Bettie Page

Bettie Page is a former America model, who rose to popularity during the 1950s. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, she had a difficult childhood, with her parents divorcing when she was ten years old. She and her sister had to live in an orphanage for a year. These difficult years proved to teach some life skills and soon Bette picked up on doing make up, hairdos and sewing, all of which proved to be very useful to her in her days as a model.

Her break into the modeling scene began in the 1950’s when she came in magazines such as Wink, Titter, Eyeful and Beauty Parade. As she began work for photographer Irving Klaw, she turned into a successful and famous bondage model. At a time when glamour models, would not last in the scene for more than a couple of months, she was in demand for a long time. Finally with her interest to convert into Christianity, she gave up working as a model for good.

As with so many others like hers, she too would have faded into obscurity had it not been for a revival of interest in her life again by Eros Publishing, who published a book entitled ‘A Nostalgic Look at Bettie Page’, in 1976. Belier Press took up the thread from here and published ‘Betty Page: Private Peeks from 1978 to 1980’.

In 1987, Greg Theakston started the fanzine ‘The Betty Pages’ and this brought out details of Betty’s life as a model. Beyond all these revival attempts, it was, ‘Entertainment Tonight!’, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, which did a segment on her that threw the spotlight on her.

In 2005, a movie titled ‘The Notorious Bettie Page’ was released based on the story of Bettie Page’s life. Actress Gretchen Mol plays the role of Betty Page. Bettie Page is very much in the limelight for her role as a yesteryears model and she singed a special limited edition release of custom guitars from Halo Guitars in 2006.