Bettie Page

Bettie Mae Page (April 22, 1923 – December 11, 2008) was an American model who gained notoriety in the 1950s for her pin-up photos and other services. She was often referred to as the "Queen of Pinups": her long jet-black hair, blue eyes, and trademark bangs have influenced artists for generations. After her death, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner called her "a remarkable lady, an iconic figure in pop culture who influenced sexuality, taste in fashion, someone who had a tremendous impact on our society".

A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Page lived in California in her early adult years before moving to New York City to pursue work as an actress. There, she found work as a pin-up model, and she posed for several photographers throughout the 1950s. Page was "Miss January 1955", one of the earliest Playmates of the Month for Playboy magazine. After years in obscurity, she experienced a resurgence of popularity in the 1980s.

In 1959, Page converted to evangelical Christianity and worked for Billy Graham, studying at Bible colleges in Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, with the intent of becoming a missionary. The latter part of Page's life was marked by depression, violent mood swings, and several years in a state psychiatric hospital with paranoid schizophrenia.

Betty Mae Page, who in childhood began spelling her first name "Bettie", was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1923, the second of six children to Walter Roy Page and Edna Mae Pirtle. During her early years, the Page family traveled around the country in search of economic stability. At a young age, she had to face the responsibilities of caring for her younger siblings, particularly after her father was convicted for car theft and spent two years in an Atlanta, Georgia, prison.

Page's parents divorced when she was 10 years old. Her mother worked two jobs; one as a hairdresser (during the day) and the other washing laundry (at night). Unable to care for all her children, Edna placed Bettie, at 10, and her two sisters in a Protestant orphanage for a year. Their father remained in the area, at one point renting a basement room from the cash-strapped Edna. Walter Page said he began sexually molesting Bettie when she was 13 years old.

As a teenager, Page and her sisters tried different makeup styles and hairdos imitating their favorite film stars. She also learned to sew. These skills proved useful, years later, for her pin-up photography, when Page did her own makeup and hair and made her own bikinis and costumes.

A good student and debate team member at Hume-Fogg High School, she was voted "Girl Most Likely to Succeed". On June 6, 1940, Page graduated as the salutatorian of her high school class with a scholarship. She enrolled at George Peabody College (later part of Vanderbilt University) with the intention of becoming a teacher. However, the next fall she began studying acting, hoping to become a film star. At the same time, she got her first job, typing for author Alfred Leland Crabb. Page graduated from Peabody with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1944.

Shortly before graduating from Hume-Fogg High, Page had met William E. "Billy" Neal, a former rival high school sports star two years older than she. In September 1942, he was drafted into the Army for World War II, and he and Page married on February 18, 1943, before he shipped out. For the next few years she moved between San Francisco, Los Angeles and Nashville. She and Neal divorced in 1947.