What was Bettie Page's Net Worth?
Bettie Page was an American model who had a net worth of $20 million dollars at the time of her death (after adjusting for inflation). Bettie Page rose to fame in the 1950s with her iconic pin-up photographs. Known for her long black hair and blue eyes, she posed for numerous photographers and was one of the earliest Playboy Playmates of the Month. After retiring from modeling and becoming an evangelical Christian, Page battled with her mental health and spent several years in a psychiatric hospital due to paranoid schizophrenia.
Page initially moved to New York City to pursue an acting career, but ended up posing for a police officer who also took modeling photos. It was while working with Jerry Tibbs that Page molded her famous long black hair into her iconic bang style. She quickly became a rising star in the erotica genre, appearing on the pages of "Wink", "Eyeful" and "Twitter".
She continued to pose and act out fetishes on the magazine pages while pursuing an Off-Broadway career, appearing in productions of "Time is a Thief" and "Sunday Costs Five Pesos".
In 1955, Page became a "Playboy" Playmate of the Month centerfold while dressed in a Santa hat hanging out in front of a Christmas tree. Later that year, she was crowned Miss Pinup Girl of the World.
She retired from modeling in the late 1950s. It wasn't until her image was made popular again in the 1990s that Page resurfaced in the public eye, appearing on "E! True Hollywood Story" and in a 2003 issue of "Playboy".
Page died on December 11, 2008, at the age of 85 after her family took her off life support following her hospitalization. She is buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Early Life and Education
Bettie Page was born on April 22, 1923 in Nashville, Tennessee as the second of six children of Edna and Walter. The family moved often during her youth seeking economic stability; at one point, she had to care for her younger siblings when her father was sentenced to prison for car theft. When Page was ten, her parents divorced, and she was soon sent with two of her siblings to a Protestant orphanage. As an adolescent, she went to Hume-Fogg High School, from which she graduated in 1940 as class salutatorian. Page went on to attend George Peabody College with the aim of becoming a teacher. She graduated with her BA in 1944.
Career Beginnings
Page landed her first job while still in college: typing for author Alfred Leland Crabb. Later, she moved to New York City hoping to become an actress, and supported herself by working as a secretary at the American Bread Company. However, after she was sexually assaulted by a group of men, she returned home to Nashville and did a stint working for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Page soon went back to New York and became a secretary for a real estate developer and an insurance broker.
Modeling Fame
While walking along the shore on Coney Island, Page met photographer and NYPD officer Jerry Tibbs, who suggested she would make a great pin-up model. He ended up photographing her and helping her create her first pin-up portfolio. Page went on to enter the glamor photography scene, working initially with photographer Cass Carr. She quickly became renowned for her erotic modeling and her signature long black hair and blue eyes, appearing in such men's magazines as Wink, Eyefull, and Beauty Parade. Page's star continued to rise throughout the 50s due to her work with photographer Irving Klaw, whose pin-up and BDSM-themed photos made Page the first famous bondage model. Additionally, Klaw featured Page in numerous short, silent one-reel films that included BDSM scenarios.
In 1954, on one of her annual vacations in Miami, Florida, Page met photographers Bunny Yeager, Jan Caldwell, and H. W. Hannau. This meeting resulted in the "Jungle Bettie" photograph series, one of Page's most iconic shoots. Yeager subsequently sent some shots to Playboy's Hugh Hefner, who chose Page as Playmate of the Month for January of 1955. Page continued to model until 1957, and then left the business.
Born Again Evangelism
Following her departure from modeling, Page converted to Christianity and became a born again evangelist on New Year's Eve in 1959. She went on to attend three different bible institutions over the ensuing years: the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Multnomah University in Portland, Oregon, and Bibletown, which was part of the Boca Raton Community Church in Florida. In the 60s, Page tried to become a Christian missionary in Africa, but was rejected due to having been divorced. Instead, she worked for a number of Christian organizations and reenrolled at her alma mater George Peabody College to pursue a master's degree. After dropping out, she worked for Reverend Billy Graham.
Career Resurgence
Due in large part to the circulation of many paintings and reprinted photographs of Page, a cult following developed around the former pin-up model in the 1980s. She was the subject of the fanzine "The Betty Pages" and appeared on the reality television show "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous."
Mental Health Struggles
Page struggled with her mental health for many decades. In 1978, after having moved to Southern California, she had a nervous breakdown and got into a violent altercation with her landlady. She was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was sent to Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino. After getting into another altercation with a different landlord, Page was placed under state supervision for eight years.
Personal Life and Death
In early 1943, Page wed William E. Neal, her first husband. They divorced in 1947. Page went on to date industrial designer Richard Arbib before marrying her second husband, Armond Walterson, in 1958. They eventually divorced in 1963. That year, Page remarried her first husband; however, the marriage was soon annulled. She subsequently wed Harry Lear, with whom she was with from 1966 until their divorce in early 1972.
Page died at the age of 85 in December of 2008 after being hospitalized in critical condition. Her influence continues to live on in popular culture, including as the subject of the biographical film "The Notorious Bettie Page" and the documentary film "Bettie Page Reveals All."
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