Bettie Page, one of the most iconic and imitated models of all time, died yesterday in Los Angeles at the age of 85, after complications following a heart attack 8 days ago. A famous nude, fetish and bondage model in the early 1950’s when that sort of thing barely even existed in America, she was named Playmate of the Month for January 1955.
A cult figure, Page was most famous for the estimated 20,000 4-by-5-inch black-and-white glossy photographs taken by amateur shutterbugs from 1949 to 1957. The photos showed her in high heels and bikinis or negligees, bondage apparel — or nothing at all.
Decades later, those images inspired biographies, comic books, fan clubs, websites, commercial products — Bettie Page playing cards, dress-up magnet sets, action figures, Zippo lighters, shot glasses — and, in 2005, a film about her life and times, “The Notorious Bettie Page.”
