#Bettie page later life free#

Page wore nothing but a Santa hat in Playboy's January 1955 centerfold. Not long after, her images were everywhere, gracing magazine covers and locker pin-ups. He suggested the black bangs, which became her trademark, her bio said. Her modeling breakthrough began after she divorced Neal in 1947 when she met a police officer whose hobby was photography. Page said she regretted not accepting studio boss Jack Warner's offer of another screen-test, but it came while she was trying to save her marriage to her first husband, Billy Neal. He drove off in his big car and scolded me, 'You'll be sorry.' I wasn't.'

'I wouldn't have gone to bed with him anyway. Her Southern drawl and a refusal to sleep with a Hollywood producer hampered her acting career, according to her bio.

'I couldn't control my students, especially the boys,' she is quoted as saying.ДЄfter her modeling career ended, Page returned to Peabody College to work on a master's degree, the bio said. Her teaching career, however, was hampered by her looks, she said. While her birth certificate spelled her name 'Betty,' she changed the spelling later in life to 'Bettie.'ДЄt a time when few women pursued a college education, Page earned a bachelor of arts degree in education from Peabody College in Tennessee in 1944, according to her official biography. Page was born to a poor family in Tennessee on April 22, 1923. A poll recently placed Bettie Page as the 'ultimate sex goddess,' outscoring others such as Marilyn Monroe. The Web site,, logs about 20 million hits a month, Roesler said. 'Her popularity as an underground, guilty pleasures phenomenon has continued to soar despite the fact that the reclusive Page disappeared almost a half century ago, leading many to believe that one of the most photographed individuals of the 20th century was already dead.' Roesler said. Yet, her images continued to be used around the world to market Bettie Page action figures, clothing lines and other merchandise. Page, said to be one of the most photographed people of the past century, became a recluse in recent decades.

#Bettie page later life free#

'She captured the imagination of a generation of men and women with her free spirit and unabashed sensuality,' said agent Mark Roesler in a written statement.