Bettie page biography

Page entered the field of " glamour photography " as a popular camera club model, working initially with photographer Cass Carr. Klaw also used Page in several short, black-and-white 8mm and 16mm "specialty" films, which catered to specific requests from his clientele. These silent one-reel featurettes showed women clad in lingerie and high heels, acting out fetishistic scenarios of abduction, domination, and slave-training; bondage, spanking, and elaborate leather costumes and restraints were included periodically.

Page alternated between playing a stern dominatrixand a helpless victim bound hand and foot. Klaw also produced a line of still photos taken during these sessions. Some have become iconic images, such as his highest-selling photo of Page—shown gagged and bound in a web of ropes, from the film Leopard Bikini Bound.

Bettie page biography: Bettie Mae Page (April 22,

Although these " underground " features had the same crude style and clandestine distribution as the pornographic "stag" films of the time, Klaw's all-female films and still photos never featured any nudity or explicit sexual content. Commenting on the bondage photos and the reputation they afforded her, Page said retrospectively: They keep referring to me in the magazines and newspapers and everywhere else as the "Queen of Bondage.

Usually every other Saturday he had a session for four or five hours with four or five models and a couple of extra photographers, and in order to get paid you had to do an hour of bondage. And that was the only reason I did it. I never had any inkling along that line. I don't really disapprove of it; I think you can do your own thing as long as you're not hurting anybody else — that's been my philosophy ever since I was a little girl.

I never looked down my nose at it. In fact, we used to laugh at some of the requests that came through the mail, even from judges and lawyers and doctors and people in high positions. Even back in the '50s they went in for the whips and the ties and everything else. Page acted and danced in the feature-length burlesque revue film Striporama directed by Jerald Intrator in which she was given a brief speaking role.

Bettie page biography: Bettie Mae Page was an American

She then appeared in two more burlesque films by Irving Klaw Teaserama and Varietease. These featured exotic dance routines and vignettes by Page and well-known striptease artists Lili St. However, her dream of becoming an actress did not materialize. Bettie initially decided to pursue a career as a teacher, following her mother's wishes.

She enrolled in college in but soon realized that her attractive looks and voluptuous figure were not compatible with the puritanical philosophy that prevailed in educational institutions at that time. Entry into the Pin-up Industry Bettie's life took a turn bettie page biography she met Jerry Todd, a police officer and photographer, while taking a stroll on Coney Island.

He offered to take a few photos of her and create a pin-up portfolio, featuring semi-nude images in the style of a postcard. This marked Bettie's entry into the world of modeling. Her provocative photos quickly gained popularity, and byjust a year after her first photoshoot, her images were gracing the covers of magazines. Although such photos were considered taboo in most states, Bettie was undeterred.

Inshe met Irving and Paula Klaw, photographers specializing in erotic photography. Their work, while not explicit pornography, was also banned. Thanks to Klaw's photographs, Bettie's popularity soared to new heights. Her famous "leopard" photoshoot impressed Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy magazine. During the early s, he was thrust into the spotlight and national prominence when he chaired the Kefauver Committee.

Officially known as the Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce, this committee conducted televised hearings and investigations into organized crime. As a result, there was an increased clampdown on censorship in the media and entertainment industry. The cultural and political climate of the s began to shift to a more conservative attitude.

Anyone who stood in the way had their careers destroyed. Bettie Page and her colleagues were not spared from the Kefauver Committee. Kefauver subpoenaed Irving Klaw on May 19, She moved to Florida to live a more relaxed and isolated life away from the camera. It led to her spiritual rebirth. Undeterred, Page married for a third time inthis time to Harry Lear.

It told how she had remarried her first husband briefly, in order to satisfy requirements so she could become a missionary; neither the remarriage nor her missionary work was a success. She married a third time in to one Harry Lear in Florida, divorcing him in At the time of the rebirth of her celebrity, Page was living penniless in California, unaware of her renewed celebrity.

She hoped that with the efforts of her co-author and agent, James Swanson, she would be seeing some financial reward for this renewed attention. Dark Horse Comics published a comic based on her fictional adventures in the s after Jim Silke did a large format comic featuring her likeness.

Bettie page biography: After attending Bible school, she wanted

It details not only numerous accounts of violence on her part against not only her third husband and her two step-children, but also against other people, but several stays in mental institutions, the last one from to at Patton State Hospital in Highland, California. It also furnished information that Page had still not received all of the monies due to her since her rediscovery.

Foster's book immediately provoked attacks from her fans, including Hefner, and Harlan Ellison, as well as a statement from Page that it is "full of lies. Brewster adds that he also read the chapter about her business dealings with Swanson, and stated that Page was pleased with that part of her story.