
Klaw also used Page in dozens of short, black-and-white 8mm and 16mm “specialty” films, which catered to specific requests from his clientele. In 1951, Bettie’s image appeared in men’s magazines such as Wink, Titter, Eyefull and Beauty Parade.įrom late 1951 or early 1952 through 1957, she posed for photographer Irving Klaw for mail-order photographs with pin-up and BDSM themes, making her the first famous bondage model. Her lack of inhibition in posing made her a hit, and her name and image became quickly known in the erotic photography industry. Page entered the field of “glamour photography” as a popular camera club model, working initially with photographer Cass Carr. These camera clubs existed ostensibly to promote artistic photography, but in reality, many were merely fronts for the making of adult content.

In late-1940s America, “camera clubs” were formed to circumvent laws restricting the production of nude photos. Bangs soon became an integral part of her distinctive look. Tibbs suggested to Bettie that she style her hair with bangs in front, to keep light from reflecting off her high forehead when being photographed.
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In exchange for allowing him to photograph her, he would help make up her first pin-up portfolio, free of charge. He suggested she would be a good pin-up model. In 1950, while walking along the Coney Island shore, Bettie met NYPD Officer Jerry Tibbs, who was an avid photographer, and he gave Bettie his card.

Within weeks, she returned to New York, becoming secretary to a real-estate developer and an insurance broker who shared offices in the Eastern Airlines Building at Rockefeller Plaza. In late 1947, Page moved to New York City, where she hoped to find work as an actress Within days she became the victim of a sexual assault by a group of men, and retreated home to Nashville, where she briefly worked for local railroad service. The latter part of Page’s life was marked by depression, violent mood swings, and several years in a state psychiatric hospital with paranoid schizophrenia. In 1959, Page converted to evangelical Christianity and worked for Billy Graham, studying at Bible colleges in Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, with the intent of becoming a missionary. After years in obscurity, she experienced a resurgence of popularity in the 1980s. Page was “Miss January 1955,” one of the earliest Playmates of the Month for Playboy Magazine. There, she found work as a pin-up model, and she posed for dozens of photographers throughout the 1950s. Her trademark short bangs, natural brunette hair, sparkling blue eyes, and voluptuous figure was and is still influential to artists.Īfter her death, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner called her “a remarkable lady, an iconic figure in pop culture who influenced sexuality, taste in fashion, someone who had a tremendous impact on our society”.Ī native of Nashville, Tennessee, Page lived in California in her early adult years before moving to New York City to pursue work as an actress. Popularly referred to as the Queen of Pinups, she was famous for her free-spirited demeanor and unabashed sensuality. Bettie Page: Vintage photos of the "Queen of Pinups", 1950sīettie Page ( born in 1923) was an American model who gained notoriety in the 1950s for her pin-up photos.
