1950s pin-up star Bettie Page has died in Los Angeles, succumbing to pneumonia aged 85.Equal parts Southern ingénue and sex kitten, Bettie Page was the rarest of ‘50s icons, a pin-up who won the hearts of born-again Christians and dirty-mac’d sinners alike. Like Ava Gardner and Betty Grable before her, Page adorned magazine covers and teen bedroom walls across the country, often wearing little more than suspenders and a smile. Unlike her pin-up predecessors, Page’s Hollywood career never took off, hamstrung by her broad Tennessee drawl and acting ability that she described with typical frankness as ‘terrible’.Page appeared in three breathless burlesque pictures, Striporama (1953), Varietease (1954) and Teaserama (1955), as well as a host of 8mm peepshow reels, but her auditions with big studios only yielded the advances of lusty producers. Page disappeared from the public gaze just as suddenly as she’d arrived, suffering serious bouts of depression,...
- 12/12/2008
- EmpireOnline
Pin-Up Icon Bettie Page Dies
Legendary pin-up Bettie Page died on Thursday. She was 85.
Page suffered a heart attack last week in Los Angeles and never regained consciousness. She had been hospitalised for three weeks with pneumonia before the heart attack, according to her agent Mark Roesler.
Roesler said in a statement: "With deep personal sadness I must announce that my dear friend and client Bettie Page passed away at 6.41pm Pst this evening in a Los Angeles hospital.
"She died peacefully but had never regained consciousness after suffering a heart attack nine days ago."
Page's trademark curvy figure and raven hair made her a fixture in men's magazines in the 1950s, and the icon found a cult following that lasted long after her modelling days.
The star also landed parts in dozens of silent fetish films in which she often played a dominatrix, but the aspiring actress only had one small speaking role in the 1953 movie Striporama.
American actress Gretchen Mol played Page in the 2005 biopic of her eventful life, The Notorious Bettie Page.
Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, who hand-picked Page to be the Playmate of the Month in January 1955, has paid tribute to the star, saying: "I think that she was a remarkable lady, an iconic figure in pop culture who influenced sexuality, taste in fashion, someone who had a tremendous impact on our society. She was a very dear person."...
Page suffered a heart attack last week in Los Angeles and never regained consciousness. She had been hospitalised for three weeks with pneumonia before the heart attack, according to her agent Mark Roesler.
Roesler said in a statement: "With deep personal sadness I must announce that my dear friend and client Bettie Page passed away at 6.41pm Pst this evening in a Los Angeles hospital.
"She died peacefully but had never regained consciousness after suffering a heart attack nine days ago."
Page's trademark curvy figure and raven hair made her a fixture in men's magazines in the 1950s, and the icon found a cult following that lasted long after her modelling days.
The star also landed parts in dozens of silent fetish films in which she often played a dominatrix, but the aspiring actress only had one small speaking role in the 1953 movie Striporama.
American actress Gretchen Mol played Page in the 2005 biopic of her eventful life, The Notorious Bettie Page.
Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, who hand-picked Page to be the Playmate of the Month in January 1955, has paid tribute to the star, saying: "I think that she was a remarkable lady, an iconic figure in pop culture who influenced sexuality, taste in fashion, someone who had a tremendous impact on our society. She was a very dear person."...
- 12/12/2008
- WENN
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