’s era, but not a single one quite as bold as Ms. Page.

Childhood

In the town of Nashville, Tennessee on April 22 of 1923, Bettie Mae Page was born. She appeared to be an average country kid growing up, with no sign that she would become a fetish sensation. Bettie’s childhood was far from perfect. Her parents were never stable financially, which resulted in her frequently moving between houses. She had a total of six siblings, and she was the second born in her family. As an older child, she was responsible for caring for her younger siblings on a frequent basis. Her parents' names were Edna and Walter; however they didn’t remain together forever. At the tender age of only ten years, her parents divorced each other, which didn’t make the financial situation any better. Her mother tried to raise her children on her own, but it wasn’t something she was capable of doing, which resulted in Bettie and her two sisters being put in an orphanage for a year so that her mother could attempt to work more, and save more money.

Her teenage years were no less difficult financially, but Bettie began to develop new hobbies and interests, one of which was fashion. She and her sisters loved to do their hair and make up as if they were one of the movie stars or models they idolized. Bettie also learned to sew during her teen years. Her home life being the chaotic mess that it was, Bettie spent a lot of her time at community centers. Bettie was a student at Hume-Fogg High School. She devoted hours to her homework and school because education was important to her, and she was among the top ranking students at her high school. She was also actively involved in extra curricular activities such as drama club, student council as well as the school newspaper. Due to all of her hard work and persistency, Bettie graduated salutatorian of her class. This resulted in her earning a scholarship to Peabody College. She intended to study to become a teacher, and she graduated with her bachelors of arts.

Career

Bettie married her boyfriend, Billy Neal, in February of 1943. The two moved to San Francisco, which is how Bettie received her first modeling gig, as she modeled fur coats. She then moved around several times, and in 1947 divorced her husband, and moved to New York. In New York, Bettie met a man named Jerry Tibbs, and the photographs he would take of her would be the kick-start to the pinup portfolio she needed to begin her career as a model. It was Tibbs who introduced Bettie to other photographers to allow her career to expand even more. Bettie was now being featured in all kinds of famous cheesecake pinup magazines like Wink or Beauty Parade. It was at this time that Bettie emerged as a bondage model.

Modeling was not all Bettie came to New York for. She also received an internship at the Summer Theater in Long Island. This lead to her being involved in several New York Plays and being featured on TV as well, including the Jackie Gleason show. In 1955, Bettie was featured in Playboy as a centerfold and playmate of the month in January. Hugh Hefner was particularly fond of Bettie, and when she faced financial problems later in her life, Hefner was the person who helped her get through them.

For whatever reason, in 1957, Bettie seemed to disappear. As for why, various ideas are floating about. On November 26 of 1958, she married Armond Walterson, this is sited as one reason she may have left her modeling career behind. After her marriage, she reportedly moved around quite a bit and frequently switched jobs, a stressful situation. All of the stress resulted in her second divorce in 1963.

She, once again, remarried in 1967 to Harry Lear in Florida, and the two were divorced in the year of 1972. It was said that Bettie could become very violent with her husband, and two step children, which could have caused her marriage to fail. These events were written about in the Bettie Page biography: The Real Bettie Page: The Truth about the Queen of Pinups. However, Bettie has made statements claiming that the book slandered her with lies.

Revival and Later Life

In the late 1970’s, a Bettie Page revival stage was happening. Publishing companies began buying the rights to her photos and printing them in books, such as A Nostalgic Look at Bettie Page. This, along with much media coverage resulted in a wave of interest in the 80’s, and overnight Bettie was a pin-up icon once more. Sadly Bettie kept no rights to her photos, and was barely making enough money to survive as she lived in California at the time. In Bettie’s case, fame and fortune did not go together.

Bettie Page continued to remain secluded from the rest of the world, not even granting eager journalists the chance to interview her. Karen Essex and James L. Swanson, very persistent writers, managed to bring Bettie out of her shell with much persuasion. The two convinced Bettie to write her own autobiography, with Essex and Swanson as ghost writers. The book they wrote was titled Bettie Page: The Life of a Pinup Legend. The book is not merely a written biography, but a photo collection as well. The book was very candid and informative, but it still didn’t reveal why Bettie had decided to quit her modeling career. Fans would forever be left to speculate.

Bettie spent her late life enjoying her family in California, far away from the lime-light. At the Playboy 50th anniversary party in 2003, Bettie made her last public appearance.

On December 2, 2008, Bettie Page suffered a massive heart attack that left her on life support. After much deliberation and discussion with doctors, Bettie’s family stopped life support and she died on December 11, 2008. As one of the most photographed women in history, her legacy will surely live on through her pictures, for generations to come.