Bettie Page: The "Queen of Bondage"
Eventually, the family settled in California, and Bettie attended high school at Hume-Fogg High School, graduating as salutatorian. She went on to university at George Peabody College, which is now part of Vanderbilt, and earned a Bachelors of Arts in acting, hoping to become a movie star, though originally going for teaching. While still in school, Bettie married fellow classmate Billy Neal, who was soon after drafted into the Navy in 1943. They traveled the world together for a few years, being stationed in many US cities, as well as in Haiti, where Bettie felt a special connection to the people and culture. However, Bettie felt it was an abusive relationship and she filed for divorce in 1947.
In 1949, Bettie moved to New York City, hoping to find work as an actress, while working as a secretary at the Rockefeller Center. One day, while walking along the Coney Island shore alone, Bettie was approached by police officer Jerry Tibbs, who thought she would make a good pin-up model. Tibbs was a photographer himself, and gave her his card, saying he would build her a portfolio in exchange for letting him photograph her. He was also the one who suggested that she incorporate bangs into her now-iconic look, as she had a high forehead and he thought it would catch light in photos.
She soon became a hit in the pin-up and underground photo industry. Her lack of inhibition made her a hit, as she was never shy in front of the camera, and was perfectly comfortable with almost any pose, save full frontal close-ups (Foster 46). She even put her sewing skills to use, creating her own lingerie for photo shoots, which she was very proud of. She started working with Irving Klaw, who ran a mail order service for photos and short films featuring pin-up and BDSM fetish themes. These films showed women in lingerie and heals, acting out fetish scenarios of abduction, domination, and slave training. Scenes featured the use of bondage, spanking, leather, and intense forms of restraint. Bettie quickly became the first famous bondage model.
Bettie lived by the philosophy that you can do your own thing as long as you aren’t hurting anyone. She stuck by this saying whenever she or her photographers and friends were under fire, as the pornography industry was under scrutiny under the Comstock Act. This act made it a crime to advertise or mail “every lewd, lascivious, or filthy book, pamphlet, picture, paper, letter, writing, print, or other publication of an indecent character.” Some pornographers got away secretly making porn and taking indecent photographs by posing as ‘camera clubs,’ whose goal was to promote artistic photography.
Bettie starred in several roles on stage, television, and film as well. She appeared on The United States Steel Hour and The Jackie Gleason Show, as well as a few off-Broadway productions. She also made the cross-over and worked with burlesque stars such as Lili St. Cyr and Tempest Storm in burlesque films like Striporama, Teaserama, and Varietease, which featured exotic dance routines. While these films were considered risqué, they did not involve nudity or overly sexual content. Which Bettie was not a burlesque dancer, she was in these films as a part of a branch of the community. Varietese is especially all-encompassing, as it includes burlesque stars, pin-up girls, comedy acts, and female impersonators. It was also directed by Irving Klaw, Bettie's main photographer.
One of Bettie’s most famous shoots caught the eye of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. The session was called "Jungle Bettie", and involved nude and clothed photos of Bettie with two cheetahs. The leopard skin patterned lingerie Bettie wore for the shoot was sewed by Bettie herself and may be the original outfit that has inspired the leopard print craze we still see today. Hefner saw these photos and decided to bring her into the studio for his Playmate of the Month centerfold, where Bettie was posed only wearing a Santa hat, kneeling before a Christmas tree, holding an ornament and winking at the camera. These events lead to Bettie winning the title “Miss Pinup Girl of the World” in 1955. Bettie stayed in frequent demand until 1957, when she seemingly disappeared.
After a string of unsuccessful marriages, an unfinished Master’s degree, and failed attempts at Christian missionary work, Bettie moved to Southern California in 1979. She had a nervous breakdown while having an altercation with her landlady. Bettie was diagnosed with acute schizophrenia and spent 20 months in a locked psychiatric ward. After release, she had another altercation with a landlady, where Bettie assaulted the woman, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was placed under state supervision for 8 years until 1992. Bettie passed away from a heart attack on December 11, 2008. Her headstone reads “Queen of Pin-Ups”.
Works Cited:
Alston, Isabella. Pin-up Girls. TAJ International, 2014. Print.
Foster, Richard. The Real Bettie Page: The Truth about the Queen of the Pinups. Secaucus: Carol Pub. Group, 1997. Print.
