In the 1950’s Bettie Page was immortalized in black and white. Black stocking garters and white skin, that is. She is the legend in the fetish model genre. In the 60s, Page stopped having her picture taken for the most part, so in most people’s mind, she is still the gorgeous woman with the short black bangs and winning smile posing in bdsm and topless photos that her era found shocking. And that’s why the news that Ms. Bettie, now 85, is in intensive care after suffering a heart attack on Friday, is so shocking now.
Bettie Page, a 1950s pinup known for her raven-haired bangs and saucy come-hither looks, was hospitalized in intensive care after suffering a heart attack, her agent said Friday.
“She’s critically ill,” Mark Roesler of CMG Worldwide told The Associated Press.
He said the 85-year-old had been hospitalized for the last three weeks with pneumonia and was about to be released when she had the heart attack Tuesday. Page was transferred to another hospital in Los Angeles and remained in intensive care Friday.
A family friend, Todd Mueller, said Page was in a coma. When asked to confirm, Roesler said, “I would not deny that,” but he would not comment further on her condition.
[From MSN Entertainment]
Bettie Page is easily the most recognizable fetish pinup girl of all time. She is the image upon which all other pinup/fetish models are measured, and precious few can come even close. Page revolutionized the topless pinup image and brought it more into the mainstream than any other model in history. Without Bettie Page, there would be no Dita.
It’s difficult for me to comprehend that Bettie Page is 85. She’s been immortalized at a stunning 30-years old by thousands of photos, art images, tattoos, films and the movie The Notorious Bettie Page, which is a great movie if you’re a fan. I thought Gretchen Moll did an excellent job of telling Bettie’s story. A pretty girl who happened into a scene that made her an sex icon, and she was spanked with a smile!
Best wishes Bettie Page.
I hope Dita sends her flowers
Get well soon, Bettie!
Oh no! Get better Bettie!
Bettie Page rocks.
@Xiao: Dita should be sending her a percentage…
Sadly, she denounced that entire period of her life once she found jebus and has said she regrets ever participating in the photo shoots.
Sometimes I wish folks could just embrace that what they were/did for whatever reason started a movement and accept credit or ignore it without smacking it down.
Either way, I hope she recovers and that DVT sends her a quart of blood or flowers or something.
I hope she found peace during the course of her life after the 1950’s.
It seems like she did the racy pictures for the money and not because bondage fetishes were her thing. Since eventually she couldn’t do those pictures any more, obviously it just wasn’t her thing to begin with. She just needed the money.
God bless you Bettie Page!
I always found her post-pinup life more interesting. You know, when she became a paranoid schizophrenic and went around stabbing old people. Yikes!
True Baho
It’s a shame her image isn’t making her a dime.
@LOL
she came round around a few years back. she finally realized she shouldn’t be ashamed of what she did. she talked about it in a playboy interview in 06 or 07. a good read if you can get hold of it.
Did she really become schizo?
Rosebudd, she did. She’s been insane on and off since her modeling career ended. She attacked an elderly couple with a knife in 1979.
i don’t know how she looked so innocent looking in those pictures, but i guess that’s her appeal. But honestly, i didn’t know she was still alive.
wondergirl, take care and god bless…
it really is sad that her later popularity never made her a dime. she got paid her modeling fee at the time the pictures were taken, but all those products that have her image on them, she never saw a penny from all that. 😥
From the moment I discoverd Bettie Page when I was 17 I was enthralled with her, I began collecting anything i could with her likeness on it, I have three Bettie Page books and the move The Notorius Bettie Page and will be gettingThe Dark Angel as well…b/c even though she has passed away she will never leave my mind b/c she waill always be the essence of beauty to me.