Pinup queen Bettie Page dead at 85

Bettie Page, the brunet pinup queen with a shoulder-length pageboy hairdo and kitschy bangs whose saucy photos helped usher in the sexual revolution of the 1960s, has died. She was 85.

Page, whose later life was marked by depression, violent mood swings and several years in a state mental institution, died at a Los Angeles hospital where she had been on life support since she had a heart attack on Dec. 2, according to her agent, Mark Roesler. A cult-culture figure, Page was most famous for the estimated 20,000 4-by-5-inch black-and-white glossy photographs taken by amateur shutterbugs from 1949 to 1957.

“Exactly what captures the imagination of people in terms of popular culture is something hard to define,” Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner once said of Page. “But in Bettie’s case, I’d say it’s a combination of wholesome innocence and fetish-oriented poses that is at once retro and very modern.”

--Louis Sahagun

Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[David]

We have just lost one of the most bautiful women of our age and she came of age when I was just a child.

[websinthe]

Peace at last for the poor girl. I doubt anyone has ever matched the sheer style she brought to the lense.

[skym]

A work of Art
You Will Always Be Beautiful
Rest In Peace

[DV8photo]

Sad day for the alt/retro/fetish world! Her Legacy will always live on.

[kenternst]

I was born in 1950. Betty was one of the first pin up girls I ever saw and I never got bored seeing any picture of her, even today. She was the most unique pin up ever. It is hard to describe what her image was to so many. She was pretty, she was sexy, she was the girl next door and the hottest fetish queen. You saw everything you wanted in a woman when you saw a picture of Betty Page. I am grateful for the Betty Page experience.

[moi]

I knew enough about Bettie Page that when I was at the Key Club a few years ago, I recognized her immediately in a video collage shown between bands. And I don’t even know how I knew it was her. That shows how much she has drifted into the common culture.
Since then, I’ve learned about her place in the history of pin-up pics.
I know that the late, great comic book artist Dave Stevens (The Rocketeer) championed her, protected her, and was her friend.
I know that she is still iconic to many artists in that particular field, and books about her – especially artists’ depictions of her – are still “hot.”
So much so, that I’ve actually worried for Ms. Page in a very protective way. Numerous artists have drawn her, and still do - which is a lovely compliment, but I’ve always hoped that Ms. Page has received benefit from the iconic image she has eventually become.
A truly iconic figure in American “kitsch” culture. I hope her last few years were satisfying, despite her hardships.

[Guy Martin]

I will forever remember her for her girl next door sexiness and beauty, her naughty charm that she projected in every photo that I have eve seen of her. Her appeal is and will forever be legend, and truly live on for a long time to come. I for one will keep Miss Page in my thoughts, and prayers.

Goodbye darling Betty...

Guy Martin

[Shauna Pennington]

Bettie will be missed by so many. She was loved by all and inspired many generations and will continue to do so for years to come!

[Michelle Peters]

I met Bettie on two occasions, a meeting I'll never forget. Was it the meeting? Was it our talk? it was being in the same room, her presents lit up a room. I will miss her. Michelle Peters

[Bonnie Burton]

Bettie was one of a kind, and she will be greatly missed.

I wrote my goodbye to the Queen of Curves on my fan site for her called The Bettie Page if any of you would like to read it: http://www.grrl.com/GoodbyeBettiePage.html

[Fred Shoemaker]

I was born in 1947 and first became aware of Bettie in the mid-sixties. Not long after the Kefauver hearings, she left New York and just . . . disappeared. It was years before she surfaced again. I remember the excitement when "The Bettie Pages" announced she was found. I always wanted to meet her but now . . . Does anyone know when and where is the funeral?

[Dan Storm]

She will be buried tomorrow at Westwood Memorial Cemetery in L.A. where Marilyn Monroe is also buried. It's a private ceremony, I don't know the time.

[david bracher]

Bless the queen of pin ups from her fans in london U.K