How much is Bettie Page worth?
| Net Worth: | $18 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional model |
| Date of Birth: | April 22, 1923 |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 1.66 m |
About Bettie Page
Bettie first became acquainted with NYPD Officer Jerry Tibbs, an ardent photographer, in the year 1950 while she was strolling along the coast of Coney Island. Officer Tibbs offered Bettie his business card. He expressed his opinion that she would be an excellent pin-up model. In return for granting him permission to photograph her, he offered to assist her in creating her very first pin-up portfolio at no cost to her.
Betty Mae Page, who began spelling her first name “Bettie” when she was a kid, was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1923. She was the second of six children to be born to Walter Roy Page and Edna Mae Pirtle. Betty Mae Page was the second of six children to be born.
Impersonating their favorite actors and actresses in the movies, Page and her sisters experimented with a variety of looks, including their hair and makeup, when they were teenagers. She was also taught how to sew. Years later, when Page created her own pin-up photography, she used these abilities, which included doing her own makeup and hair and making her own bikinis and costumes. These skills came in handy.
In the latter half of 1947, Page made the move to New York City, with the intention of pursuing a career in the acting field there. She was able to provide for herself by working as a secretary at the American Bread Company, which was located close to Penn Station. Within a matter of days, she was sexually assaulted by a gang of males, after which she fled to her hometown of Nashville for safety.
In the late 1940s, in the United States of America, “camera clubs” were established in order to get around laws that restricted the production of nude photographs. The purported purpose of these camera clubs was to encourage artistic photography; however, in reality, many of them were only fronts for the production of pornographic films. Page began working in the genre of photography known as “glamour photography”.
She became the first famous bondage model after she sat for photographer Irving Klaw from late 1951 or early 1952 until 1957 for mail-order images with pin-up and BDSM themes. These photographs were sold through the mail. Klaw also employed Page in dozens of short “specialty” that were black and white and shot on 8mm and 16mm film.
In 1953, Page enrolled in acting training at the Herbert Berghof Studio, and as a result, she went on to play a number of parts both on stage and on television. She made an appearance on shows including The Jackie Gleason Show and The United States Steel Hour. Her productions off-Broadway included Time Is a Thief and Sunday Costs Five Pesos, among others. Page first made the acquaintance of photographers Jan Caldwell, H. W. Hannau, and Bunny Yeager in the year 1954, when she was spending one of her yearly vacations in Miami, Florida.
Page held the title of New York’s most sought-after pin-up model during that time period. Page was recruited for a photo shoot by Yeager, who used to be a model and is now trying to be a photographer.
Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy, saw the photographs that Yeager had received of Page and chose to include one of them as the centerfold of the Playmate of the Month feature in the January 1955 edition of the publication that was already two years old. Page was awarded the title of “Miss Pinup Girl of the World” in the year 1955. In the iconic photograph, Page can be seen kneeling in front of a Christmas tree while holding an ornament and playfully winking at the camera. Page is only seen wearing a Santa hat.
She had a relationship with the industrial designer Richard Arbib in the 1950s, and then she got married to Armond Walterson on November 6, 1958. However, she and Armond Walterson got a divorce on October 10, 1963.
Page became a born again evangelist on December 31, 1959, while she was residing in Key West, Florida, following her departure from the modeling industry. After moving back to Florida in 1966, she wed for the second time, this time to Harry Lear, on February 14, 1966. However, on January 18, 1972, the couple divorced, putting an end to their marriage
She was arrested for assault in 1982 following a confrontation with another landlord; however, she was ruled not guilty due to the fact that she was insane and was placed under state supervision for a period of eight years. Her freedom was granted to her in 1992.
In 1993, Mark Roesler and his Curtis Management Group, which would later become CMG Worldwide, became Page’s management team of choice. Page was known to stop by the Los Angeles, California offices of her agency on occasion in order to sign pinups.
Summing-Up
During the 1980s, Page attracted the attention of a wider cult following, something she was unaware of at the time. This fresh interest concentrated on her work as a pinup and lingerie model rather than on her work representing sexual obsessions or bondage. As a result of this interest, rumors and speculations about her life after the 1950s began to circulate. Page was listed in a list of formerly prominent celebrities who had disappeared from the public eye in the edition of Book of Lists that was published in the 1990s.
Mark Roesler, a longtime friend of Page’s and a business representative, shared with me that on December 6, 2008, Page was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition. After suffering a coronary arrest Her family ultimately made the decision to remove her from life support, and she passed away on December 11, 2008, when she was 85 years old.
