Bettie Page dies...; pinup queen played a key role in the sexual revolution of the 1960s ...

[babylonsister]

And I thought she was a singer. :shrug:

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-page12-2008dec12,0,5310709.story

Bettie Page dies at 85; pinup queen played a key role in the sexual revolution of the 1960s and later became a cult figure


BETTIE'S PEN: The 1950's cult pin up queen Bettie Page autographing posters and paintings at CMG Worldwide.

By Louis Sahagun
December 12, 2008

snip//

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."

Then there are the idealized portraits of her naughty personas -- Nurse Bettie, Jungle Bettie, Voodoo Bettie, Banned in Boston Bettie, Maid Bettie, Crackers in Bed Bettie -- memorialized by such artists as Olivia de Berardinis.

"I'll always paint Bettie Page," De Berardinis said Thursday night . "But truth be told, it took me years to understand what I was looking at in the old photographs of her. Now I get it. There was a passion play unfolding in her mind. What some see as a bad girl image was in fact a certain sensual freedom and play-acting - it was part of the fun of being a woman."

"The origins of what captures the imagination and creates a particular celebrity are sometimes difficult to define," Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner said Thursday night. "Bettie Page was one of Playboy magazine's early playmates, and she became an iconic figure, influencing notions of beauty and fashion. Then she disappeared. . . . Many years later, Bettie resurfaced and we became friends. Her passing is very sad."

In an interview two years ago, Hefner described Page's appeal as "a combination of wholesome innocence and fetish-oriented poses that is at once retro and very modern."

[Dennis Donovan]

1. Cross gently, Bettie...

I knew she was very sick...:(

Did you know DU has Bettie Page avatar?

[babylonsister]

2. Aww. No, I didn't.

I heard about this while cnn was blabbing in the background, and googled her, but not her. I got someone very different. :blush: But I got the last name right.

[Dennis Donovan]

3. Her modelling covered the gamut of styles...

...from pure fashion to pure pornography, but, by all accounts, she was a good soul.:)

[Radical Activist]

4. I've had the same avatar since I joined DU

but I'm changing it to Bettie Page today.
How sad.

[tuckessee]

5. Sorry to hear that.

I truthfully never really liked her style of pinup photo art since I preferred the earlier color drawn/painted art by the likes of Petty, Vargas, Elvgren, Mozert etc.

But I do owe her a huge thanks for lord knows I've made a ton of money selling vintage books & mags containing her image(s) to the legion of loyal fans who adore her stuff.

[Starry Messenger]

6. Oh dammit.

Hail and farewell, Bettie. :cry:

[Withywindle]

7. R.I.P., Bettie.

I'm nearly 50 years younger, and I don't have very many female friends of my generation who haven't tried to emulate her style and charisma in one way or another.

[intheflow]

8. The singer was Patti Page.

BIG difference!

http://bp1.blogger.com/_Zzrq8CuSR9g/RY3uYkgwo8I/AAAAAAAAAGk/ql93uFQwpa8/s400/patti+page.jpg

[whopis01]

9. I don't see it.... n/t

[intheflow]

10. What don't you see?

The difference, or the photos I posted? :shrug:

[Greyhound]

11. So sorry. At least she will live on as one of the most popular tattoos for twenty-something

dancers here in Portland.

She's also very big in the BDSM circles.