Bettie Page Biography

Bettie Page is one of the world's most famous pin-up models. She was born in Nashvilee, Tennessee on April 22, 1923. Her parents where Walter Roy Page and Edna Mae Pirtle. Her parents divorced when Page was only 10 years old, leaving her and her sister to an orphanage for a year. Bettie Page was very smart and missed valedictorian of her high school by only a quarter of a point. Her orignial desire was to become a teacher and attended Peabody College however, she soon decided to start studing acting and wanted to become a movie star.

Bettie Page married Billy Neil, someone whom she'd attended high school with. They divorced in 1947 and her modeling career began. It all began when she encountered Jerry Tibbs on an desserted beach in 1950. It was Jerry who suggested that Bettie get bangs to compliment her face by covering some of her forehead. The bangs became a trademark for Bettie Page.

Bettie Page became a famous model by working for a popular camera club that was started in the 1940s. This club was set up to bypass restrictions set on photographic nudity for artistic purposes. Bettie was a natural in front of the camera and displayed no inhibitions about nudity, this made her a instant hit. She worked with a man named Irving Klaw, posing for bondage and sado-masochistic themes for mail-order pin-up requests. It was this move that made her fhe first famous bongage model.

Bettie Page was published as Playboy's "Playmate of the Month" in the Janurary 1955 issue. The magazine was then only two years old.

For years, the last known facts of her life were her divorce from Walterson in the early 1960s and that she was working as a secretary for a Christian organization. However, one day in 1958, Bettie attended a temple in the Key West, being drawn to the mixed races, she began to attend reguarly.

Bettie Page's popularity rose again in the 1980's and still today is found to be a cult favorite. The artist Olivia De Berardinis is most famous for her artwork of Bettie Page. Olivia's work of Bettie Page has been published on all kinds of merchandise. Some of her work can be viewed here: http://home.att.net/~ShadowlandHome/Olivia_frame.html .