Channeling Bettie Page - Bondage is a Girls Best Friend

Pin-Up Queen and immortal American icon Bettie Mae Page (April 22, 1923 - ) supported herself as a secretary and school teacher before turning to modeling in 1950, sewed most her own burlesque/photo shoot garments and was the embodiment of the southern fried sexpot. Bettie was the cover girl for numerous magazines that same year but at the same time she posed for private mail-order photo shoots with a mild sado-masochistic flavor that inadvertently made her the first famous bondage babe. Her celebrated work with photographer Bunny Yeager (the Jungle Jane & Cheetah series) four years later, brought her to the attention of perpetual playboy Hugh Hefner and was christened “Playmate of the Month” for January 1955. Her irrepressible siren power over men was infinite, Hefner was obsessed with her, billionaire eccentric Howard Hughes beseeched her to meet him – but she turned him down. Then in 1957-58, Page mysteriously removed herself from the pop cultural landscape, despite being photographed more than Marilyn Monroe, Page disappeared without a trace (later to be drawn as a religious fanatic, trailer park princess and possible paranoid schizophrenic).

In 1978 spicy reprints of her fetish work began to resurface as did generational copies of her 8mm films. In the 80’s, comic book artist Dave Stevens’ of “The Rocketeer” fame had his hero’s love interest not only emulate the pin-up enchantress perfectly but she also shares her name – Betty Page (Jennifer Connelly played her in the movie version – and her name was changed to Jenny - Disney, trying to avoid the association). Immortalized by accomplished artists (Olivia Berardinis), enthralled photographers, imitated by countless starlets seeking an image and lovingly impersonated by genuine revivalist models like Bernie Dexter (shown here) - Bettie amassed a cult following of rabid fans the world over. She was the girl next door with a filthy little secret.

40 years after she dropped off of the radar, Bettie was found alive and startlingly unaware of the impact her body of work had made. Her influence was widespread and ultimately universal but Page didn’t have a clue (or a dime for that matter). The Page brand was worth millions but she had none of it, nor would she allow herself to be photographed to preserve the enduring image her fan base holds so passionately (some can be found - just not here). Fortunately she’s reportedly living quite comfortably in California, off of image licensing rights from a half century ago.

After many false starts a cinematic version of her life will reportedly play out in theaters in 2006 - "The Notorious Bettie Page" (at one point Liv Tyler was set to star - Now it's Gretchen Mol), so what is it about Page that makes her the quintessential pin-up queen? Is it the fact that she vanished at the peak of her of her popularity or is it her staggering body of work that remains highly visible to this day? Or did she simply become just another exploitable commodity since she was gone for so long? Even if you don't know her face, you know her influence...

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