Bettie Page (April 22, 1923 – December 11, 2008) was an American model who became famous in the 1950s for her fetish modeling and pin up photos. She has often been called the “Queen of pinups”. Her look, including her jet black hair and trademark bangs, has influenced many artists. She was also one of the earliest Playmates of the Month for Playboy magazine.

She had those all American good looks and perky smile – these made her an icon.  Her image has moved into the realm of pop culture and continues to be an influence decades after her peak working years and retirement.

But Bettie was just a simple girl from Tennessee. She’d had dreams of being an actress and moved to New York in an attempt to pursue those dreams. She turned to modeling as a better way to support herself after doing secretarial work while she worked towards the theater.

In Her own Words

Bettie Page about aging: I have a goal to live to be 100+ and be in as good health as possible. If I have to be bed ridden I don’t want go on. I have bought every book on longevity and studied them and trying to do it. Just the thought of being 100 and being able to move around would be wonderful.

Bettie Page on photo shoots: I would want to have more pictures taken outdoors. In the water and on the beaches. They said I was happier then and I was. And I was. I like being outdoors. I like to go cavorting in the nude in the forests. It is just another world. To take sunbaths in the nude.

Bettie Page on the book “Life of a Pinup Legend”: Karen Essex did most of the writing and interviewing and stuck to what I said. She didn’t embellish. She quoted what I said and that is what I like in the book.

Bettie Page on love and sex: I think it is a shame that so many girls and even older women will go to bed with every Tom Dick and Harry that they meet. I think you should be in love with someone. Sex is a part of love. You shouldn’t go around doing it unless you are in love with them.

Bettie Page on photographer Bunny Yeager: She is the stingiest woman God ever placed on the face of the earth. When I started posing for her she had been a pin up model herself. I posed for her 2 or 3 hours at a stretch. I posed for her for nothing. She said she would pay me when the photos sold but I never saw a penny. She has sold books, bought a house and she wouldn’t even give me one free picture for my book. She said “Bettie Page has to pay for them like everyone else!”