12/15/08
In Memoriam
BETTIE PAGE
April 22, 1923 - Dec 11, 2008
Official Obituary
"With deep personal sadness I must announce that my dear friend and client Bettie Page passed away at 6:41pm PST this evening in a Los Angles hospital. She died peacefully but had never regained consciousness after suffering a heart attack nine days ago. She captured the imagination of a generation of men and women with her free spirit and unabashed sensuality. She is the embodiment of beauty."
BETTIE PAGE
April 22, 1923 - Dec 11, 2008
Official Obituary
"With deep personal sadness I must announce that my dear friend and client Bettie Page passed away at 6:41pm PST this evening in a Los Angles hospital. She died peacefully but had never regained consciousness after suffering a heart attack nine days ago. She captured the imagination of a generation of men and women with her free spirit and unabashed sensuality. She is the embodiment of beauty."
-- Mark Roesler, business agent for Bettie Page
It's is not often that I find myself speechless. But I am quiet torn over such a loss of an icon. Bettie Page stamped her mark on our parent's sexual revolution, pin-up queens, smut, BDSM, and censorship - without much effort on her part. What she did paid her bills, and she thought it was fun. Maybe in her ignorance and innocence she honestly had no idea what men did while watching her 8mm films or browsing over her photos. Maybe she did. Either way, it opened many doors for lots of things we enjoy today.
Her early modeling paved the road for Maxim, and the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition. She was one of the first centerfold models for Playboy, fast on the heels of Marilyn Monroe, which helped open the door for openly published sexy photography. Her short 8mm films inspired the erotic film makers of today.
I already hear the cries of protests. It's degrading to women. Blah blah blah. Oh, shut the fuck up already!!! If you have it, flaunt it. Use the womanly wiles that God gave you to get what you want in life. It's a power that often is un-tapped, often because of the centuries of the same oppression you whining women bitch about.
I'm really not one of these trendy young-un's who lives vicariously through reality TV, tabloid shows, and the voracious tenacity of the paparazzi. But there are those small few who have attained fame or notoriety over the years, that I can not ignore their passing. Bettie Page was one.
After the feds and postal service cut short her erotic films and poses under laws of "indecency" (*censorship*), she basically fell off the radar. Over the decades she lived through several failed marriages, depression, and several arrests involving violent rants of religious fervor resulting in lengthy hospitalizations in mental institutions.
Her last few years seemed calm and peaceful. She embraced fans young and old, posed for public photos, and autographed pictures and posters. What sucks most is that she died so shortly after finding peace in her turbulent life.
It's is not often that I find myself speechless. But I am quiet torn over such a loss of an icon. Bettie Page stamped her mark on our parent's sexual revolution, pin-up queens, smut, BDSM, and censorship - without much effort on her part. What she did paid her bills, and she thought it was fun. Maybe in her ignorance and innocence she honestly had no idea what men did while watching her 8mm films or browsing over her photos. Maybe she did. Either way, it opened many doors for lots of things we enjoy today.
Her early modeling paved the road for Maxim, and the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition. She was one of the first centerfold models for Playboy, fast on the heels of Marilyn Monroe, which helped open the door for openly published sexy photography. Her short 8mm films inspired the erotic film makers of today.
I already hear the cries of protests. It's degrading to women. Blah blah blah. Oh, shut the fuck up already!!! If you have it, flaunt it. Use the womanly wiles that God gave you to get what you want in life. It's a power that often is un-tapped, often because of the centuries of the same oppression you whining women bitch about.
I'm really not one of these trendy young-un's who lives vicariously through reality TV, tabloid shows, and the voracious tenacity of the paparazzi. But there are those small few who have attained fame or notoriety over the years, that I can not ignore their passing. Bettie Page was one.
After the feds and postal service cut short her erotic films and poses under laws of "indecency" (*censorship*), she basically fell off the radar. Over the decades she lived through several failed marriages, depression, and several arrests involving violent rants of religious fervor resulting in lengthy hospitalizations in mental institutions.
Her last few years seemed calm and peaceful. She embraced fans young and old, posed for public photos, and autographed pictures and posters. What sucks most is that she died so shortly after finding peace in her turbulent life.
TIME'S TRIBUTE TO BETTIE PAGE
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