Bettie Page was an unprecedentedly popular pin-up model whose controversial photos took the world by storm during the 1950s. However, she ended up disappearing from the public sphere soon afterwards. Bettie spent many decades away from the public spotlight before returning to give one final interview shortly before her death. During the time that Bettie was away, there was a great deal of mystery surrounding where she was. Though the late Bettie Page returned the public spotlight before her death, she refused to be photographed. Instead, she chose to be remembered the way she looked before. Join Facts Verse as we explore how Bette Page’s pin-up photos don’t tell the full story.
Bettie Page Was an Honor Student
Bettie Page was born in Kingsport, Tennessee, on April 22, 1923. While attending Hume Fogg High School in Nashville, Bettie was a model student. In fact, the future pin-up model was a homecoming queen with a place on her class’s honor roll. As she began coming of age, Bettie also began dreaming of becoming a star. Upon graduating from high school in 1941, Bettie went out to Hollywood.
With dreams of becoming a big-name actress, Bettie Page landed in Los Angeles and began screen testing for projects. Sadly, the future pin-up model didn’t find any success. Bettie Page had a few screen tests, but nothing came of them. According to Bettie, this occurred because she was unwilling to perform sexual favors for the men that she was screen testing for. The pin-up model would later go on to say, before disappearing from the public sphere altogether, that she was willing to sleep with someone to get ahead, but she wasn’t willing to sleep with everyone to get ahead.
In the years before her death, Bettie continued espousing the tale of how she didn’t make it in Hollywood because she wasn’t willing to sleep around enough. Given the sordid tales that have come out of Hollywood’s Golden Age, this story certainly checks out. However, there were other reasons that Bettie may have had trouble finding success in the traditional entertainment industry. For one thing, the future pin-up model had a strong Southern accent that she was unable to shake. For another thing, she wasn’t the best actress.
Bettie Page Wasn’t All That Promiscuous
Although Bettie Page would later become known for her work as a pin-up model, she wasn’t all that promiscuous over the course of lifetime. She was married three times, but it seems that she kept her hookups to a minimum. Bettie’s first marriage was to a sailor by the name of Billy Neal. They married in 1943 and divorced in 1947. Following the end of this marriage, Bettie decided to leave California and head out to New York City. Bettie hoped that she might be able to find success on the stage that she couldn’t on the screen. Sadly, this didn’t end up being the case. However, she did end up finding success doing something else!
In 1949, Bettie Page was spending some time at the beach when a man approached her by the name of Jerry Tibbs. Jerry was a multi-talented individual. Though his main profession was working as a police officer, the man was also a bandleader and an amateur photographer. It was Jerry’s passion for photography that led to the man approaching Bettie. Unsurprisingly, Jerry got the idea that Bettie might be a great subject to film. Via Jerry’s lens, Bettie appeared on the cover of a local magazine. Around this same time, Bettie also paid the bills by working as a typist.
Bettie Page’s first magazine appearance led to more, and she was soon appearing in some big publications. Quickly, Bettie began being offered work as a pin-up model. She appeared in such magazines as Flirt and Wink, and also appeared in an early issue of Playboy magazine. The issue of Playboy that Bettie appeared in was a Christmas issue, and it featured the pin-up model wearing a Santa hat.
How Bettie Became the Poster Child for BDSM
Though Bettie Page’s career as a pin-up model started out innocently enough, she would soon venture into more controversial and boundary-pushing work. This occurred when Bettie met a man by the name of Irving Klaw, who was known for his BDSM-themed work. Though Bettie’s work with Irving may seem tame by today’s standards, it was incredibly shocking at the time! With Irving, Bettie made filmstrips that depicted her bound in different scenarios.
It’s easy to assume that Bettie Page was duped into performing in increasingly lewd material due to the fact that she had few other prospects. However, it seems that the pin-up model was fairly comfortable being depicted in such a risqué manner. Still, Bettie Page wouldn’t be around for very long before deciding to retire from her work as a pin-up model as a result of finding God. If you’re enjoying this video so far, be sure to hit the like button to show your support! Also, subscribe to the channel if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
Bettie Became Embroiled in Controversy
As soon as Bettie Page became involved with Irving Klaw, she started becoming an increasingly controversial figure. There are a number of controversies that plagued Bettie Page over the course of her years working with the BDSM kingpin. For one thing, there was the death of a man that was involved with many of the filmstrips that Bettie filmed for Irving. That man’s named was Little John. Little John burned to death as a result of a very strange situation. It seems that the performer was soliciting a drunken prostitute. The prostitute had tied him up, as per Little John’s wishes. However, the prostitute had then fallen asleep. The prostitute had a cigarette in her mouth, and it proceeded to catch both her and Little John on fire. They both died.
Another controversy related to Bettie Page came in August of 1952, when the pin-up model and a few of her contemporaries were arrested during a shoot. Bettie and her fellow models were charged $5 each. This small fine in and of itself wasn’t all that big of deal, but it brought attention to the boundary-pushing kind of work that Bettie was doing. Soon, people in power would take notice of Irving Klaw’s work, and it wouldn’t fare well for Bettie Page.
In the mid-1950s, the government came after Irving Klaw with charges related to his pornography distribution. Irving distributed his work by mail, and the government wanted to put an end to it. The turn of events led to the dissolution of Irving and Bettie’s professional relationship, and it also damaged Bettie’s reputation. Bettie would leave the public sphere behind not long after the whole situation. However, she ended up doing some of her most iconic work in between the court battle and her retirement.
Bettie Did Some Iconic Work Just Before Retiring
Shortly after breaking up professionally with Irving Klaw as a result of the legal battle, Bettie Page began working with a pin-up model-turned-photographer by the name of Bunny Yeager. This professional relationship resulted in some of the most memorable photos of Bettie Page’s career. Many of Bettie’s most iconic photos stem from her late-career work with Bunny. According to the late Bettie Page, the reason that these photos stand the test of time is because she looks so happy and free posing for the camera. Though the pictures that Bettie took with Bunny were still sexy, they didn’t focus on strange subject matter.
In the 1960s, Bettie Page moved back out to California. Some say that Bettie did this because she had vague dreams of making a second bid for Hollywood stardom. If this was the case, this second attempt didn’t prove any more successful than the first. However, Bettie’s move out West didn’t prove a complete bust. Though she didn’t find gold, she did find God! While living in Los Angeles during the 1960s, Bettie became involved with a religious community and started to have some second thoughts about her work as a pin-up model. She then decided to leave the public sphere behind. And with that, Bettie Page disappeared.
The mystery of what happened to Bettie Page plagued the public for many decades until the former pin-up model finally decided to return to the public sphere shortly before her death. In 2006, Bettie Page gave an interview and shared her thoughts on her legacy. During the time that Bettie was gone, there were numerous theories about what the former pin-up model was up to. Most believed that she had gotten married and settled down somewhere. Others believed that the former pin-up model chose to live a life of isolation and celibacy in order to become closer to God. It seems that the later theory is a bit closer to the truth, as Bettie remained single after divorcing from her third husband in 1972.
Besides her BDSM-related controversy, Bettie Page wasn’t all that notable of a figure at the time that she decided to leave the public sphere behind. However, in the years following her retirement, the former pin-up modeled attained a kind of cult-hero status due to the boundary-pushing nature of her work. Of course, there’s also the fact of the matter that the pin-up model was a timeless natural beauty! Upon the former pin-up model’s return to the public sphere shortly before her death, the public was incredibly anxious to hear how Betty felt about the legacy that had followed in the wake of her retirement. According to Bettie, the popularity that she ended up receiving by the end of her life was baffling.
The late Bettie Page remains one of the most iconic pin-up models of all time, though she claimed before her death that she had no idea why she was so popular. Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Bettie Page disappeared from the public sphere for many decades before her death, and that she suffered through controversies during her career as a result of her BDSM-themed work? As always, like this video to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
