[2][3] She was often referred to as the "Queen of Pinups": her long jet-black hair, blue eyes, and trademark bangs have influenced artists for generations.

After her death, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner called her "a remarkable lady, an iconic figure in pop culture who influenced sexuality, taste in fashion, someone who had a tremendous impact on our society".

[4] A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Page lived in California in her early adult years before moving to New York City to pursue work as an actress.

In 1959, Page converted to evangelical Christianity and worked for Billy Graham,[5] studying at Bible colleges in Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, with the intent of becoming a missionary.

The latter part of Page's life was marked by depression, violent mood swings, and several years in a state psychiatric hospital with paranoid schizophrenia.

[13] At a young age, she had to face the responsibilities of caring for her younger siblings, particularly after her father was convicted for car theft and spent two years in an Atlanta, Georgia, prison.

[22] Within weeks, she returned to New York, becoming secretary to a real-estate developer and an insurance broker who shared offices in the Eastern Airlines Building at Rockefeller Plaza.

Page entered the field of "glamour photography" as a popular camera club model, working initially with photographer Cass Carr.

These silent one-reel featurettes showed women clad in lingerie and high heels, acting out fetishistic scenarios of abduction, domination, and slave-training; bondage, spanking, and elaborate leather costumes and restraints were included periodically.

Page acted and danced in the feature-length burlesque revue film Striporama directed by Jerald Intrator in which she was given a brief speaking role.

These featured exotic dance routines and vignettes by Page and well-known striptease artists Lili St. Cyr and Tempest Storm.

In 1954, during one of her annual vacations to Miami, Florida, Page met photographers Jan Caldwell, H. W. Hannau and Bunny Yeager.

Yeager, a former model and aspiring photographer, signed Page for a photo session at the now-closed wildlife park Africa U.S.A. in Boca Raton, Florida.

After Yeager sent shots of Page to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, he selected one to use as the Playmate of the Month centerfold in the January 1955 issue of the two-year-old magazine.

The famous photo shows Page, wearing only a Santa hat, kneeling before a Christmas tree holding an ornament and playfully winking at the camera.

mention the Kefauver Hearings of the United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce as a potential reason, after a young man apparently died during a session of bondage which was rumored to be inspired by images featuring Page.

After leaving modeling, Page converted to Christianity and became a born again evangelist on December 31, 1959, while living in Key West, Florida.

Over the next few years, she worked for various Christian organizations before settling in Nashville in 1963, and re-enrolled at Peabody College to pursue a master's degree in education, but eventually dropped out.

The doctors who examined her diagnosed her with acute schizophrenia, and she spent 20 months in Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino, California.

In 1982, after a fight with another landlord, she was arrested for assault, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity and placed under state supervision for eight years.

At that time in New York, Olivia De Berardinis had begun painting Bettie for Italian jeans manufacturer Fiorucci.

In the early 1980s, comic-book artist Dave Stevens based the female love interest of his hero Cliff Secord (alias "The Rocketeer") on Page.

[42] By the mid-1980s, artist Olivia De Berardinis noted that women began to frequent her gallery openings sporting Bettie bangs, fetish clothing, and tattoos of Page.

"[13] In 1987, Greg Theakston started a fanzine called The Betty Pages[40] and recounted tales of her life, particularly the camera-club days.

In a 1993 telephone interview with Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, Page told host Robin Leach that she had been unaware of the resurgence of her popularity, stating that she was "penniless and infamous".

[citation needed] Her brother Jack finally brought her back into public life, explaining, "My son had noticed all the books and calendars and plates being sold with her face on them,...I called her up and said, 'Bettie, there is a chance for you to make money off this'".

[citation needed] In 1996, Page granted a TV interview to entertainment reporter Tim Estiloz for the NBC morning magazine program Real Life.

The book stated that a Los Angeles County Sheriff's police report said Page had paranoid schizophrenia and, at age 56, had stabbed her elderly landlords[48] on the afternoon of April 19, 1979 in an unprovoked attack, during a fit of insanity.

In 2006, the Los Angeles Times ran an article headlined "A Golden Age for a Pinup", covering an autographing session at CMG Worldwide.

According to MTV: "Katy Perry's rocker bangs and throwback skimpy jumpers; Madonna's Sex book and fascination with bondage gear; Rihanna's obsession with all things leather, lace and second-skin binding; Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction; the SuicideGirls website; the Pussycat Dolls; and the entire career of Dita Von Teese" would not have been possible without Page.