Bettie Page Portfolio Art Collection
Jim Silke Bettie Page Portfolio Art Collection. One of glamour art's most gifted illustrators, Jim Silke presents a series of beautiful, painted images of his best-known inspiration, the incomparable Bettie Page. Originally created for Bettie Page Rules, this suite includes previously unpublished pencil studies as well as the finished color pieces.
This set of full-color pictures are text free and suitable for framing. The back of the folder pictures all the interior images, so they can be viewed in the store without having to open the package. Contains 6 prints measuring 13 1/2-inches x 10 3/8-inches in a folder.
Get Your Bettie Page Portfolio Art Collection Here
Bettie Page Rules! Book
Bettie Page rules! If ever there was a reason to believe in love at first sight, that reason would be Bettie Page. But what did Bettie offer that the other, more celebrated beauties of her time did not? Legendary pinup artist and entertainment historian Jim Silke dives into these tempting waters and offers his firsthand account of life behind the lens of the 1950s pinup scene with Bettie Page Rules!
This book is bursting at the seams with all-new pinup paintings from Silke, capturing the 1950s' most beautiful women in sizzling detail, not to mention an incredible selection of never-before-seen photos of Bettie. You have to see it to believe it! Book measures 12-inches tall x 9-inches wide and is full color. 128 pages.
Get Your Bettie Page Rules Coffee Table Book Here
Bettie Page Red Lingerie 6-Inch Statue
Bettie Page, the ideal pinup girl from decades past, can now be yours in a whole new way. Brandishing her winning smile, the underground icon wears lingerie and stands atop a round base.
This limited edition statue stands 6-inches tall and captures the charm and sultriness of everyone's favorite adult superstar. You may never be able to bring home the real Bettie Page, but this statue is the next best thing! Be sure to order yours while you still can. Limited edition of only 400 pieces, pre-order now for March 09.
Get Your Limited Edition Bettie Page Red Lingerie Statue Here
Bettie Page Throw Pillow
In addition to being thrown, this pillow can be hugged, kissed, caressed, or anything else that springs into your mind.
This throw pillow makes a great house-warming gift or tops off any bedroom set that feels incomplete. Decorate your living room or bedroom with this throw pillow featuring Bettie Page artwork.
Get Your Bettie Page Throw Pillow Here
Monday, January 26, 2009
Bettie Page Memorabilia
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Bettie Page Red Lingerie 6-Inch Statue
I was just notified of this exclusive Bettie Page Statue that is limited to just 400 and available for pre-order now - it is definately a collectors item and a must have for Bettie Page fans.
Bettie Page Red Lingerie 6-Inch Statue
Product Description:
Bettie aims to please! Bettie Page, the ideal pinup girl from decades past, can now be yours in a whole new way. Brandishing her winning smile, the underground icon wears lingerie and stands atop a round base. This limited edition statue stands 6-inches tall and captures the charm and sultriness of everyone's favorite adult superstar. You may never be able to bring home the real Bettie Page, but this statue is the next best thing! Be sure to order yours while you still can. Limited edition of only 400 pieces.
Order yours now: Bettie Page Red Lingerie 6-Inch Statue
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
1950s Pinup Queen Bettie Page Dies
Bettie Page, one of America's most photographed pin-up girls during the 1950s, died in Los Angeles on Thursday from pneumonia, her agent said. She was 85.
Page was a ubiquitous sight during the 1950s, propelled to stardom when she posed for Playboy as Miss January 1955. Soon her image was gracing playing cards, record albums and bedroom posters across the country.
She stopped modeling in 1957, retreated from the public spotlight and turned to religion. She enjoyed a renaissance of sorts in the 1980s, as a new generation of fans became obsessed with her legacy.
Her agent, Mark Roesler, said Page was admitted to a Los Angeles-area hospital four weeks ago. She never regained consciousness after suffering a heart attack earlier this month.
With her dark bangs, alluring blue-gray eyes and wide smile, Page cultivated an innocent girl-next-door persona. The one-time school teacher was nice, but clearly also naughty. Some of her photos featured spanking and bondage.
"Bettie Page embodied the stereotypical wholesomeness of the Fifties and the hidden sexuality straining beneath the surface," authors Karen Essex and James L. Swanson wrote in their 1996 book "Bettie Page: The Life of a Pin-Up Legend."
Page professed to be mystified by all the attention, saying she never felt particularly attractive and had to wear a lot of makeup to cover up her large pores. After she found God, she was initially ashamed of having posed nude.
"(B)ut now most of the money I've got is because I posed in the nude," she told Playboy last year. "So I'm not ashamed of it now, but I still don't understand it."
Bettie Mae Page was born on April 22, 1923, in Nashville, one of six children. She and two sisters were sent to an orphanage after her father went to jail and her mother could not cope on her own. Page later described her father as "a sex fiend" who started sexually molesting her when she was 13.
Page, armed with an arts degree with Peabody College in Nashville, did her first modeling work in the 1940s after moving to San Francisco with the first of her three husbands. After they divorced in 1947, she pursued modeling in New York. Photos from a shoot with Miami photographer Bunny Yeager ended up in the pages of Playboy.
The layout featured Page winking at the camera wearing only a Santa hat as she decorated a Christmas tree. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner described it as "a milestone in the history of the magazine," which he had founded less than two years earlier.
Later in life, Page was furious that Yeager made a fortune from the photos and never compensated her.
Some American lawmakers were not as impressed with her modeling abilities. Page was served with a subpoena to appear before U.S. Senate investigators trying to discover a link between juvenile delinquency and pornography. Page never appeared. Soon after, she completely disappeared from the scene.
After two other brief marriages failed, Page battled acute schizophrenia beginning in the early 1970s. Her comeback gathered momentum with the 1991 movie "The Rocketeer," based on a comic book where the hero's girlfriend was Page. Fan clubs and websites proliferated, and Page made a good living signing memorabilia at conventions. On the rare occasions that she gave interviews, she insisted that she not be photographed.
Page had no children. There was no immediate information about funeral plans.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Dita Von Teese, Booked, then Cancelled for Royal Birthday
Prince Charles got a royal shocker when he discovered that Dita Von Teese, the lovely “dancer” he hired to perform at his son Harry’s birthday bash, is actually a burlesque baby, skilled at dancing in her skivvies.
England’s prince met Von Teese at a the Cartier International Polo Tournament at the Guards Club in Windsor, London. And when 35-year-old Von Teese revealed that she’s a dancer by vocation, Charles signed her up to shake it for Harry’s 24th birthday party in September, according to England’s Daily Star.
When Charles inquired what she did for a living, Von Teese simply replied, “I’m a dancer,” reported the Daily Star.
Later, Charles’ aides explained to him that Von Teese’s act includes, “giving a rhythmic biology lesson in a giant martini glass and doing the sort of things to a massive olive which are illegal in most countries,” the paper reported.
“Poor Charles was so embarrassed when he realized what he’d done,” a source at the polo event told the paper. “He genuinely had no idea about her raunchy stage act. He gnawed his fist to within an inch of its knuckle when his aides explained what sort of dancing she did for a living.”
But, according to the source, Charles wasn’t the only one in for a shock. Von Teese was apparently surprised that the royal invited her to perform in the first place.
“She was stunned when he suggested the idea, explaining that his son loved a good dance,” according to the Daily Star.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
The Real Bettie Page continued
It takes very little introspection to arrive at one of the primary reasons for Bettie Page's appeal. Her image, as silently projected through thousands of photos (and even a few hundred yards of film), creates a personal illusion for each and every one of us. The mystery is almost sacred. We have no idea who she is, yet each of us feels as though she's a personal friend. We are convinced her smile is genuine. We are assured that her grimace is a put-on.
Many have posed, but few are chosen: Bettie Page was-is-a blank slate for our fantasies, the epitome of pinup art.
The publication in 1996 of Page's official biography, Bettie Page: The Life of a Pin-up Legend (General Publishing Group; re-released in softcover this March), by Karen Essex and James Swanson, only heightened her allure. Written with Bettie's cooperation, the book relates the struggles of her childhood and teen years: cruel treatment at the hands of wretched parents (lecherous father and inhumane mother); early heartbreak (Bettie missed her high school valedictorian title-and resultant scholarship to Vanderbilt University-by a quarter of a grade point); and brushes with near-fatal violence (alone in New York, Bettie survived a vicious gang-rape). Though beset by such grim fate, we never for a moment get the impression that Bettie expended any pity on herself. On the contrary, she was all forward momentum.
Her career around the fringes of the public eye, self-driven and self-managed, emerges as a tale of independence from an era wherein women at any level of show business rarely controlled their own fate. True, it was a man (policeman and photographer Jerry Tibbs, to be specific) who suggested her trademark bangs, but everything else that makes up the "Bettie Page iconography"- - the costumes, poses and poise, seemingly effortless smile, gleaming eyes, whim-imposed geographic wanderings, avoidance of the casting couch, and even blissful ignorance of the fetishes driving Irving Claw's leather-and-whips shoots-sprung from her alone. Bettie, it seemed, lived a full life, followed her bliss, and adhered to her own standards to the end.
And survived. When the lifestyle became onerous-by dint of the Kefauver hearings, predatory men, and impending age (her pin-up career peaked while she was already in her thirties)-Bettie simply slipped away into a life of religion and unfortunate failed marriages. Notwithstanding the lack of a Hollywood-type tidy ending, Bettie Page: The Life of a Pin-up Legend leaves us with the image of Bettie that we desperately want to believe in: that of a woman who has grown old without major regrets, aware of the fact that she created something special. The impression we get from her contemporary voice in the book is that of a strong, content woman. "Women who don't express themselves sexually become repressed," Bettie states in the closing pages. "And that causes them to suffer."
An almost delightful-and comforting-reconciliation of an unclothed career by a devout woman. It's no wonder that so many embraced the tale wholeheartedly. Outre magazine ran excerpts and photos from Bettie Page: The Life of a Pin-up Legend, and writers (including myself) gladly wrote exuberant reviews. Beyond the fact that it's a well-written, beautifully-produced book, who could be blamed for clinging to the romantic version of Bettie's "soft landing" and well-adjusted demeanor contained within? We could further believe that, through the efforts of co-author/lawyer/agent James Swanson, Bettie was finally seeing some financial rewards for the ongoing popularity of her irresistible persona.
Into this partial reality emerges Richard Foster's new book, The Real Bettie Page: The Truth About the Queen of Pinups (Birch Lane Press). The provocative is no mere come-on; the tale within is devastating.
We are shocked immediately by the cover. It features, along with a large picture of the leopard skin-suited Page, a smaller image of her more naked than anything ever published by Titter or Eyeful. Her face is utterly defeated, haunted. The eyes, so familiar, are astonishing-heartbreakingly unmistakable-yet blank and defeated. A dated placard below her chin tells us that these pictures-mug shots-were taken on October 10th, 1972, at the Hialeah, Florida police station.
The image speaks volumes: we know without reading a police report that this depredated snapshot is not the product of a mistaken shoplifting charge, not the vestige of some misunderstanding after a public scuffle, not a DUI. Foster challenges us immediately; open this book and see your comfortable vision of Bettie Page's post-pinup career crumble.
The official version of Bettie's life, as told in the Essex/Swanson book, says that she began a religious immersion on New Year's Eve, 1958. Both the Essex/Swanson biography and Foster's book, in fact, relate Bettie's "moment of clarity" as occurring minutes after a particularly bitter fight with her second husband, Armond Walterson-21 years-old to her 34-over her desire to celebrate the holiday by going out dancing.
She'd already retired from the world of pinups, so one can conjecture that her new consuming passion for religion, which very quickly ended the short-lived marriage to Walterson, emerged as a replacement for the careerism she enjoyed as a model. Whatever its cause, Bettie's new laser-like focus on God seemed to jar free childhood-spawned demons she kept in check for her entire professional life. After leaving Walterson, her interactions were marred by that single-mindedness; Foster's exhaustive interviews of persons who encountered her in this period reveal a plainly disturbed individual. Bettie's remarriage to her first husband-she desired the reunion because it would clear her for missionary work-quickly and predictably dissolved.
Foster's excellent reporting skills bring us through a bumpy ride in the '60s, during which time Bettie married her third husband, Harry Lear, and gained three stepchildren and a home in Florida. Her emerging mental dysfunction and aberrant behavior, however, doomed the union. Bettie separated from Lear and moved into to a Bible community. Upset with the finalization of the divorce, she created a public disturbance with a .22 pistol, and Lear had to claim custody of her from the Boca Raton jail. As would become his pattern, Lear cared about her too much to turn her out into the street, so he allowed Bettie to stay in his house.
A few months later, the situation became truly frightening. Marching Lear and his three children before a picture of Jesus in the living room, she held them at knife point and said: "If you take your eyes off this picture, I'll cut your guts out!" The situation was defused-noisily-with the arrival of police, and Bettie was committed to a state mental care facility. Incredibly, when she was released four months later, Harry let her stay in an addition to his house specially built for her. Her demeanor was calm, but that ended by October of the same year when police were summoned to quash another loud disturbance at the Lear home. Bettie was extremely violent, and the arrest meant six months back at the institution. Again, Harry Lear gave her a place to stay in his home upon her release, and his faith was rewarded by a blessedly uneventful coexistence with Bettie-once his wife, now his tenant-until he moved to South Carolina in 1978.
With no home in Florida, Bettie relocated to California at the invitation of her newly divorced and lonely brother, Jimmie. Foster reports that Bettie was not living with her brother by April of 1979, but instead in a trailer on property owned by an elderly married couple. One day, without warning, she approached the elderly woman and stabbed her. When the husband quickly came to his spouse's defense, she stabbed him as well. The elderly man was able to incapacitate Bettie with a blow to the head; luckily, the wounds inflicted on both husband and wife were non-fatal. Bettie was found mentally incompetent and committed without bail to the Patton State Hospital in Highland, California, but was released in under a year upon recommendation of her doctor.
About 12 months later, at the age of 58, Bettie was placed by Westside Independent Services into the home of 66 year-old Leonie Haddid. Though Haddid described Bettie as a rather unpleasant roommate given to noxious cooking and long religious rants while locked in the bathroom, she had no clue as to her violent history. One night, after a day during which they quarreled, Haddid woke to see Bettie straddling her, a knife posed in the air, hissing: "Don't scream. Don't shout. God has inspired me to kill you!" Bettie stabbed the woman over a dozen times before a defensive blow ended the attack, which, fortunately, Haddid survived. After standing trial for attempted murder in 1983, Bettie was ruled insane and sent back to Patton State, this time for ten years.
The violent period described above, unknown to the world at large until uncovered by Foster, represents quite a coarse dose of reality to those of us who felt gratified by the Essex/Swanson version of Bettie's life. Indeed, reading The Real Bettie Page is a painful experience. We've stared at her photos for so many decades, looked into those eyes and perceived so many countless life-affirming fantasies. We've assigned to her superhuman attributes on the basis of a consistently and profoundly confidant photographic demeanor. Given the brutal facts of her post-pinup life, we're left to wonder whether we can still sustain the precious illusion.
As disturbing as that particular material is, The Real Bettie Page also dissects-in fascinating detail-an ongoing calamitous legal nightmare that began at the time of Bettie's release from Patton State in 1992. Soon after she reentered "civilian life," her brother, Jack, brokered an audio "appearance" on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (the irony of which requires no further comment). That feature led to contact with lawyer and show business agent Everett Fields, grandson of W.C. Fields, who had worked hard to put in place laws which allowed the relatives and heirs of famous people to retain control of rights to their images and a financial piece of any exploitation of their relative's famous name or pictures. Fields signed an agreement with Jack and Bettie Page to act as Bettie's agent, but passed the actual responsibility for the commitment to another partner in his firm, James L. Swanson. Soon, the official biography co-authored by Swanson and Essex appeared, and Bettie Page-though she still adamantly refused to be photographed-began doing interviews and online chats in support of the project.
Swanson, described by sources in The Real Bettie Page as "iron-fisted" and "threatening to deal with," becomes the pivot point upon which much of the "battle of Bettie" revolves. Foster details a pretty messy picture, including Swanson's potential conflict of interest as Bettie's agent and co-author of Bettie Page: The Life of a Pin-up Legend, alleged misappropriation of monies derived from licensed products, expensive loss of a dubious lawsuit he filed in Page's name against Something Weird Video, and his defection from the Everett Fields firm with Page's contract. When Jack Page began to express concern and displeasure over some questionable transactions, Swanson recommended that his contract be dissolved and that Glamourcon Inc., a convention business run by longtime Bettie Page fan Bob Schultz, take over as Page's agent. Swanson did not disclose, however, that he was a principal in Glamourcon.
Even as you read this, suits and counter suits fill the air-CMG International, Page's current agent, is suing Swanson, Schultz, and Glamourcon for, among other things, misappropriation of their client's funds and conflict of interest. Swanson, with Schultz and Glamourcon, Inc., have had subpoenas served to Bettie and Jack Page, charging them with defamation, breach of contract, and interference with past contracts; they seek almost $3 million in damages. Foster reports speculation that Swanson is counting on an out of court settlement, since Page would have to show herself publicly to defend herself in any actual court proceedings.
Blood from a stone? Based on Foster's summation of her grotesquely meager financial take on licensed merchandise while a client of Swanson, Page has no assets to speak of, but one could conjecture that any litigant against Page senses richer booty in the shadows: namely, Hugh Hefner, who has reportedly stepped in on her behalf in the past.
__________
It's a lot to digest. In particular, Foster's revelation of Bettie Page's mental problems and violent acts creates a psychic wound. He calls it "the biggest scoop in my life as a journalist," and, in terms of his craft, he has every right to be proud of the accomplishment. The publication and ongoing promotion of Bettie Page: The Life of a Pin-up Legend made Bettie a public person again. Had she remained "underground," one imagines that Foster would not have pursued and revealed the story.
It can also be argued that the omission of her mental health struggles in Bettie's official biography shouldn't be seen in a negative light; surely, she had far more to gain had she chose to participate in a shocking "tell all" book and resultant appearances on the shows of Jenny Jones, Larry King, Sally Jessy Raphael and their ilk. In classic pinup style, Bettie instead shared the best of herself with us-as if she didn't want to burden us with too many rough spots.
Bettie was to cooperate on a sequel to the Swanson/Essex book, and it's worth wondering whether she planned to take that opportunity to discuss her nightmare years. Foster reports that the sequel contract specified a $1000 advance to her, $500 of which was payable up front and $500 upon publication, along with a small royalty. A deal almost poetically consistent with the short end of the stick that she's seen her whole life-the average proofreader gets $1000 per book.
An interview with Bettie Page published in the January '98 issue of Playboy magazine stirs the pot a bit more. In this particular encounter, Bettie reveals a humorous frankness and unguarded manner only hinted at previously. Consider this concise response:
Playboy: [Bettie's first husband, sailor Billy] Neal was kept under 24-hour guard before the ship departed. He had gone AWOL to be with you. Once he even escaped the stockade to spend the night with you.
Page: As a wife, I was always a good lover.
'Nuff said!
The conversation is also noteworthy for the fact that this was no mere sit-down with a freelance writer and his tape recorder. Though The Real Bettie Page and its revelations are noted in the interview's preface-indeed, the Essex/Swanson book is referred to as "partly whitewash"-further reading makes clear the extremely friendly circumstances of the conversation:
Bettie Page appeared at Playboy Mansion West, home of her longtime supporter Hugh Hefner. Accompanied by David Stevens, the comic-book artist who immortalized her in The Rocketeer, she spent the day with Playboy Editor-in-Chief Hefner and Contributing Editor Kevin Cook.
The chaperoned, boss-monitored situation sounds ripe for a series of soft-focus, softball questions. To interviewer Cook's credit, however, he presses Page to a surprising degree on the "prayer at knifepoint" incident with Harry Lear's family. After her initial flat denial, Cook confronts her with Lear's corroboration of the event. Suddenly, her answer is shaded slightly: "I don't know, maybe I was out of my head. I don't remember doing it," she allows.
(The same parenthetical editor's note containing Lear's confirmation of the event also gives voice to a proclamation of very limited credibility: "I don't like that guy Foster," Lear states. "He told me he would do anything for money." One can hardly imagine that, in the course of interviewing a man who has made clear his continued affection for Bettie Page, Foster would blurt out his alleged mercenary intentions. Playboy's inclusion of Lear's vindictive statement is odd, to say the least.)
Page is unequivocal in the interview when asked about The Real Bettie Page: "That book is full of lies. Richard Foster is the devil posing as a human. A monster." Interviewer Cook invites Page's accounts of the shocking stabbing incidents in 1978 and 1982 with passive statements ("You had other run-ins with the law"; "There would soon be more troubles") and Page is allowed to unreel contradictory, sanitized, blood-free versions of these events that go unchallenged by follow-ups.
Richard Foster, who was given no chance to respond to comments made in the Playboy interview, has heard second-hand that Hefner had access to an advance copy of The Real Bettie Page and was predictably unhappy with it, feeling that the book was unfair.
"I was astonished at being referred to as 'the devil' in the pages of Playboy magazine," Foster said. "But that's not so hard to take. I am disturbed, however, by the fact that Playboy didn't bother to contradict her with the facts. To deny that significant bodily harm was done in the 1982 incident negates the pain and suffering of Leonie Haddid."
Indeed, while fans of Bettie Page were jolted by Foster's book, they also seemed more than willing to sympathize with her struggles with mental illness. Even fervent supporters, however, expressed dismay at her vigorous denials in Playboy, as well as the fact that the magazine allowed her contradictory explanations to lay unopposed. If the interview was Hefner's way of giving Page a platform from which to address the incidents contained in the book, he has seriously misfired.
__________
Bettie Page was very much alone during her darkest hours. It is encouraging to note that she currently has access to people with her best interest at heart.
Steve Brewster, founder of the Bettie Scouts of America fan club, says he gets letters every day from fans regarding The Real Bettie Page. "Ninety percent are extremely positive, and they'd like me to forward to her their letters and words of encouragement," he said. "There are very, very out there who are just, 'Bettie's a psycho, I'll never recover.'"
Brewster got an advance galley of The Real Bettie Page before even Foster himself had seen one. "I read it and was in shock. This was a major bomb," he remembers. "The galley was from the publisher, and I suppose they wanted a jacket quote or something from me. A cover letter warned that I shouldn't copy it-but I immediately did and sent one to Bettie's brother, Jack, wondering if we should stop it. He was upset; he didn't know about any of this stuff."
According to Brewster, Jack read the most shocking parts to Bettie over the phone; she explained that the police reports were trumped up and she wasn't allowed to speak in her own defense at the time.
Brewster also sent copies of the book to Dave Stevens, perhaps Bettie's closest friend, and J.B. Rund, a business advisor to the Page family whose Private Peeks magazines of the later '70s was instrumental in the Bettie Page revival.
"Dave Stevens knew nothing of Bettie's forced incarceration or brushes with the law until seeing the book," says Brewster. "He was extremely upset that these things were being made public and wanted the book stopped. "
Brewster, on the other hand, is actually recommending The Real Bettie Page to every Bettie fan. "I would be the first to say that Bettie denies this stuff. I'm not convinced all of it is true. Still, I feel that I know her better having read it."
As one of the few persons who regularly speaks with Page, Brewster faced an awkward situation after he'd read the book. "I was thinking, 'I can't mention this!' Yet, it was foremost in my mind," he said. "So when I called, I played dumb. Thank goodness she brought it up in our conversation." Page didn't know at the time that it was Brewster who'd procured advance copies of the book, so she forthrightly explained to him that there was trouble brewing; a "book of lies" was about to be published.
"Bettie told me, 'I'm afraid people will look down their nose at me. It's all lies.' I was worried about her having a breakdown," Brewster related. "So I told her that the book was well-written-which it is. She has not read the book nor will she ever, so I read her the ending-which is very nice-and the rip-off part. She was pleased with that; she wanted that part of the story known."
The 'rip-off part,' an engrossing chapter entitled "The Battle of Bettie," maps out the myriad business deals that brought Jack and Bettie Page into contact and eventual conflict with James Swanson and his convention business, Glamourcon.
Many of the contracts and deals Swanson prepared for the Pages contained language that worked much more to Swanson's benefit than that of his client, alleges a suit filed by Curtis Management Group (CMG) Worldwide, Bettie's current agency. It was only after much time and many unexplained losses that Bettie's brother began to smell a rat and seek help. Swanson and Glamourcon are not stepping aside quietly, asserting their rights via the lawsuit mentioned above.
"Jack Page is not a sophisticated businessman, and he is certainly not greedy," J.B. Rund explains. "He's not interested in wringing every dime out of the Bettie Page phenomena."
Rund was one of the very first businessmen to seek out Page in order to pay fees owed her on Page-related merchandise he'd marketed (including his run of Private Peeks magazines) once he learned she was still alive to collect. He has advised the family on business matters, and administers certain projects and deals for Bettie and Jack Page. He's perhaps most proud of Bettie May Page (B.M.P.), Inc., the family-owned corporation he helped establish.
"I'm a capitalist, but it's best to be honest," says Rund. "Swanson has definitely misappropriated some money and he has done things a lawyer shouldn't do."
Rund cites as an example the contract Los Angeles's Single Spark Productions has for rights to a Bettie Page film.
"It's a bad deal and exploitive of Bettie," he complains. "Swanson and Bob Schultz made the deal while Glamourcon represented Bettie. This film company has the rights to Bettie Page's life story tied up, and their contract says they have the right to use anything they want, even fictionalize material if it suits them. Jack and Bettie aren't at all happy about that prospect." According to another source, Swanson has worked a clause into the film contract giving him an executive producer credit-and fee-on any film Single Spark Productions makes about Bettie Page. Now, complains Rund, the principles at Single Spark are harassing Bettie and Jack with phone calls, trying to secure their cooperation as per the contract they have with Glamourcon.
"Single Spark feels, based on their film agreement, that they own anything Bettie Page does," Brewster says. "I'd heard they even got bothered over the "E" television documentary."
According to Steve Brewster, Swanson provided no royalty provision for Page in the contract with General Publishing for Bettie Page: The Life of a Pin-up Legend. "My understanding is that the contract called for a sixty-forty split between Swanson and Karen Essex," explained Brewster. "Swanson got the larger royalty, and he told Bettie-and this was what she told me was her understanding-that he'd simply give her his portion." The book has reportedly sold out of its initial printing and is headed for a softcover reprint. The Pages, however, feel that they haven't seen royalties from Swanson reflecting anything near that amount.
Interestingly, the person closest to Bettie on a day-to-day basis, Dave Stevens, paints Swanson as a bad bookkeeper rather than a calculating villain.
"Based on my observations, Swanson was simply overwhelmed," Stevens explains. "While I was a bit uncomfortable, for instance, with him authoring a book about Bettie while acting as her manager, I don't think there was evil intent. An enormous amount was going on all at once and there was a lot to keep track of. I think he was just in over his head and let things get out of control."
______
Listed with James Swanson as co-author of Bettie Page: The Life of a Pin-up Legend, Karen Essex is widely believed to have written the vast majority of the book, though she will not comment on that conjecture. She has, in her words, "less than no comment" regarding her collaborator on the Page biography.
Essex currently works as a music journalist in Nashville and maintains regular contact with Bettie Page since working on her biography. She speaks very warmly of Page; they exchange Christmas gifts and talk regularly. She's heard about The Real Bettie Page, but was not contacted by Foster during his research and probably will not read the book.
"I resent a writer who engages in that style of reporting, with no chance to respond," she says. Essex also believes that including mug shots of Bettie is "akin to printing death photos of Princess Diana."
Did Essex have any inkling of violence in Page's past while researching the biography?
"I know her to be a lovely person who has experienced tragedy in her life," Essex says. "There were vague areas, but it really wasn't my job to do a covert investigation of this woman with whom I was working."
The Playboy interview makes no impression. "I feel allowances should be made for people of that age. She's very naive about the media and has no entourage to shepherd her through those experiences. She's without artifice; she'll say what's on her mind." Of Bettie's friendship with Dave Stevens, Essex says, "Dave Stevens is a wonderful, lovely guy, but he's an artist. He can't be expected to be in the media-relations business."
Media relations have, however, become relevant. As this issue of Outre goes to press, the tabloid television show "Hard Copy" is preparing a story on Bettie Page and the revelations in The Real Bettie Page. Sources close to Page claim that her current representation, CMG Worldwide, is encouraging her to participate in the report.
J.B. Rund doesn't necessarily agree with CMG, but has advised Bettie to willingly "come out" before papperazzi-types begin to invade her privacy. He's read The Real Bettie Page (Rund is quoted extensively in the book) and harbors no ill will toward Foster. "What would someone else do with it?" he asks. "Foster was a fan, and his feeling was that some sleazeball could find the same things he found and exploit the story in some terrible way. He told the tale as kindly and judiciously as possible.
"I told her to go on TV with it," he continues. "I'd advise her to go public and tell the story-she's better now. But I honestly believe she simply can't remember these things."
Rund met Bettie face-to-face in 1996, accompanied by Jack Page (who hadn't seen his sister for nearly twenty years). He believes her long-stated antipathy toward being seen in her latter years springs from insecurity more than anything else. "If your grandmother looked like Bettie does today, you'd be thrilled," he says. "Her eyes still sparkle. She really looks like her old self; still has bangs, though with shorter hair. She is still a very pretty woman."
Furthermore, friends of Bettie say that she's taking very good care of herself through a healthy regimen of exercise and natural foods, and has lost as much as thirty-five pounds since beginning her self improvement program. She's stated that her goal is to live to the age of one hundred.
______
The Bettie Page story continues; The Real Bettie Page will most certainly not be the last word on the life of the Queen of Pinups. It's not inconceivable that, in another year or so, we'll see her relate this ongoing story herself. Let's hope it's done on her own terms.
Mental illness is especially insidious for it creates multiple levels of suffering. There is, of course, the pain caused to family and innocent bystanders as a result of the afflicted person's actions; then, later, a lifetime of regret and self loathing must be dealt with even as healing takes place. For some, the hardest part of moving forward is looking back and realizing that they were indeed not in control of their hurtful actions.
For Bettie Page, a woman who by all indications treasures self-reliance, it must be nearly beyond her senses to deny responsibility for any one of her deeds-good or bad, remembered or forgotten. She does not seek comfort in self-pity. She does not ask us to be sympathetic. She does not offer palliative explanations designed to "rehabilitate" her image. She is as she was, absolutely genuine.
"Nothing will change the fact that I want the best for her," says Steve Brewster. It's a sentiment shared by those who know the real Bettie Page.
Bettie Page: The Life of a Pin-Up Legend
The image is familiar; black hair, bangs, a disarmingly genuine smile and/or campy look of stern sexuality. Bettie Page is perhaps the most well-known unknown personality in the history of American popular culture. After a heyday during which she was the sought-after pin-up subject in the business, Bettie Page the person simply disappeared into obscurity while Bettie Page the object d'art cemented itself into America's foundation. In the intervening decades, a cult of personality built around her even as the mystery regarding her whereabouts deepened. It was almost as if she was able to effortlessly peel off the ripe public aspect of herself and leave it behind, growing in her absence, while she lived on relatively unscathed.
Unscathed, but also uncompensated for the booming business generated by her image. In and around 1992, Page's family contracted lawyer James Swanson to re-direct a rightful percentage of monies created by Bettie Page merchandise toward Bettie herself, living at that time at a very modest economic level. Swanson was told that he had no need to contact nor meet Ms. Page, but a bit of gentle lobbying convinced her that he and Karen Essex could help write the story of her life, hence The Life of a Pin-up Legend.
Swanson and Essex enjoyed the full cooperation of Ms. Page, and the narrative is imbued with the confident, straightforward, unapologetic, utterly charming personality of a person unimpressed with herself. "If I am remembered today, it is because you, the reader, see something in me that I never saw in myself," she writes in a handwritten preface to the book. "I didn't think of myself as liberated, and I don't believe that I did anything important. I was just myself. I didn't know any other way to be, or any other way to live."
As revealed in The Life of a Pin-up Legend, Bettie's endured an early life replete with jarring betrayals and disappointments: A philandering father sexually abused her; her mother was threatened by her daughter's youth and beauty to the point of expelling her from their home; and, in the first of many near-misses, Bettie was edged out of being high school class valedictorian-and receiving a full college scholarship-by a quarter grade point. As she began to search for a career, her commitment to salvaging a hurried-into wartime marriage forced her to skip a Warner Bros. screen test. Perhaps most tragic of all, Bettie was sexually assaulted mere days after arriving in New York to pursue work as an actress. None of these incidents appear to have produced any bitterness or self pity in Bettie, and they are recalled in a matter of fact manner which belies, above mere acceptance, a palpable sense of sincere forgiveness.
In 1950 Bettie began modeling for "camera clubs" while working as a secretary in New York. Anything but self-conscious about her body, Bettie recalls her first nude session with the nonchalance most people would use to describe their first ride in a car with automatic windows. It wasn't long before she came to attention of professional pin-up photographers, and the rest is history.
It's worth noting that Bettie did the bulk of her work when she was in her early- and mid-thirties, unfazed by any notion of age limitation. Her chronological maturity surely contributed to The Look: a confident, exceedingly likable sexuality the like of which has never been duplicated before or since. There's something wholesome about even her most unwholesome pin-ups; it always looks like Bettie is having fun. You don't want to rescue her-you want to buy her an ice cream cone (what you want to do beyond that is your own business; I'm a married man). Except for the bangs (a suggestion made by a photographer), Bettie's image-The Look-was wholly created and maintained by Bettie herself, right down to sewing her own outfits. Who can argue that she shouldn't collect some manner of royalties from the countless products bearing her likeness?
A surprising revelation in The Life of a Pin-Up Legend concerns Betties current relationship with photographer Bunny Yeager. Those of us who've seen the books and trading cards with Yeager's name on them and Bettie's pictures inside can't help but find offensive the fact that Yeager did not cooperate with the creation of this book. Her response to Bettie's personal request for photos brought the following appalling response: "What has Bettie Page done for me lately?"
Ms. Yeager, I suspect that you have effectively bought yourself a boycott of materials bearing your name.
In startling contradiction to the astounding cross-generational appeal of Bettie's image-clothed or unclothed-are the Irving Klaw "bondage" photos that eventually roused the ire of the Kefauver Committee. Though there is no nudity in any of the Klaw material, the appeal of their "girl in peril" theme is simply hard to fathom in the context of modern sensibilities. Is this a "rescue fantasy" kink, or something darker? Legend has it that Klaw custom-shot these pics for a "high ranking government official" who then allowed Klaw to sell the results; of course, when these shots dribbled down to the common man via under-the-counter sales and mail order, the government (through Kefauver) stepped in to preserve our great nation's puritan soul. Bettie describes the Klaw sessions as nothing but fun, all done under the watchful eyes of the protective Paula Klaw-truly a situation and attitude unique to its time period. The depths of cruelty we as a nation have seen in the period between those innocent days and now preclude viewing a photo of a trussed up woman without a sense of disturbance.
"Harmless" as they were, the Klaw photos eventually forced Bettie into retirement from her pin-up career as she began to suffer from Kefauver's guilt-by-association intimidation tactics. It's this stage of her life-the step backward into obscurity-that reveals Bettie's reward for her consistent integrity up to that point; she was beholden to no one (despite brushes with Hefner and Hughes), kept her personhood intact, made no "success at any cost" pacts, and was able to simply walk away alive and whole. No rescue needed.
The Life of a Pin-Up Legend is a warm look at a positive person who lived pro actively and without regret. Though the financial rewards were not always-if ever-there for her, Bettie emerged from a public career with ownership of herself, if not her catalog of pictures. With new books surely on the way and an HBO movie about her life in the works, Bettie Page will soon become a household name. But she will not become the subject of a United States stamp, because Bettie Page did what Elvis couldn't, Marilyn wouldn't, and James Dean just didn't care to do. Bettie Page kept herself alive. Bettie Page kept herself.
Despite her humility, I like to think she lives today with at least a hint of the fact that she accomplished something astounding.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Vintage Bettie Page Burlesque Video
Enjoy this vintage Bettie Page performance from 1950! It may seem a little cheesy by todays standards but dancing like this, on film, was quite risque in 1950. It's amazing how considering today's standards on "beauty" Bettie might not have been considered an "it" girl but people still love her just the same. Her great attraction was that she looked sweet, and warm, and ferociously erotic all at the same time!
Friday, September 14, 2007
Sunday, September 9, 2007
On Bettie Page
The World’s First Supermodel
Naughty. Nice. Daring. Shy. Exotic. Simple. Bettie page could inhabit the full spectrum making her a goddess among women. Now the raven hair beauty is doing it again by ring leading a resurgence of pin-up popularity.
If Only She Was The Girl Next Door
Much like Dean and Monroe, Bettie Page’s popularity during her day was short lived, but her impact has lasted decades. Bettie Page is her real name, she was born Bettie Mae Page on april 22, 1923 in Nashville, Tennessee. Stricken by hard times while growing up her family traveled all over the country in search of a better life.
Most Likely To Succeed
When she was ten, her parents had divorced and her mother was forced to place Bettie and her two sisters in an orphanage while she worked two jobs to save money. She worked hard during high school with activities in the student council and dramatics club, gaining the admiration of her classmates and voted, “most likely to succeed”. She eventually returned to Nashville to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from Peabody College at Vanderbilt University.
The Bangs Have It
"Jerry Tibbs was the one who got me wearing bangs. For years I had my hair parted down the middle in a ponytail, tucked down around the sides. But he said to me, 'Bettie, you've got a very high forehead. I think you'd look good if you cut some bangs to cover it.' well, I went and cut the bangs, and I've been wearing them ever since. They say it's my trademark."
News Flash, Brunettes Have More Fun
"I don't know what they mean by an icon. I never thought of myself as being that. It seems strange to me. I was just modeling, thinking of as many different poses as possible. I made more money modeling than being a secretary. I had a lot of free time. You could go back to work after an absence of a few months. I couldn't do that as a secretary.
Miss Pin-Up Girl Of The World
1955 was a banner year for pin-up models, when Bettie Page was titled, “Miss Pin-Up of the World”. In January of that same year, she was the centerfold in Playboy Magazine. Hugh Hefner is a huge fan of hers and is still a close friend.
Blue Crush
"I was never one who was squeamish about nudity. I don't believe in being promiscuous about it, but several times I thought of going to a nudist colony."
"I love to swim in the nude and roam around the house in the nude. You're just as free as a bird!"
"I like being outdoors. I like to go cavorting in the nude in the forests. It is just another world. To take sunbaths in the nude."
"It makes me feel wonderful that people still care for me... That I have so many fans among young people, who write to me and tell me I have been an inspiration."
The Klaw Has You
"The only person I did bondage for was Irving Klaw and his sister Paula. Usually they would shoot four or five models every Saturday. He wouldn't pay for the regular pictures unless we did some bondage. So I did bondage shots to get paid for the other photos."
The Later Years
Her popularity eventually faded and she disappeared from public view in the late 60’s. Many rumors circulated about her demise, but in actuality she tried her hand at domestic married life, which failed miserably.
Divine Bettie
Her attempts at a normal domestic existence were further hampered when she started suffering from severe mental trouble, which led to her stabbing three people. After that, bettie took what might seem like a dramatic turn and entered a religious seminary to briefly work as a christian missionary.
Professional Woman
The Bettie Page t-shirts on American Pop Culture Encyclopedia are officially licensed directly from Bettie Page herself, however these days she doesn’t make public appearances and her exact location in southern California is a closely guarded secret.
The Girl With The Perfect Figure
Her measurements during her glamour modeling days: 36-24-36 1/2. 5’ 5 1/2” tall.
The Betty Pages
She is sometimes credited as Betty Page, rather than Bettie Page. During the 80’s she once again shot to popularity with a comic series named for her called, “The Betty Pages”. The comic brought her a new audience and ever since has been regarded as an icon.
Rock-A-Who?
Another comic book played a major roll in rocketing her to stardom during her early years. Dave Steven’s comic book, “The Rocketeer” featured a raven haired beauty greatly inspired by Page. Long after, the comic was adapted into a feature film with Jennifer Connelly in the role initially based on Bettie Page.
Blue Iguana
While rehearsing for a role as a stripper, Daryl Hannah would don a Bettie Page disguise and strip in los angeles strip clubs during off-peak hours.
Burlesque Queen
"I was not trying to be shocking, or to be a pioneer. I wasn't trying to change society, or to be ahead of my time. I didn't think of myself as liberated, and I don't believe that I did anything important. I was just myself. I didn't know any other way to be, or any other way to live."